Ben Shelton reacts to Jacory Patterson taking 400m world lead in Miami while also working job loading trucks at UPS

Ben Shelton reacted to Jacory Patterson as the sprinter delivered a staggering performance in the 400m long sprints event, placing him first, at the Grand Slam Track Meet in Miami. It is worth noting that the University of Florida is the alma mater of both men.

Patterson became the talk of the town after clinching a mind-blowing 43.98s run in Miami, which was the second Grand Slam meet of the inaugural edition of the highly documented league. He also completed his run in the 200m with an impressive 20.55s run, finishing sixth. Finishing second in the long sprints with 15 points, only behind Jereem Richards (20), Patterson bagged a prize of $50,000.

Following his performance, Jacory Patterson gave a look into his eccentric and packed schedule during a post-event interview, highlighting the amount of hard work he was putting in. He shared that after getting up in the morning, he would complete his training, sleep again, work his night shift, and get around three hours of sleep to end his day.

“I get up in the morning, around 8:30. Training usually starts at 9:00 or 9:30. I train, then go lift, and get treatment if needed. After that, I sleep all day. I wake up again at 9:45 PM because work starts at 10:45, so I give myself an hour to wake up, eat, and get ready. I work from 10:45 PM to about 4:00 or 4:30 AM on a good night. Then I go home, sleep for about 3 hours, wake up, and do it all over again.”

Ben Shelton shared an Instagram post by the official account of the Grand Slam Track on his story with an emoji, expressing his awe at the performance of his fellow Gator (University of Florida sports team). Shelton achieved immense success with them, winning the NCAA singles championship in 2022.

via Ben Shelton's Instagram story.

Just like Patterson, Shelton also made history by achieving an unprecedented feat at the ongoing European clay swing.

Ben Shelton ended a 16-year American drought at the BMW Open 2025 with an unprecedented performance

Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev - Source: Getty

Though he suffered a poor opening round exit at the Monte-Carlo Masters to kick off his European clay swing, Ben Shelton bounced back by creating history.

Seeded second, Shelton started his BMW Open run with a straight-set win against Borna Gojo, following which he handed the dangerous Botic Van de Zandschulp a strong defeat. The American scored a routine win over Luciano Darderi to become the first American man to reach the semifinals of an ATP 500 on clay. However, he wasn't done yet and defeated Francisco Cerundolo to reach the final.

Top seed Alexander Zverev defeated Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4 to become the hometown hero in Munich. The American suffered another quick exit at the Madrid Open and will look to bounce back again at the Italian Open.