Melissa Jefferson Wooden Reveals How She Tactically Sacrificed $30,000 Race for $150,000 Event That Paid Off Big

American sprint queen Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has shared some of the off-the-track decisions that yielded her success at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

Jefferson-Wooden, alongside Kenny Bednarek, were the only athletes who completed a double at the event in Budapest, Hungary, taking home a total of $300,000 given each winner was receiving $150,000 at the Ultimate Championship.

While at it, she clocked a season’s best 10.62 seconds on her way to winning the 100m and 21.47 seconds as she claimed victory in the 200m, which is the third fastest of all-time, putting her behind Shericka Jackson (21.41) and world record holder the late Florence Joyner, who clocked 21.34 in September 1988.

Jefferson-Wooden says all that was tactical as after losing the 100m to Julien Alfred at the Zurich Diamond League, she cleverly skipped the season finale in Brussels, opting to avoid a potential $30,000 that comes with winning the Diamond League Trophy to conserve her energy for the big one in Budapest.

“After Zurich, I decided not to run the Diamond League final and I took that whole week,” the 25-year-old said on the Nightcap podcast hosted by former NFL players Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco Johnson.

“I went to the Diamond League final but I was not running. I was just out there training. Everybody else was getting ready, running that weekend but I was just out there enjoying myself, getting good training.

“I knew exactly what I needed to work on going into Budapest so it was like a time for me to just sit back and examine everything and be like ok, when we go to Budapest, we know exactly what we need to do.”

That ultimately paid off and the reigning world 100m and 200m champion says even in Budapest, she chose her race and lane carefully with the aim of staying fresh for the final.

“When I got out there, all I told myself is all I needed to do is get through the semi-final. In the 200m men and women at the Ultimate Championship, we got to pick our lanes, which we normally don’t do,” she added.

“So when we had the lanes drawn, I picked second and Gabby [Thomas] picked first and everybody was like; ‘it is going to be smoking.’

“But it did not matter because if Gabby would have picked first [lane] and essentially whatever happened, I was always going to be in heat one because I had run a day before I was like I just need more rest,” she further stated, explaining her winning strategy for both races in Budapest.

In the 100m final, Jefferson-Wooden recovered from a slow start to win in a world leading 10.62 ahead of Alfred (10.74) and Sha’Carri Richardson (10.76) while in the 200m final, she had no equals as she scorched her opponents, securing victory in a personal best and world leading 21.47 ahead of American compatriots Gabby Thomas (21.77) and Kyla White (21.93).