Melissa Jefferson-Wooden 'Sick and Tired' of Old Guard Making Athletics Look Like 'Amateur Sport'

American sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has spoken strongly of the challenges being experienced in track and field which she blames on the old ways of doing things.

‎Jefferson-Wooden is one of the names making waves in the sport, having won three gold medals at the 2025 World Championships, including the sprint double of 100m and 200m.

‎She has also had a successful 2026 campaign, which she closed with another sprints double, at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, earning her a total of $300,000 as each win was worth $150,000.

‎Jefferson-Wooden says the inaugural Ultimate Championship are the kinds of events the sport needs as it has held onto the old ways of doing things for too long, leading to meagre earnings for athletes, who also do not command respect compared to other sports, despite achieving historic feats.

‎"Having a meet like the Ultimate Championship where you run two rounds of each event and you get $150,000 and if you are like me, I doubled," Jefferson-Wooden said on the Nightcap podcast.

‎"A good step in the right direction but our sport still needs a lot of steps that it needs to make in order to be considered like truly professional.

‎"It is so crazy because our sport is still considered a little bit like an amateur sport. Like especially when looked at the Olympics and things like that, we still run all these fast times and etch our names in history but still not seen as enough," she further stated.

‎The 25-year-old expressed her frustration at the current state of track and field where progressive ideas meet resistance from those stuck in the old ways of doing things.

‎"Sometimes you get sick and tired of things being the same," she added.

‎"You have these people who have been in the sport for so long and they do not necessarily see a change or are holding onto how things used to be like.

‎"So you have this tag and pull of where the sport should be going and where it is. Hopefully I can be part of the change," said the Georgetown native, who has expressed a desire to break both the 100m and 200m world records that have stood for 39 years.