"Out of college, I was working at Family Dollar, Dick Sporting Goods and just trying to keep some money in my pocket while I trained. I just knew I shouldn't be too worried because I knew what I had coming. It's definitely stressful if you don't have a contract in this sport, especially as a field eventer. We get no love."
Donald Scott takes us through his progression as an athlete who dipped his toes in different events before truly mastering the triple jump at Eastern Michigan University. He is now a professional jumper for Adidas, a 2021 U.S. Olympian (7th at the Tokyo Olympics), six-time U.S. Champion and 2022 World Indoor Championship bronze medalist. His personal best of 17.43m puts him at No. 16 on the all-time list.
In this conversation with Jasmine Todd, he opens up about balancing being a professional athlete and a father. He also shares his experience with the U.S. foster care system that he experienced as a kid.
Notable quotes
"My sisters and I were adopted by my aunt and uncle. We weren't in the shelter for too long before they came and got us. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's hard down there with poverty and all that hard stuff. I was caught up in all this is type of stuff. To be moved from that to almost-middle-class, it was a big adjustment. Where I'm from, it's basically African-Americans. My aunt and uncle are Caucasian. We had to battle that a little bit because we weren't comfortable around Caucasians. We were always told this, this and yada, yada, yada. That was an adjustment but overall it was good for me and my sisters to finally be shown love and what it's like to be in a stable household. Although my uncle moved out after a couple of years and it was just my aunt, it felt like home. It felt good. I started becoming active in sports, getting good grades and turning my life around. Blessed enough, that's how I earned my scholarship to Eastern Michigan. If I never would've got adopted, I don't know what I would be doing – probably locked up or something. My life has been a journey, a blessing and I just want to inspire people to set a goal and just chase it. Especially the people who come from where I come from. Most people get stuck down there. Most people don't ever leave Florida. For me to be able to do that, family and people I grew up with being able to see all this stuff is good."
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