From England to Siouxland: Ben Jefferies Recounts his Unorthodox Path to the 2024 Paris Olympics

By Eli Meschko

Media & Communications Coordinator

Around 5 billion people worldwide followed the 2024 Paris Olympics. Whether it was watching events live or staying updated on social media — 5 billion followed it.

Yet, tucked away in the northwest corner of Iowa, the residents of Sioux City, the Briar Cliff University community and even BCU’s rivals, all rallied behind one person.

Unlike most other Olympic-level athletes, Ben Jefferies did not start his respective sport until the end of his freshman year of college.

Jefferies, a native of Bristol, England, started his collegiate career on Briar Cliff’s soccer team. He came to Siouxland on a soccer scholarship, however, he wasn’t technically a part of the Chargers’ varsity team, so his scholarship wasn’t enough to cover his tuition.

“My mother back home was really struggling to pay my school bills,” Jefferies said. “She just didn’t have the money to keep me out in the United States any longer.”

His solution? To become a dual-sport athlete.

He got the idea from a teammate on the soccer team who competed in the triple jump for the track team. So, he walked into the office of Scott Barnes, Briar Cliff’s head track and field coach from 2018 to 2024.

Jefferies talked with Barnes about the possibility of running on the track team. It turned out that Barnes had taken notice of his speed on the soccer field. In turn, Barnes offered him a second scholarship to join BCU’s track & field team.

The thing was, he had no knowledge of track and didn’t know what the individual races were.

“Where I ended up in terms of races was down to Coach Barnes and Coach [Jordan] Mullen,” Jefferies said. “They looked at my frame, size, speed and attributes, and were like, ‘we should try him in the 400-meter dash.’ I ended up being pretty good in that.”

Pretty good is quite an understatement. Jefferies went on to become a three-time NAIA National Champion, eight-time All-American and eight-time Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) champion while representing Briar Cliff.

He also finished his career as the Chargers’ record holder for the indoor 200-meter dash, as well as the records for — shocker — the indoor and outdoor 400-meter.

Even though he was representing a smaller school, his times were good enough to garner the attention of Great Britain’s coaches.

“One of the benefits of this sport that people don’t realize is that these coaches don't need to see me run,” Jefferies said. “They don’t need to watch film. They can just look at my times and get an understanding of the level I’m running at.”

He ended up receiving an invite to the 2022 British National Championships, but financial problems arose once again.

He couldn’t afford to attend the championships. Flights back to England were close to $1,200, and he couldn’t afford that as a fresh college graduate. He was forced to decline the invitation but spent the next couple of years working out with Coach Barnes while working three jobs to try to save up as much as he could.

He was serving as an assistant track coach under Barnes at Briar Cliff, working part-time at a Starbucks and was also working as a personal trainer at Anytime Fitness.

It wasn’t glorious work, if anything he was upset that something like a financial barrier ruined what he worked so hard for. However, after two years, he received another invite to the 2024 British Championships.

This time around, his story had caught wind in the BCU and Siouxland communities and he had some extra support.

“I set up a GoFundMe to help pick up some extra money to fund the trip, the flights and the gear,” Jefferies said. “The people of Siouxland rallied around my story like I never imagined they would.

“I had professors from Briar Cliff whose classes I didn’t even take donating to the GoFundMe,” Jefferies said. “I had coaches from other local schools and rival schools that I ran against donating.

“People like Damon Pierce at Thrive Wellness let me get free treatment through a sponsorship while I was training,” Jefferies said. “I am eternally grateful for everyone’s support.”

With the Siouxland community behind him, Jefferies made the trip across the pond to compete in the 400-meter dash.

While he was successful in college, he knew he was out of his depth when he first arrived at the championships. Yet, he didn’t waver. He knew how much it hurt to decline the invitation two years earlier.

His goal was simple. Just make it into the finals. Reload and come back stronger the next year.

However, after making the finals, he would shock not just himself, but the British coaches after recording a personal best (45.63 seconds) to claim second place in the event.

“I had a coach tell me that I dropped a bomb in the room when they were making the decision for Paris,” Jefferies said. “None of the coaches expected me to perform that well, and it’s pretty hard to ignore second place.”

That performance earned him a spot on Britain’s Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

While Britain went on to win the bronze medal in the men’s and mixed 4x400-meter relays, Jefferies was forced to watch from the sideline as an alternate for both events.

However, he didn’t take it to heart. He understood that it wasn’t anything personal. He was the “rookie” and there were other athletes on the team that the coaches could trust more.

“I was seen as kind of a risky pick,” Jefferies said. “It’s the Olympics, coaches don’t really want to be making high-risk plays. They’re there to get results.”

Even though he didn’t officially participate in either event, the experience was incredible. He was thrilled to be a part of the team and to spend time with athletes whom he had been following on Instagram for a few years.

Some of his favorite memories were walking into the Stade de France in Saint-Denis for training and seeing the Olympic Village for the first time.

“The Olympic Village is something you obviously hear stories about,” Jefferies said. “It’s a very exclusive club of people that have stepped foot inside, so that was amazing.”

Since then, Jefferies has become the assistant coach for track and field at Western Illinois University, a Division I school, in Macomb, Illinois.

While he is still focused on training and keeping his eyes on future events, especially the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he remains humbled from his time in Siouxland. He knows the path back isn’t a given, but his work on and off the track serves as a constant reminder to keep going.

“You have to plant a seed if you want to grow a tree,” Jefferies said. “But you can’t go check on it. Just keep watering it down and then before you know it, it’ll start growing.”