The summer has been flush with opportunities for American 400-meter champion Kendall Ellis.
Track fans might remember Ellis as the runner who found herself stuck in a porta potty at the U.S. track trials, in a semi-panic as she banged on the door for 10 minutes trying to grab someone’s attention, worried that her Olympic hopes were swirling away.
Help finally arrived.
Ellis won the semifinal, then won the final, along with the Olympic trip that goes with it.
Not long after that, she had a new sponsorship deal with toilet paper maker Charmin.
“It was just the perfect fit,” Ellis said.
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Before we pooh-pooh all this product placement, let’s at least pay heed to the reality of what it takes for someone like Ellis to make a living running track.
She is 28 and works in a world where only the very top make millions. According to a 2023 survey by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, 82% of 475 athletes who responded made less than $100,000 annually.
Before the porta potty, Ellis’ best hope to make the U.S. team came on the strength of her long history as a steady relay performer. She helped the women’s 4×400 team to gold and mixed relay team to bronze in Tokyo three years ago.
This time, she’ll race for a medal of her own in the women’s 400, too. However it goes, she has the sponsorship deal to fall back on. Quite a comeback after nearly seeing her Olympic dreams vanish.
“It was terrifying,” Ellis said. “I don’t like small spaces. Being stuck in one is actually one of my greatest fears. Elevators. Porta pottys. Water slides.”
She said she was in there for “10 good minutes.” She didn’t have her cell phone.
“I didn’t start panicking ‘til I got to minute 5,” she said. “I was like ‘OK, I’m going to have to call for help.’ As embarrassing as it was to be screaming inside a porta potty asking for help, I had to.”
A kind worker at the practice track heard the banging and the calls for help and came over to unlock the door.
What ensued was a classic case of moving from the outhouse to the penthouse.
Ellis ran a personal-best time in the semifinal (49.81 seconds), then followed that up with another one in the final (49.46).
“I was like, ‘It’s OK, it means something great’s about to happen,’” Ellis said of her thoughts while she was banging on the door. “And then I just hoped I got rescued in time to make something great happen.”
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