HEC Paris MiM Student Balances Academics & Olympic Dreams

MiM graduate from an elite business school — tough.

Olympic athlete — tougher.

One man, Patrice Eselé, is on track — literally — to achieving both. And he’ll do it all in the same city. 

Eselé will graduate from HEC Paris in 2025. Before that, within the next month, he’ll know whether he will be running for France in the 100- and 200-meter races at the Paris Olympics this summer.

“Going back in time, I didn’t picture myself in one of the best business schools in Europe and also at the highest level in athletics,” says Eselé. “All of my efforts in the past years are starting to pay off.”

HEC PARIS SHOWS UNPRECEDENTED SUPPORT

HEC Paris has played a crucial role, working with Eselé’s schedule in unprecedented ways, allowing him to manage both athletics and academics. 

“I am the first athlete to have a schedule adjustment in this program,” says Eselé, who knows from experience that he couldn’t both make it to the Olympics and earn his MiM simultaneously without this schedule adjustment. 

Eselé tells P&Q he’s always wanted to run track, but he instead chose soccer early in life. “In my last year of high school, I saw the Olympics on TV, and that was it. I decided to stop playing soccer and focus on running.” 

He had success right off the bat, reaching the national level in just four months then winning his first medals at the French Championship the next year. 

When he expressed his desire to pursue track to his parents, they didn’t share his enthusiasm; they believed academics held greater importance for his future. He shared their sentiment, also seeing the value in earning a degree for job security, “So, I decided to do both,” he says. 

‘I HAD A CHOICE TO MAKE’

Eselé wanted to attend university in the U.S. because of the strong sports culture, and accepted an athletic scholarship from Indiana Institute of Tech in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was pursuing his BA, but returned to France after a hamstring injury cost him the scholarship. He then went to the Université Paris Dauphine for a year, studying Economics, Management, and Finance in their new sports studies program, but he couldn’t adjust his schedule and simultaneously continue running.

“I realized I had to make a choice, because I wanted to make it to the Olympics, and without a schedule adjustment for my practices, it was impossible.” 

He made the decision to leave the Université Paris Dauphine and focused only on his training and his exams to get into HEC Paris.

Eselé was pleased to be welcomed into HEC Paris and decided to focus on finance because he observed many athletes with financial issues. “They earned a lot of money during their careers, but they didn’t prepare for retirement,” he explains. “You also have the risk of injury, and in a moment with an injury, your sports career can end.” 

Wanting to help these athletes, he is considering a career as a financial advisor for athletes in the future. 

PUSHING THROUGH WITH SUPPORT

Aside from their biggest contribution –  the schedule adjustment – HEC Paris has helped Eselé have greater visibility online which is particularly valuable because his is seeking sponsorship.

They are also sharing his story through articles, organizing interviews, and showcasing his unique lifestyle in short videos. 

As you might imagine, Eselé’s pursuits have not come without their hardships. “It’s challenging and requires lots of discipline and organization,” he says. Eselé says his lifestyle can be lonely and it requires lots of sacrifices too, especially when it comes to spending time with family and friends. All the while, he remains determined and resilient to fulfill his passions.

“Sometimes I felt like it was me against the word because I thought I had no solutions, and then seemingly at the last minute, a person or organization decided to help me,” he says. He appreciates the university, his family and friends for their support through hardships in pursuing his path. 

ATHLETIC SKILLS TRANSLATE TO ACADEMIC SKILLS 

What skills has he learned that he can use in both athletics and academics? 

“The first are determination and resilience,” he says. “In sports we go through failure and hard times and we have to stay strong to recover. Most of the time, my best achievements were after a really hard period. That is a lesson for me because I always have to persevere.”

Eselé learned how to feed his curiosity, researching how he can improve his running technique, his diet and his habits. “This curiosity comes from academics,” he says.  

‘YOU CAN ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS’

Eselé has just one month left to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Paris for both the 100- and 200-meter races. He’ll be training in the West Indies, Belgium, and Africa.

“Pursuing both my MiM and my running career taught me that you only have to believe in your ambitions and dreams,” he says, “because sometimes even if you feel that you aren’t capable of doing great things, with hard work, determination and perseverance, you can achieve great things.”

For others hoping to pursue athletics and academics, he hopes to be the inspiration they need to take the leap.

“I realized I needed to reach the highest level in both sports and academics to show it is possible to do both, and to encourage more French institutions to develop more sports studies programs, and to also encourage young athletes to pursue both athletic/artistic ambition and academics,” Eselé says.

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