How Skateboarder Jagger Eaton Is Handling the Final Olympic Push

This story is part three of Men’s Health’s “Road to the Olympics” series, where six athletes share their training journeys as they prepare to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics in July. Read all of the athletes’ entries here.

When Jagger Eaton heads to Paris this year, it will be the second Olympics he’s competed in before turning 25. Eaton has loved skating since age four, when his dad gave his brother and him skateboards for Christmas. That love translated to time on the board, which surfaced prodigious talent, and translated to being sponsored by Red Bull at age nine, being the youngest competitor to compete at the X Games at the time when he was 11, and racking up major wins since then, including a bronze at the last Olympics. Last time we spoke with him, he’d just secured his slot on the team for street. Now, as he heads into the Paris games, he tells us, in his own words, how he’s preparing in the final weeks leading up to the Olympics.

WHEN YOU’RE GOING after Olympic Games, your life is very much the same. So I’m continuing to do what I’ve been doing, where I’m in the ocean in the morning, then I’m doing training around 9:30 a.m., and then I’m going to skate from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The only difference is that at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest in June, I did fall short of making the park team, which is pretty upsetting. So no more park skating for me for a little bit. But at the same time, that does open the window for me to really get after street.

One thing I did to process that is journal—I put down my feelings toward not making the team and got them out in the open so I could deal with them and still be grateful. If there are things I need to get into the open and make sure I don’t dump them on my girlfriend, my family, my manager, or anybody, I make sure I dump them in my notebook first. It keeps my outside life incredibly balanced, so that when I’m skating that’s all I’m doing. There’s so much fear and danger involved every day that if your emotions aren’t in check, they will check you.

My routine will be the same until I leave for Paris on the 20th. The traveling will be easy. Delta is managing travel; they take good care of their athletes, so I honestly don’t even lose sleep traveling any more. Usually, the hardest part is finding a routine when you get to the destination. But Paris should be easy because we’re at the Olympic Village, and it’s like a dreamland.

Everything is different this time because it’s not the Covid games. I perform well in front of a crowd, and there are going to be something like 12,000 people who all want to be there and are cheering on their countries. My whole family is going to go, which is going to be super fun and super stressful.

In addition to that, there’s going to be camaraderie and friendship and real one-on-one interactions. We’re going to be able to see other events and support Team USA. That’s going to be awesome because I’ve competed in an individual sport my whole life. I’ve always wanted to be part of a team, but I was never big enough to play football, or baseball, or basketball. I was always so jealous of MLB players who get to play all these games together.

But when you get to the Olympic games, you really feel like a team. Last time I was in Tokyo, I was there with Nyjah [Huston] and Jake [Ilardi], and we were eating together and competing together. It was so special, because it was like, ‘oh my god, this is what it feels like to be on a team.’ So I’m excited about being about being in Paris with everyone. A big part of reaching greatness is being incredibly uncomfortable. And when you’re around amazing athletes all the time, like I am so fortunate to be, you’re uncomfortable all the time, and it makes you better.

For the last three months, I’ve been around the top skaters. Going into Paris, I know what to expect. It’s a whole different ballpark when you’re dealing with Olympic pressure, but we’ve got a heavy crew; Team USA is really stacked and we’re looking at all those medals. So I’d say that what I’m doing now is working my ass off, and gold’s the only thing on my mind.

Want to follow more Olympians’ journeys? Click below to read about their training methods, wellness routines, and more.

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