Skateboard champion, Jagger Eaton, became the first American to win the bronze medal for skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics.
“When I got the opportunity three years ago to compete for my country, it blew my mind, and the fact that I’m able to sit up here with a bronze medal — I’m just the most ecstatic kid alive right now,” the 20-year-old told TODAY.
Eaton finished with a final score of 35.35, while Hoefler (Brazil) scored 36.15, and Horigome (Japan) scored 37.18. Back in 2012, Eaton made X Games history by becoming the youngest skateboarder to compete in the completion, at age 11.
The Olympian revealed he listened to music on his AirPods while performing his routine. “The music I was listening to was a bit of new rap and a little bit of old country music. They’re polar opposites, but it got me in the groove and (was) what I needed, especially without a crowd, because I’m an athlete that thrives off a crowd. It was really hard not to have that, but we made it work.”
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The Arizona skateboarder shared his exciting win on his Instagram, wearing the bronze medal, with the caption, “What a day yesterday, still can’t put it into words!! I just want to take the time to thank the people that got me here… my friends and family who have stuck this process out with me day in and day out!!”
After his win, Eaton immediately Facetimed his dad and former coach, Geoff Eaton. He told reporters, “I just started yelling. I don’t know, really — I don’t know if I made out words, I just started yelling, and I was so hyped and I’m so hyped because my whole family worked so hard for this, too. It was such a team effort. Like if anybody thinks that they did this by themselves, I mean, they didn’t. This is such a team effort to get to this level of sport and be able to be on a podium.”
Congrats to Jagger on his big win and bringing another medal home to America! Let us know what you think by dropping a reaction below or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
