Sports
From a Bet With His Dad to Rio: Evan Jager’s Road to the Olympics
Jager is among 23 athletes from Illinois who will be competing in the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which kick off on Friday.
ALGONQUIN, IL - When Evan Jager was 12 years old, his father made a bet with him.
Joel Jager could tell his son had a gift as a runner and challenged him to run a mile — which Evan then did in 6 minutes and 12 seconds. Wanting to push him to a faster time, Joel Jager asked Evan how fast he thought he could one day run the mile.
Evan Jager set that goal at five minutes. And his dad said once he did that he would buy him a Ford Mustang.
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“I have no recollection of why I said five minutes,” Evan Jager told Patch in a 2012 interview. “But I just told him I could. Part of the reason why I said five minutes, I guess, was because I have always been someone to set the bar extraordinarily high for myself.”
By the end of 8th grade, Evan Jager had a Mustang sitting in his driveway. And now, Jager, of Algonquin, is making his second trip to the Olympics where he will compete in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
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My story began in Algonquin, IL where I dreamed of being a pro runner. Now I will be competing on our sport's biggest stage! @NIKE #JUSTDOIT
— Evan Jager (@EvanJager) July 21, 2016
In high school, Jager won four state titles for Jacobs in track and cross-country, the Northwest Herald reports. He then headed to Wisconsin for a year before leaving with Badgers coach Jerry Schumacher to run professionally in Oregon with Nike.
Jager, a 2007 graduate of Jacobs High School, competed in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase finals at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012, finishing in sixth place with a time of 8:23.87.
At that time, Jager had only competed in the men's steeplechase race seven times. Jager, who has always been a strong distance runner, seems to have found his true niche in the steeplechase.
He qualified for the Rio Olympics after finishing in first place in the 3,000-meter men’s steeplechase at the Olympic Trials earlier last month.
The opening ceremonies of the Olympics will be at 6 p.m. on Friday. And Round 1 of the men’s steeplechase is slated for 8:25 a.m. on Aug. 15.
More via Evan’s Team USA profile. You can also follow him on Twitter and check out his website.
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