Twenty years ago, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place in St. Louis, and the Olympics were held in Turin, Italy. That was also the year Jason Brown, a Chicago-area native who spent his childhood driving back and forth to St. Louis to compete in regional competitions, remembers watching the Olympics for the first time.
Fast-forward to today, and Brown—now a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist—will be competing in the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the Enterprise Center, and the Olympics will once again take place in Italy. “It’s a full-circle moment, and the fact that I have been able to go from competing in the local rinks here, to now getting to compete at Enterprise Center, that’s crazy and so exciting,” Brown says. “Competing in the Midwest—it feels like home.”
Brown’s love for the sport started when his sister was invited to an ice-skating party in kindergarten. His parents put her in skating lessons to prepare her for the party, which ended with an ice show. “I watched my sister skate in the ice show, and there were lights and music and costumes, and everyone just looked like they were having the best time,” Brown recalls. “And that’s when I fell in love with the sport, seeing the pure joy, and these kids skating to music and expressing themselves. They looked so free out there. I still feel that way.”
That starry-eyed, sparkling perspective is an enduring one for Brown—but he soon discovered that the sport itself requires just as much grit and hard work. “I think a big part of our sport is the fact that we’re trying to make what we do look effortless,” Brown says. “But when you’re there and in person, you see just how insane the sport is—the speed, the height of the jumps, how fast we rotate, the edge work.”
Brown says there’s a massive difference between watching the sport on TV and the opportunity to see it in real life in St. Louis this month. “When you’re in the arena, you feel the environment is insane, you can feel the emotion, the stress, the anxiety, the nerves, the excitement,” he says. “There’s just something in the air that’s honestly pretty amazing.”
As Brown preps for the national championships this winter, the athlete has evolved both his physical and mental routines for a body that is now 12 years older—and wiser—than when he last competed in the Olympics.
Preparing His Body
Nutrition is always on Brown’s mind, whether on the go or at home. He does private consultations with a nutritionist or a dietician every month to keep up with his changing dietary needs based on upcoming events and schedules.
“I travel with food everywhere I go in order to keep my diet the same when I’m traveling,” he says. “For instance, half of my suitcase is just full of food for when I’m coming to St. Louis to keep the diet the same and keep things consistent. I found that the more I can do that, the better I feel, especially when traveling abroad. It helps so much with jet lag to keep things consistent when so much is not the same. To be able to fuel your body the way that you feel best has been, I found, really important.”
Brown says some people are surprised to hear that as he’s entered his early 30s, most of his training—roughly 70 percent—is off the ice. “It’s so important that I increase that supplementary training because I can’t just beat my body up the same way that I could when I was younger and just come back the next day for more.”
That training includes dry needling and working with a physical therapist on massage, as well as ballet and contemporary dance, Pilates, stretching, and cardio—either on a stationary bike or in the pool.
Your guide to a healthier, happier you
Sign up for the St. Louis Wellness newsletter and get practical tips for a balanced, healthy life in St. Louis.
Preparing His Mind
The sport’s physicality isn’t the only part that requires attention. He’s worked with a sports psychologist every week since he was 10 on how to cope with the mental aspects, the nerves of competition, and coach or relationship friction. “Having a solid sounding board that’s consistent is so, so important,” he says. “I think it’s so essential, as an athlete, to have that open dialogue and talk through your emotions, talk through what you’re experiencing, and remind you of things you may have forgotten.”
For Brown, that looks like working on breathing techniques to slow his heart rate down when it gets too amped up; learning how to pump himself up before an event; experimenting with tools to help remove mental blocks; and practicing wind-down techniques that help him fall asleep.
It’s also helped him cope with the burnout that’s inevitable at this level of sport. “There have been so many times where I’ve been so tired, and I really stopped enjoying the sport,” he says. “But when I take a step back—whether it’s a long weekend or a few days off, or sometimes it’s weeks—the amount of drive that I have to come back is exponential.”
Brown argues that taking a break from the ice—or any sport—can often allow an athlete to give more of themselves to it. “I think so often, as athletes especially, we’re so terrified to take time off because we feel like we’re going to fall behind or we’re not going to be able to catch up, or how will that look?” he says. “But there’s nothing worse than being miserable doing something that you once loved or doing something that you feel like should be enjoyable, but you’re miserable doing it. Sometimes, people might think that they’ve fallen out of love with a sport, but the reality of it is, they’re just burnt out. And you won’t know if that’s the case unless you take a step back.”
While every situation is different, Brown says scheduling off-time that he can look forward to has been a game-changer. “For me, if I have two really intense weeks of training, sometimes having a day or two that’s a little bit different—even if it’s not totally off, the schedule has changed a bit, or I’ll do a show or performance or something that shifts the perspective on things—is what it takes for me to be able to come back more fully focused.”
Preparing the Next Generation
For young skaters looking to give a sporting career a spin, Brown recommends they map out their vision but take it a step at a time. “What I’ve learned throughout my career is to keep setting these small goals,” he says. “Of course, dream big and hope for the big picture. But in terms of the day-to-day, set these small goals that you want to achieve and that you’re working towards within the process of that dream.”
Brown says that focused approach of just landing the next jump, spin, or skill has gotten him to where he is, and even now it’s what’s driving him forward. “When you are present in that way, then, you look back, and you’re like, Whoa, look how far I’ve come,” he adds. “I think if we are so fixated on something way out in the future, we lose sight of the moment and the excitement of those small victories along the way.”
Brown hopes young skaters get more from the sport than just the hard skills. “In a sport like skating, we have that opportunity to express ourselves and who we are,” he says. “I have learned so much about myself and learned so many incredible life lessons that I take with me in every aspect of my life. But that’s because of the sport, and that has nothing to do with what I achieved—it’s just through the grind.”
As for the best time to get into the fandom of competitive figure skating, Brown says, there’s no time like the present—especially locally. “I really want to stress how magical skating events are and just how insane they are, and implore St. Louis to come out, experience it for themselves, and see what a U.S. Championship is like—especially in an Olympic year,” he says. “It’s just really exciting—really exciting.”
Brown’s Daily Routine
7 a.m. Breakfast
9:15–11:45 a.m. Pilates class and personal training (body movement and physical therapy)
12 p.m. Lunch
1–3 p.m. One-two skate sessions on the rink
3 p.m. Cardio in the pool or on the bike
Until 5 p.m. Cool-down rotation of stretching, sauna, and Normatec compression recovery
6 p.m. Dinner
7–9 p.m. Unplug, read, shower, hair and skincare regimen
9 p.m. Lights out
Brown’s On-the-Go Power Snacks
One-Bag Chia Pudding
- Dry packet of protein powder
- Chia seeds
- Creatine
- Cinnamon
- Almond milk or water
- Fresh fruit as desired
“I can make multiple baggies of the dry mixture before I travel, pack them in my bag, and when I’m ready to eat it, I just add almond milk, if I can find it, or water if I can’t. Then I’ll add whatever fresh fruit I have available to top it off.”
Rice Cakes with Almond Butter
“And then I’ll add sliced apples on top of it. You can always get an apple wherever you are, for the most part. If not, then you just eat the rice cakes and almond butter—but I always make sure to travel with rice cakes and almond butter.”
