“I don’t have an answer to what is next, so that’s a little bit of a first for me.” Jason Brown said after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Jason Brown wasn’t done yet, but he toyed with the idea. After delivering a career-best Olympic performance at Beijing 2022, improving on his Sochi debut eight years prior, he had checked every box. So what was left? Rather than chasing another medal, he performed in 100 skating shows instead of committing to a full competition schedule. But then, just when it seemed he wouldn’t feature, he showed up at the 2023 World Championships in Japan and finished fifth. He had a plan: one last push for the 2026 Olympics. But this season, his trusted skates failed him. His confidence wavered. He vanished for months. Then, when everybody felt this was the end….

He returned! On Thursday night in Boston, cheers erupted. Against all odds, Jason Brown was back, fighting, thriving! Brown missed two competitions leading up to worlds at Boston, sidelined by an unexpected foe—his skates. The boots he had relied on for years no longer worked. His highest-value jump, the triple Axel, became a nightmare. He botched eight attempts across three autumn competitions. The equipment struggles peaked at the U.S. Championships in January, forcing him to withdraw. He tried everything from duct tape, extra padding, and new tongues. Nothing worked. Two days before pulling out of Nationals, he accepted reality. A fresh start was needed. On Feb. 3, he switched to a different boot manufacturer.

Now, after months of uncertainty, he performed at the 2025 ISU World Championships. He fought through under-rotations, landed his first triple Axel of the season (though slightly under-rotated), and salvaged a shaky triple-triple combo.“I felt like I was out there attacking. I felt calm…Oh, it’s like, ‘That was disappointing,’ on the last jumping element. But, that said, I’m really proud of the attack.” The artistry? Still breathtaking. The score?

84.72—12th place. “I’m proud of the fight that I’ve had this season,” Jason Brown said to Olympics.com Today. “Every single time I felt like I got knocked down, me and my coaches and sports psych and my family rallied… We were like, ‘No, we’re going to keep pushing, we’re going to figure this out.'” And Boston had seen this determination before. Eleven years ago, Brown’s Riverdance free skate in this very arena led him to his first Olympics at Sochi.

Now, at Boston, his signature artistry shone—deep edges, seamless transitions, breathtaking flexibility. The technical struggles remained, but his presence on the ice was unmistakable. Jason Brown’s longtime coach, Tracy Wilson, stood by him through every setback. A few months after the 2022 Winter Olympics, they mapped out a four-year plan for his competitive future. Through injuries, equipment failures, and doubts, they kept pushing. “I’m so proud of that,” Brown said.

Now think about this: Setbacks are inevitable, but comebacks define champions. For Jason Brown, the journey wasn’t just about performances, it was about resilience, reinvention, and the road ahead!

Setbacks, Comebacks, and the Road Ahead for Jason Brown

In 2014, Jason Brown was just a 19-year-old with a ponytail and a dream, standing on the ice at TD Garden in Boston. He had no idea that his Riverdance-themed free skate would change everything. But when the music hit and he brought the crowd to its feet, his life shifted overnight. The performance exploded on YouTube—3.5 million views in just three weeks. “I thought this is normal, this is what comes with making an Olympic team,” Brown said in 2022. “But I hadn’t gone through it before.”

The road ahead wasn’t smooth. After winning a bronze in the team event at Sochi and finishing ninth in singles, he faced a crushing blow—missing the 2018 Olympics. For many athletes, that’s the end. But not for Jason! He made a drastic move, leaving Colorado for Toronto and switching coaches. He rebuilt from the ground up.

His comeback peaked at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where he finished sixth. It wasn’t a medal, but it proved something: He wasn’t done. “I had three goals when I moved to Toronto, and I was fortunate enough to have checked them all off.” But then came a radical idea. Brown and his coach, Tracy Wilson, designed an unconventional four-year plan for the 2026 Olympics, fewer competitions, more show skating, and a focus on staying mentally fresh. It was a strategy to keep him competitive at 31.

Then, everything unraveled. His triple Axel, always a challenge, became a nightmare. “There were times when I was talking with Tracy and I was saying, ‘Is this maybe the end? Am I getting old?‘” he admitted. And then, the boots. His “Hanukkah boots” from 2022 were falling apart, held together by sheer willpower. But every new pair gave him unbearable hip pain.  Then came the breaking point, he had to withdraw from the January 2025 U.S. Championships. Two days before the official announcement, he knew: His boots were done.

Then, on February 3rd, everything changed. Now, all eyes are on Milan Cortina 2026. Jason Brown isn’t done yet!