Road to Paris 2024: 25-Year-Old Virginia Techie Embraces “Tunnel Vision Focus” to Qualify for Summer Olympics

Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis has been dominating pole vaulting ever since he won the 2015 World Athletics U18 Championships at the age of 15. American specialist Chris Nilsen is another prominent pole vaulter who shined at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, where the track and field athletes competed alongside the road to Paris 2024.

In hopes of joining the men’s pole vault squad for the Summer Olympics, a Virginia techie with a double master’s degree, who is also a personal trainer and volunteer assistant coach for the George Mason University track and field team is getting ready to compete against American champions in June trials.

Road to Paris 2024 lures another Olympics hopeful

“Consulting by day, Pole vaulting by night,” reads the Instagram bio of 25-year-old Jake Spotswood who works as an IT analyst from 9 to 5. However, his athletic interest in pole vaulting is among the top 40 in the country, Jake told NBC Sports. Meanwhile, the best 24 competitors move on to the trials. Still a long way ahead, in his recent interview on the CNBC Make It channel on YouTube, he declared, “I was tunnel vision focused on doing this one thing, and to do that you have to build discipline.”

Spotswood spent a lot of his childhood wakeboarding and cliff jumping in Fairhope, Alabama. His curiosity was further sparked when he saw “kids launching themselves with a pole” at his neighborhood high school during his seventh grade. He recalled, “I just went home to my parents and said, “Where can I do pole vaulting?” It was this peculiar thing that happened to work out exactly right for the alleged $11k tech earner.

Later, the University of Alabama recruited Spotswood as a decathlete; he performed exceptionally well which earned him a spot on the first team of the NCAA All-American team and shattered numerous school records. He took advantage of his additional NCAA eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic and attended Virginia Tech. Now eagerly awaiting the road to Paris 2024 qualification after a smooth professional turn, Jake is all in for his debut.

Transition to elite pole vaulting

Jake Spotswood decided to devote all of his attention to professional pole vaulting after graduating from Virginia Tech, to make it to the June Olympic trials. He has to jump 5.55 meters, or slightly over 18 feet, to be eligible for the trials. “It’s to go compete with those men and then whatever happens, happens,” he stated in the video.

READ MORE Mondo Duplantis’ Olympic Rival Ramps Up Paris 2024 Preps With USATF World Indoor Gold

Continue Reading Road to Paris 2024: Donning a World Lead, British Pole Vaulter All Set To Give Tough Competition to Team USA