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Jack Zimmermann to Represent Canada at the Olympics
Former junior hockey star talks switching sports, the return to the spotlight, and how it feels to be representing his country in the newest Olympic sport.
Sarah Peterson . CBC Sports . Posted: May 27, 2020 4pm EST
The title of this article isn’t a particularly surprising title. In fact, it’s one that many Canadians expected to be reading for years. What comes as a surprise is that Jack Zimmermann, 29, won’t be representing Canada as a hockey player in the Winter Olympics, but will instead be competing in the newest Summer Olympic sport: skateboarding.
Expected to go first in the 2009 NHL Draft, Zimmermann overdosed on what he would later reveal was anxiety medication and dropped out of the draft. Despite many in the hockey world anticipating his return, he vanished from public view until resurfacing at a 2013 skateboarding competition. Today I sat down with him to talk about his journey from Junior hockey to Olympic skateboarding.
SP: First I’d like to say congratulations! Making it to the Olympics is an impressive feat.
JZ: Thank you.
SP: Your path to professional skateboarding was pretty unusual, can you talk a little about that journey?
JZ: Haha. Yes it was. I started skateboarding when I was 11 after getting a board for my birthday. I loved it, but by the time I was in the Q (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) I had stopped. I didn’t have time for much besides hockey, and I couldn’t risk an injury. I think most people know that I overdosed the night before the draft and that effectively ended my hockey career. I had been abusing my anxiety medication for almost a year at that point and ended up spending a few months in rehab. When I got out I struggled pretty heavily with depression, but finally with the encouragement of both my therapist and mom I started skateboarding again. It was a great way for me to do something I loved without all the pressure of hockey.
SP: Did you ever consider going back to hockey?
JZ: For the first few months after my overdose hockey was still the plan. But I got to the point where I was pretty sure that going back to hockey would kill me. I loved it, I still do, but it wasn’t worth my life.
SP: Your first skateboarding competition was in 2013, what happened in those in-between years?
JZ: Once I’d decided that I was done with hockey I really had no idea what to do. Hockey had been the plan since day one. I started applying to college since that’s what other people my age were doing. In an effort to get as far away from hockey as possible I ended up going to California for school. That was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. I met some of my closest friends, and my husband there, and it’s how I got introduced to the competitive skateboarding scene.
SP: How did that happen?
JZ: One of my good friends introduced me to his girlfriend Lardo (Larissa Duan, representing Vietnam in street skating). She in turn introduced me to Ransom (Justin Oluransi, also representing Canada in park skating). After that my life was pretty much just school and skating. Ransom was the one to suggest I start competing, so I have him to thank for me being here.
SP: How did your parents handle the change?
JZ: Haha. I know a lot of people expected my dad to be disappointed when I didn’t follow in his footsteps, but especially after everything that happened surrounding the draft he just wanted me to be happy. They were pretty confused at first though, when I told them I was going to start doing skateboarding competitions. I don’t think either of my parents had any idea that skateboarding could be a career. But they’ve always been very supportive. My dad cried when he found out that I made the Olympic team.
SP: Skateboarding isn’t as popular in Canada as hockey is, so this is the first time you’re getting a lot of press coverage. How does it feel to be back in the spotlight?
JZ: I don’t mind so much anymore. I’m in a much better place with my mental health than I was as a teenager, and the media attention I’m getting now is not nearly as invasive as it was back then. Being in the spotlight as a kid felt like nothing but pressure, but now I see it as an opportunity to grow the sport and inspire young skaters.
SP: Thank you for taking the time to talk. Best of luck in the games.
JZ: Thank you, I hope to make Canada proud.
You can watch Jack Zimmermann, and Justin Oluransi in the park skating finals, July 30th 3pm EST on CBC. Zimmermann is projected to place in the top ten, Oluransi is projected to medal.
The Zimmermann Olympic Legacy
How Jack Zimmermann seized his second chance at being a professional athlete to become the second person in his family to be an Olympian.
In a turn of events no one would have predicted following Jack Zimmermann’s overdose and withdrawal from the NHL Draft in 2009, Zimmermann, now 29, is headed to the Tokyo Olympics as part of Canada’s first Olympic Skateboarding team.
Zimmermann first started making headlines in his teens during his meteoric rise in Quebec’s Major Junior Hockey League. Expected to go first in the draft, many predicted a hockey career that would challenge his father, Bad Bob Zimmermann’s in greatness. Bob Zimmermann represented Canada in the 1980 Winter Olympics. When Jack Zimmermann withdrew from the draft and vanished from the world of hockey, most assumed, Zimmermann included, that was the end of any hope that two generations of Zimmermanns would be Olympians.
“I was sure that when I decided to quit hockey that was the end of my future as a professional athlete.”
So, how did Zimmermann go from rehab to the Olympics? He explains that he started skateboarding again as part of his treatment plan.
“When I got out of rehab my mental health was still a mess. Quitting hockey left a huge hole in my life, my therapist at the time thought finding a new passion would help. I loved skateboarding as a kid and figured it was a decent place to start.”
After a year in Montreal working on his mental health and spending most of his time at skateparks, he had a decision to make.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but that year without hockey was the happiest I'd been in years. My panic attacks had stopped completely and my anxiety was much better managed. In the end I couldn’t sacrifice that for hockey.”
So, what did he do? He went to college. For many young people, college is important to their future careers and it was no different for Zimmermann, but in unexpected ways. He earned a degree in History, but more importantly met a few people who would change his life.
Zimmermann got introduced to Larissa “Lardo'' Duan, an up and coming skateboarder at the time. She in turn introduced him to Justin “Ransom'' Oluransi and the world of competitive skateboarding. In 2013, Zimmermann competed in his first competition and, as he likes to say, “the rest is history.”
For the next several years Zimmermann rose the ranks of skaters, got several sponsorships, and cemented himself as a professional skater.
He made some headlines in 2018, when he came out as bisexual after announcing his engagement to celebrity baker Eric “Bitty” Bittle, whom he also met in college.
“I never really thought of it as a coming out,” Zimmermann said when asked. “Everyone who knew me already knew. Bitty and I were private about our relationship for personal reasons, but it was never a secret.”
Many speculated that his sexuality was the ultimate reason he decided to quit playing hockey, but he denies this.
“I quit hockey for the sake of my mental health, being bisexual had nothing to do with that. Although I am aware that had I decided to keep playing I might not have been able to be as open about my relationships as I have been. But that didn’t factor into my decision.”
For most people, especially hockey fans, Zimmermann making the Olympic team was the first they’d heard about him since 2009. There was especially interest in how Bob Zimmermann felt about the career change and his son’s success.
“I’ll admit, I was a little confused in the beginning. I had no idea that professional skateboarder was a real career.”
And now?
“All I ever wanted was for Jack to be happy. To see him be happy and in the Olympics is incredible. I’m so proud.”
In terms of sports comebacks, Jack Zimmermann’s is remarkable both in scale and style. Very few people are incredible in one sport, let alone two. Just how successful will his return to the sports spotlight be? Only time will tell.
Zimmermann will compete in the park skating event on July 30th, 3pm EST. Zimmermann is not projected to medal, but is expected to finish in the top ten.
Tommy Fitzpatrick, Sports
From California skateparks to the Tokyo Olympics
Popular skateboarding trio Larissa Duan, Justin Oluransi, and Jack Zimmermann sit down to talk about their journey to Tokyo and their success at the games.
One of the friendships that delighted fans during this year's Summer Olympics was that of skateboarders Larissa "Lardo" Duan (Vietnam), Justin “Ransom” Oluransi (Canada), and Jack Zimmermann (Canada). Skateboarding was at the games for the first time this year, and the three were stars in the new event. Duan won gold in street skating while Oluransi and Zimmermann brought home silver and bronze respectively in park skating. Today they spoke with the Olympic Channel about how they met and what it means to have Olympic medals.
Duan and Oluransi met at a California skatepark in 2010 and became fast friends. They met Zimmermann in 2011 when he moved to California for school.
OC: So tell me a little bit about your first meetings, how did things work out?
O: For Lardo and I it was the case where we kept seeing each other at the same place and eventually started talking. It turned out we had a lot in common beyond just our love of skateboarding.
D: Ah, yes, the “my parents don't approve of my life choices” connection.
OC: Care to explain that?
O: My older sister is a pharmacist, my younger sister is an engineer. My parents wanted me to be a doctor. You can imagine how well it went over when I told them I wasn’t going to medical school so I could skateboard for a living.
D: We liked to joke, what was harder for me: Telling my parents I was going to art school, or telling them I was dropping out of art school to skateboard? It’s hard when you know you love something and want to do it, but at the same time don’t want to disappoint your parents who worked so hard to provide you with a good life.
O: Fortunately, things worked out for the both of us and we've been able to do what we love and also be sucessful.
OC: You have the medals to prove it!
D: As for Jack, my boyfriend introduced us. He said that Jack skated, but I'll admit I assumed he wouldn't be very good. I was surprised to see how skilled he was.
Z: The only thing she said to me the first time we met was that I was stiffer than my board and needed to loosen up.
D: Yeah bro, and I was right!
O: Lardo introduced him to me and it was much more dramatic. I’m Canadian and my best friend played Junior hockey for a couple years so I knew about Jack and everything that happened to him. It was kind of like seeing a ghost. People online were speculating that he was dead and his parents were covering it up, but instead he was grinding rails in a California skatepark.
Duan was the first to score a sponsorship, and dropping out of school turned out to be a smart for her. Less than a year after dropping out she won her first X Games medal. Two years later Oluransi would win one of his own. In 2018 Zimmermann would finally win one himself.
While the three train and live in California, none of them decided to compete for the United States. For Oluransi it was a matter of citizenship (he only has Canadian citizenship), while Duan and Zimmermann are both dual citizens. But they say the decision was easy.
Z: Although I spent the first few years of my life in Pittsburgh, I was born in Montreal and spent the majority of my childhood in Canada. I still consider myself more Canadian. Also, my dad represented Canada in the Olympics so it felt right for me to do the same.
D: For me there was really no choice at all. I was born in Vietnam and it’s a meaningful part of my identity. To be able to compete for Vietnam at the Olympics was really important to me and my family.
Duan won Vietnam’s first women’s gold medal when she won the street skating event. After a stellar performance by Oluransi, and a better than projected performance by Zimmermann, Canada brought home silver and bronze in the park skating event.
OC: Last question. How does it feel to have won some of the first Olympic skateboarding medals?
Z: I know among everyone at their best I’m not in the top three, but I was able to have my best showing when it counted, so I feel very lucky. Haha. You know a lot of people used to wonder if I’d win more Stanley Cups than my dad, but I guess I’ll have to settle for more Olympic medals.
O: It’s honestly a dream come true. When I was 9 and scrounging for scrap wood so I could skate in my basement in the Winter, I could never have imagined that I’d ever be at the Olympics, let alone winning a silver medal.
D: It means so much. Not only to be someone my parents can be proud of, and to have proof that all my hard work has paid off, but also to have been able to do it representing Vietnam. It means a lot to me and my family. It’s the most important thing I’ve ever done.
You can find links to their individual post-competition interviews here and information about the charity the trio founded here.