This Olympian is out, has a boyfriend and a passionate TikTok following
Nick Novak talks with Outsports about his journey to the Milan Olympics, the freedom social media has built and where he'll get that tattoo. The post This Olympian is out, has a boyfriend and a passionate TikTok following appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
No, Nick Novak did not inject his package to compete at the Olympics.
Believe it or not, that’s the question the aerial skier had to address over and over again at the Milan Winter Olympics. As news reports surfaced that some athletes in ski jumping were artificially enlarging their packages for an apparent competitive advantage (yes you read that right), hundreds of messages came into him wondering if Novak — who as an aerialist, not a ski jumper — might too.
Ski jumping, in which athletes’ success is measured by distance, is a completely different sport from aerials, a discipline in “freestyle skiing” in which athletes are judged by their flips, twists and turns in the air during jumps.
So when Novak created a TikTok video explaining this and making it clear there were no injections to his groin, it was another viral moment for the TikTok and Instagram star.
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“I did have quite a few friends send me some funny articles, especially after I talked about the ski jumpers and them potentially injecting filler,” Nick Novak told Outsports from his home in Salt Lake City. He lives there with his boyfriend of four years, who joined him at the Olympics cheering him on.
“And me being a ‘ski jumper’ in a different way, everyone and their mom was asking me if I were doing this.”
Also bubbling in the media during the Olympics was Novak being bi and having a long-term boyfriend. He’s been out on his social media for a while, and with a continued dearth of out gay and bi men competing at any Olympic Games, Novak was a rarity.
“I’ve been doing social media full-time for six-ish years. In my world any attention is good attention. It didn’t feel like I was getting too much negative attention. It only felt good, it only felt kind. It was a joy.”
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Out TikTok star Nick Novak is competing at the Milan Winter Olympics
Nick Novak competes in skiing for the Czech Republic at his first Winter Olympics. He’s talked publicly on social media about being bi.
The skier has indeed built a strong following on social media. First focusing on Vine and YouTube in the early days of his social media foray, he decided to dive into TikTok a few years ago because it looked, well, a good time.
“It was a lot of people having fun doing cute little videos,” Novak observed. “I started doing little videos for fun just for myself. And then I decided to just post some on the internet.”
It’s worked out.
Mr. Nick Novak currently has 159k followers on Instagram and over 1 million followers on TikTok.
TikTok allows Nick Novak to focus more on training
His presence on social media has opened up financial opportunities that have freed up his time and allowed him to cover more of his training costs without having to take extra jobs that pull him away from the gym and from the slopes.
In a sport that’s relatively expensive (it’s skiing, afterall), Novak doesn’t come from a family that can cover a lot of his costs the way many of the other aerialists and skiers do. While his father is a coach of his sport and able to help in that way, Novak has to cover other major costs.
“Before I started social media, I was a gymnastics teacher and I was a server at a fine-dining restaurant. And it all took a huge negative toll on my athletic career.
“For a long time I was kind of drowning. When my social media came to fruition and I had the benefits of working for myself, my ability to train at the level I needed got better and better.”
His parents taught him gymnastics, both of them born and raised in the former Czechoslovakia, traveling gymnasts who were able to escape Communist rule on a trip to Portugal.
It’s been the gymnastics background that led to Novak’s stellar aerial skiing career, and which has also in part led to huge success on social media.
Many of his most successful videos are of him dancing and lip syncing, with one added element that’s become his signature.
“I feel like what set me apart is that I do transitions,” he said. “I do flips and during those flips I’d change my outfits. I’ve always liked dancing, but there are thousands and thousands of better dancers than I am. I’m not amazing, but I can hold rhythm pretty well.”
He was even doing flips and transitions for fans while at the Milan Olympics:
Olympic dream comes true for Nick Novak
Earning a spot at the Winter Olympics was the culmination of a long-time dream for Novak.
The 30-year-old has competed on the national and international stages for a decade, at first for Team USA earning World Cup starts and a bronze medal at the U.S. Championships in 2018.
He left Team USA about a year before the 2022 Winter Olympics, joining the Czech team and representing the country of his parent’s birth — Novak is a dual citizen with the United States and Czech Republic.
Joining the Czech team has also meant his father can be his coach. Together with 2002 gold medalist Aleš Valenta they are helping to rebuild a once successful Czech aerial program.
“It’s been a wonderful opportunity where I can feel like more of a priority and help build what was once a flourishing program.”
A torn labrum in his hip cut his Olympic hopes short four years ago, but this time around he was healthy enough to qualify, fulfilling his dream.
It was being part of the Czech team that brought Novak maybe his best memory from the Milan Winter Olympics.
He was able to march in the Opening Ceremony at the beginning of the Olympics, but his competition was near the end of the schedule. That meant he had a couple weeks in Milan to spend time with athletes and watch competitions.
One of those competitions was the women’s parallel giant slalom, and Czech athlete Zuzana Maděrová landed in the final. At the finish line of the gold-medal run were a ton of people from the Czech team, and even the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel.
When Maděrová won an unexpected gold, it created a memory Novak won’t forget.
It also got him thinking.
“Watching her run, the tension, the excitement, all of my compatriots together, watching Zuzana pull ahead pretty early and take control of that race — When she won the gold everyone was crying. And watching her earn that gold medal, that really motivated me to want to go for another Olympics.”
The 2030 Winter Olympics in France seem like a long way off. Truth be told, Novak figured he’d be done after competing at these past Olympics.
“But in my heart I know I’d love to go for another Olympic cycle. But the biggest question isn’t what I want to do, it’s whether my body can handle it.”
Years ago he herniated a disc in his back. That herniation got worse in the last two years, requirement more physical therapy and care. He will probably have surgery on his back whether or not he continues competition, but if he chooses to keep going, it’ll likely be a must.
“If I’m done competing, I had an amazing career and I accomplished a lot of goals.
“But if I’m not done, I’m ready to elevate those goals.”
Where to put the Olympic rings?
With his competition future in question, another of the burning questions for Novak post-Olympics is something he’s shared on social media, a permanent decision he’s taking some time considering:
Where should he put his Olympic rings tattoo?
It’s become tradition for Olympians to get a tattoo of the five rings somewhere on their body. Diver Tom Daley put it on the side of his bicep. Swimmer Dan Jervis put it on his side. Two-time Irish Olympian Jack Woolley has it on his chest.
Novak said he’s never gotten a tattoo, so he’s taking the consideration seriously. He’s essentially narrowed it down to two spots.
One is just above his knee, on his thigh, which he’d see regularly.
But the front runner: on the side of his torso on his ribs.
“It’s fun, it’s flirty, and it’s great to have at the beach.”
You can follow Nick Novak on Instagram and on TikTok.
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The post This Olympian is out, has a boyfriend and a passionate TikTok following appeared first on Outsports.
