Skateboarding Legend Tom Schaar on How to Fall 999 Times and Still Win | EP 603

0:00Coming up next on PassionStruck.

0:30They tell me how cool it is that I get to do this as my job. And that always reminds me, I'm very lucky that I'm not doing something else. Hopefully, if someone watches me skate, it can bring them a little bit of joy or try and inspire kids to be better. I'll try my best to be a good example. Welcome to PassionStruck. Hi, I'm your host, John R. Miles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself.

1:07If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long-form interviews the rest of the week with guests ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become PassionStruck. Welcome to PassionStruck episode 603. Whether this is your first time tuning in or you've been with us for a while, thank you for joining a movement that's all about defying limits, living with intention, and making what truly matters matter most. Now let me ask you something. What does it take to defy gravity, literally and metaphorically?

1:47What happens when a 12-year-old doesn't just dream big, but becomes the first person in the world to land a trick that even the pros thought was impossible? And how do you evolve when the moment that made you famous becomes just the beginning? Today, we're answering those questions and more with my guest Tom Scharr. Tom is not just a legend in the making, he's already made history. He's the first skateboarder ever to land a 1080 degree spin, the youngest X Games gold medalist, the youngest do-tour and Vans pool party champion, and most recently, a silver medalist at the Paris Olympics. But behind these milestones is a mindset that goes far beyond skateboarding, a fearless dedication to growth, resilience, and reinvention.

2:34In today's conversation, we dive into what it really felt like to land that historic 1080, how Tom manages fear, and why it's part of the process, the mindset shift from prodigy to Olympic medalist, how to stay grounded when the spotlight hits, and the power of redefining success over and over again. But this episode isn't just about gravity-defying tricks. It's about resilience, self-mastery and how to stay grounded when the world is watching. Before we dive in, a quick heads up. If you're looking for a space to connect with other purpose-driven high performers, we've just launched The Ignition Room, a private membership community where podcast listeners, readers, and intentional leaders like you can go deeper on the topics we explore here.

3:18Think of it as your home base for curated tools behind the scenes access and conversations that fuel your growth. Check the show notes to sign up. And if you're just getting started with PassionStruck, check out our episode starter packs, theme playlists on resilience, mindset, and emotional mastery at Spotify or passionstruck.com slash starter packs. And this week, we've had some amazing conversations. On Tuesday, I spoke with Yangai Mingyur Rinpoche, one of the world's most respected meditation masters on how to awaken your true nature. And Thursday, we unpacked how sponsorship, not just mentorship, can transform a career with Carnegie Mellon's Rosalind Chow.

3:57And I have a special announcement that we just learned about today. PassionStruck has earned two Gold Stevie Awards at the 2025 American Business Awards. PassionStruck was awarded Gold for Best Business Book, and the PassionStruck podcast was awarded Gold for the Best Independent podcast. These prestigious accolades underscore PassionStruck's mission to help individuals and organizations lead with greater meaning, intention, and humanity. And these awards validate the impact we're making through powerful storytelling, science-backed tools, and real conversations that transform lives. Now, let's jump into this inspiring episode with a living legend of skateboarding, Olympic medalist and true PassionStruck trailblazer, Tom Scharr.

4:45Thank Thank you for choosing PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life. Now, let that journey begin.

4:58I am so excited today to welcome Tom Scharr on PassionStruck. Welcome, Tom. Thank you. Thanks for having me. As you and I were getting to know each other before we came on, I can't imagine as you were going through high school the thought of being an Olympic medalist. I remember when I was in high school, I was just focused on how well could I perform in cross country or track. Looking back, did you ever in a million years imagine that you'd be where you are today when you were 14, 15, 16 years old? No, not at all. Especially because when I first started high school, they hadn't even announced yet that skating was going to be in the Olympics.

5:39up until then well it's still all right i'll finish what i was saying first but up until then i was just skating for fun or whatever and doing just because i love it and i still do that's the point i was getting to but no it was a weird transition like you could really feel it people just had this more nonchalant approach to skating and then overnight it switched and then all of a sudden everyone became athletes and not skateboarders, which was pretty funny actually. Well, how did you originally get into skateboarding? Were you a cyclist at first and then transitioned or was this kind of the first passion you had?

6:20I got into it because my older brother skated and being the little brother, I had to copy, steal whatever he was doing. That's how I got started. And yeah, no, as soon as I started, I just fell in love with it. And that's pretty much all it's been. Never looked back. Yeah. I remember you and my son are about the same age. And I remember when he was in elementary school, even in middle school, he loved the rip sticks and the scooters and really anything he could, he could find out how to ride. And he's a really good snowboarder as well. So to me, the rip stick is hard for him. He just picked it up right away.

6:55yeah snowboardings i have some beef with snowboard i broke my collarbone twice in the same season so i'm on a long hiatus from snowboarding at the moment you know what having been a skier my entire life what always does it for me is when you ski you're really leaning forward and that's what gets me on when i snowboard all the time as i catch that front lip and then those face plants hurt. Yeah, no, they do not feel good. Snow is not soft. So I'm going to take you back in history to what we were just talking about in middle school. You landed the first ever 1080 when you were just 12 years old.

7:40Can you take us back to that moment? And for a person who doesn't understand what a 1080 is, maybe explain it to them and yeah yeah what was going through your mind when you finally stuck it the 360 is just one spin around full circle and then a 1080 is just three of those so it was like you go up in the air grab your skateboard spin around three times come back down I was the first person to ever do one but I was 12 I was 13 years ago and I could honestly hardly remember it at all I don't know if it's from like maybe hitting my head a few too many times skating but my memory is not the best and I do remember that day but I really don't remember the whole process of it or like really how it came to be or like how just the idea came up or anything but I remember landing it it took five tries which was very surprising I thought it was going to take 500 or something and yeah that really changed my life pretty much I went on the Ellen show after that and did a whole bunch of crazy things that a 12 year old had no idea what any of it really meant.

8:45But yeah, it feels it's just so long ago that it feels like it was a different lifetime or a different person or something. When you look at the competition today, has the 1080 become more of a regular practice skill or is it still pretty far in between to see people do it? It's still pretty far in between there's five people that have done it now me included so it's still not that many people have done it but yeah i don't know it's it's like a weird side of skateboarding it's just like uh not everyone really enjoys or wants to be the person that spins a bunch so it's not for everybody, but it's still, I think it's cool in my book.

9:35Well, we were talking about snowboarding and I wanted to ask, what was it like to watch Sean White attempt the 1080 and then becoming the one to land at first? Did that fuel your drive at all? I think I was like seven and I'm from LA. So we used to live up there in the X games, always was in LA for a long time. So we would go, my brother was obsessed with skating. I was obsessed with skating. So we would drag our parents to take us to the x games and that i remember i like remember i think i was like seven when i saw him try it but i remember just being it was in staple center they had the big vert ramp set up and it was pretty crazy but i remember seeing sean try it a few times and he almost did one and then i think time ran out for the contest but yeah i mean i don't really i don't know if that exactly connects with why i tried it maybe it does like subconsciously from being a kid But that is pretty strange that I saw him try it first and then I somehow did it years later.

10:34For your sport, the X Games are really the pinnacle. Can you explain how they in the sport differ from the Olympics? Because X Games is where the sport became the sport. And it's more recently started to become an Olympic sport. Is that a good way to understand it? Exactly. X Games has been like our Olympics for the longest time. it's where a lot of pretty groundbreaking stuff for action sports have happened. Tony Hawk doing the 900, Travis Pastrana doing the double backflip on the dirt bike. A lot of stuff is because of the X Games and what they've done for action sports is pretty remarkable.

11:16A lot of people, I guess, well, just, we wouldn't be doing much without X Games. They really put action sports onto like a whole nother level for everybody to see. But yeah, that was all we had for a while. So it really, going from X Games to the Olympics is a pretty crazy jump, but I think it prepared us pretty well for what to expect. For people who aren't familiar with you, I'm going to just go down this path a little bit longer so it makes sense why I'm asking you some of the questions later on in our discussion. Not only did you shock the world when you landed that 1080, but then you shocked them even more when you became the youngest X Games gold medalist after winning the Asian X Games in Shanghai.

12:06Can you walk us back to that experience? How much of that do you remember? How much do I remember? I remember just being in China with my mom at 11 or 12, which is a pretty crazy experience. Just getting lost everywhere we were going. It was pretty fun, though. That was like the first time I really got to meet like all these other guys that I would end up skating with over the rest of my life. And they were all very nice to me, which is cool. And they're all very supportive. And yeah, that was a crazy moment. I didn't really know what I was getting into going into that contest or anything. But yeah, I guess I could launch the beginning of my competitive skating career in a way.

12:49Well, you hear a lot about parents who take their kids all over the place because they're doing club sports, whether that's club soccer or club volleyball or club hockey. But it's next level when you're a parent and you take your kids to China. Yeah. How in the world did you convince your mom to do that? I have no idea. That's a great question. She's been to China with me, Australia, Brazil, everywhere you can think of pretty much. I can see going to Australia. I love every time I go there. You're right about China though. I've been to Shanghai myself and man, it's such a big city with so much going on.

13:32It's a lot different from the US. Yeah. So not only were you not satisfied with one record-breaking feat, you also became the youngest Dew Tour champion, the youngest Van Pools party champion, and the youngest Big Air gold medalist. It's like one after another. I had to have, yeah, I don't know. I guess where I wanted to go with this is how did breaking these barriers so young shape your mindset for where you are now in your career? Do you feel like it's a blessing or do you feel like it's a challenge to have to live up to those moments when you've accomplished so much already? Definitely both.

14:19I think when I was younger, I was very like vert skating oriented and that was all I knew. I probably couldn't kickflip on flat until I was like 14 or something, which is very embarrassing. But I think as I got older, I either just got burnt out on skating vert and just mega ramps and I don't know I just lost interest in it somehow but skating started to kind of transition into more of what the Olympic park format looks like like concrete bowls and that kind of skating so I slowly transitioned from vert and mega into that and I think when I was younger I was pretty good at vert and mega and then those few years that I was transitioning was it just I felt a little lost I didn't really know exactly what I was getting into but then I got older I got stronger and figured out where I felt like I belonged in the world of skating and everything started to click again which I'm very happy about because there was a few years I was like I don't know what I'm doing right now there's definitely a large break in my competitive skating or not really a break i was still doing contests and whatnot but i was just trying to figure out how i fit in kind of in a way yeah i'm going to come back to that in a second because i don't care if you're a skateboarder you're jumping off the ski jump you're doing the tricks in the terrain park you're doing the Sean White types of things, all of these things demand a tremendous amount of overcoming fear.

15:59How did you process that fear? Because I guess before you ever landed the 1080, you probably had to practice that thing a thousand times and probably wiped out about 990 of them that's funny actually some random kid on instagram just dm'd me and asked me like the exact same question he was like are you scared when you skate and to be honest i'm terrified most of the time some of the stuff is pretty scary but that's there's a fine line that you have to ride along because if it's not scary then there's not really much of a reward it feels like but at the same time don't hurt yourself but you just got to take things slowly take a trick and break it down into smaller pieces and kind of work on the individual parts of it until you feel you have the confidence to try and actually do the trick but most of skating is that's really it it's just mostly confidence if you you get to a certain point in skating where you know you can do certain things but you just have to remind yourself that you know you can do them because a lot of it just testing the waters and seeing what feels right but I don't know where I was going with that one exactly but back to the point is there's I think every skater is scared of what they're doing but you just learn to let that sit with you and just yeah I guess it's like a kind of fight or flight situation that you get into when you're trying new stuff?

17:34I myself am not a Navy SEAL, but I spent time working with them and deploying with them when I was in the service. And one of the things that I learned while I was with them is to get over fear. We did a lot of exercises that involved breath work, mindfulness, yoga, things like that. are any of those types of techniques things that you've employed at all for yeah i think so i think a really good one is to just stay present too just because a lot of the fear that you'll have is from thinking of what could go wrong but that's just thinking into the future of something that hasn't happened yet because if you're trying a trick and you're scared that you might get hurt doing it.

18:21Well, you don't know if you're going to get hurt because you haven't tried it yet. So I think it's just about staying in the present and just trying to not really think about what could go wrong or what could go right even. Just staying in that moment while you're going to try something. I remember I was interviewing Heather Moyse. You probably have never heard who that is, but she's a Canadian Olympian who's won a couple medals in the bobsled. And she was telling me first time she ever got in the bobsled, she was in the two-seater and she was behind the driver and no one really gave her any instructions.

18:55So she said that they're starting to fly down this course and she didn't know that she's supposed to duck her head. And so she's going down and she's getting the full feel of gravity and starting to pull all these G's. And she told me she's about ready to, she's starting to freak out because she sees how fast they're going. And then almost blacks out and the force ends up pushing her down. But she definitely told me that in bobsledding, fear is one of the main things that you have to overcome because when they bite it, they bite it really hard. Yeah. Yeah. So I want to talk about mindset for a little bit.

19:36Skateboarding, to me, has got to be one of the most mentally demanding sports. because you're constantly pushing limits, you're constantly risking failure and that failure has got to get to you after a while. How do you like mentally prepare yourself for that failure and to keep attempting new tricks? It's a great question. I get very frustrated a lot while I'm skating because it's just a lot of, like you said earlier, you're going to try something 999 times, but on the thousandth try, you'll land it eventually and but yeah that a thousandth try feels pretty good after falling 999 times it's really yeah it's a lot of it's just it's just a long process every for me at least there's a lot of people that learn and pick up skating very fast but for me every trick I've ever tried to learn is has been a struggle at some point whether I learned it when I was a kid or now but yeah it's just a lot of kind of making yourself just keep trying stuff and you're gonna fail absolutely it's just it's not avoidable but that's that's why i like it though it's just always this process of failing and learning from your failure and kind of continuously improving on what you've learned and even if you don't end up landing a trick you'll still be learning from that and the more you fall, the more you'll figure out stuff.

21:08And it's just this, it's like a chess game in your head until you finally figure out exactly what you're doing wrong. And then it all clicks. One of the things that I talk a lot about on this podcast is the need to push boundaries and you can't ever stay comfortable with where you're at. And one of the big things, whether you're an executive, whether you're a coach, whether you're an athlete, is the mental blocks that come about when trying to push boundaries. And you talked about this earlier where you went through a period of time where things weren't just clicking like they had before. When those doubts crept in, how do you analyze them?

21:53How do you overcome them? Because this is something that a lot of people face, a lot of people who are a lot older than you. Yeah. For me, I just, I took a really big step back and just kind of looked. I just tried to figure out where I wanted to be and fit into this skating world. It was never like the idea of me like stopping never came into my head. I just didn't really know where I fit in. And I think just kind of trying to, I don't know, just do your own thing is kind of what I figured out. If you love what you're doing, like it'll eventually it'll all come together. And I think that's what happened for me.

22:33I just found a different path and I'm very glad that it worked out though. So I wanted to go to Paris for a little bit. So it was a little bit in doubt that you would even go to Paris. Can you talk a little, talk us through that story? Yeah, I barely qualified by the skin of my teeth. I missed out on the first the Tokyo Olympics well the first one for skating and I missed it they take three Americans and I was the fourth by five points or something crazy and then going into this one I was number four again by five points again and the last qualifying stop was in Budapest which was like June like right before the Olympics and I had to get second place and the person that was in third had to get like 16th or something like that like it was very long shot chances that it was going to happen because the person that was in third was very good they would always do well in the contest and somehow going into the finals I didn't really wasn't really paying attention to the placings or anything but he was in 16th and the finals were about to start and I was like oh my god this could happen and then I ended up in second so it was like the exact number of points or whatever I needed to qualify and I barely made the team but then I think that kind of helped me because I got to Paris with the mindset of I'm not really supposed to be here so I'm just gonna have fun and try and take everything in and I think that helped me mentally instead of knowing months prior to the Olympics that I was gonna make it and really stressing out for a long time i just got thrown in and was like okay i gotta just deal with this which i think was honestly maybe better for me it makes you just wonder about what goes through the mind of sean white who we talked about or simone viles or some of these athletes who are expected to win and have all that pressure and to feel like you got a whole country like begging you to win and then when you don't that's a lot of pressure it is that's why i was so happy for sean that last olympic when people push through man it's like the hero story that was a very special one so i i understand that you got to meet snoop dogg i did i did he was just bouncing around during all the different events and it was like this myth you'd be like you'd hear rumors be like oh snoop's here we'd all be looking around for him and then we saw him he came to the skating and he was sitting up up top next to Tony Hawk.

25:11They were all hanging out. And then like midway through the finals, he started to leave. But as my run started, they played a Snoop Dogg song. And I could hear it. I had my headphones in. I was listening to my own music, but I could hear it over my headphones. And as I was about to drop in, I just started smiling because I like saw him walking down the like exit path. And then song came on and I dropped in. And then I landed my run. I popped out of the bowl and he was like the first person I saw. He was like 10 feet away from me. And then he like yelled at me, he's like, come over here. And he gave me like a high five, gave me a hug.

25:47And then, yeah, I met him for five seconds, but I'm counting it for sure. That is pretty awesome. Yeah. I just have to ask you, I watched the opening ceremonies and I thought that the French did a really cool job of how, as the boats were going down, they were showing all these different events that kind of traced the history of France. How much of that did you get to experience being on the boat? I'm guessing it might have been something better to watch on TV than be there, but I'm interested in your perspectives. It was still very cool from the boat. It was pouring rain, which was rough, but it didn't affect me that much.

26:29I felt bad for the girls that were in full makeup and then looked like their mascara was running and everything by the end of it. But for me, it was fine. It was just a little cold and wet, but we still got to see the whole setup and all the different kind of, just, they set up everything. It was really cool. Just going down the river. They had a little skate park, floating skate park in the river that they, we went past. And then we, what's the band Gojira, the metal band, I think they were set up. It was cool, but we only got to see these parts of it for 30 seconds as we floated by, but seeing everything was pretty cool.

27:01Did you ever go back and watch it on video? No, I haven't actually. I haven't seen that. Yeah, they just made it so dramatic. There were a couple of things I thought were cheesy like the dude who kept jumping over buildings the whole time. There's always going to be some cheesy stuff, but yeah. But I thought some of the performances on TV were just amazing. Yeah, I saw some of it on Instagram. It definitely was cool looking. Tell me about, you told me you didn't expect like you had to perform. You weren't expected to medal. You didn't have this heavy weight of pressure on you, which made you feel like you could just go out there and just go for it.

27:40Can you lead us through what was happening in the competition and when did you realize that you had a shot to be on the medal podium? It really wasn't going into it. I hold expectations of myself. I have my own goals, but going into it, I just really was just happy to be there. I was just enjoying hanging out in the village and just seeing all my friends, enjoying the fact that we made the team actually. And I was doing more of being like a tourist than being an Olympic athlete, honestly, which I think like really did help though. Cause I saw, I mean, there's 10 ,000 of us in the village or something.

28:24And I saw everyone and there was just, it's just this like, such a serious vibe going on and everybody just, no one's really talking to each other. It's not like a very friendly experience. Like everyone's there to, everybody is there to win. So it's not everyone is going to win. So it's just like frenemy, not between the skaters at all, but more the other sports. kind of this like just a weird kind of vibe so I was just trying to have fun I was running around doing dumb stuff in the village the whole time and I think just trying not to like super stress out over it like I definitely was mentally preparing and getting ready for it I wasn't just like goofing around the whole time but I think just having fun was more what I was getting that than pretending like this is a life or death moment.

29:21The future depends on this or whatever. I was just having fun with my friends. And when did you realize that you would want a medal? Did you know immediately? I nailed it. I had my whole run planned out. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And you never know how the judges are going to judge your run, really. Skating is a very subjective sport so it's hard to tell one thing for someone can be really hard and it can be easy for someone else so it's hard to really put a perfect score on a skateboarding run but i think for the most part i think 95 99 of the time the judges nail it they usually they're all professional skaters and they know what they're talking about they know what they're looking at so but i just wanted to land my run like I knew what I went there to try and do and I ended up landing it and I honestly didn't really care if they put me in last place or if they put me in first I just wanted to go do what I wanted to do and that would have been good enough for me and I noticed I got a good score for it and I was like that's that could hold for a while and it did I stayed I got put in second and I stayed in second the whole rest of the contest well congratulations again thank you And I have to talk about two things more about related to the Olympics.

30:43I heard you on another show, a person asked you, what was your favorite thing about the Olympics? And you told them table tennis. Oh, by far. It was so cool. Like how competitive, I haven't seen those matches like in person. So you can't really judge the speed and stuff. What's it like? The ball is just teleporting from side to side. You can't even follow it with your eyes. It's, but those were like more of the very locked in people that I saw in the village. They were not there to have fun. They were there to win. And it was cool. I admired that intensity, but it was crazy. I went, we saw the mixed doubles finals and it was crazy.

31:27It's in a smaller like arena. It was like a high school basketball size stadium. And it was just packed. Like there was 5 ,000, 6 ,000 people in there and it was loud. Like it was insanely loud. You had to be completely silent while they were playing. But as soon as somebody scored these 6 ,000 people just yelling, it was pretty cool. But some of those rallies go on for so long and there's so much strategy behind it. Speed, all the spins that they do. Cause I'm like you, I grew up playing ping pong all the time with my brother. and I always thought of myself as a pretty good ping pong player and until I remember I was at a family camp one year and there happened to be an Asian when I say Asian they were I can exchange student over from Japan or China and I played them and I got literally annihilated it's crazy they'll be 20 feet behind the table still hitting it as hard as they can and it's it was pretty fun to watch.

32:28Okay. And then I got to get real here. So here you are, you won silver medal. You're this Olympian. And do I have it right that you flew home in a middle seat? Yes, I did. I did. To be fair, I changed my flight to come home early. I was supposed to stay for the closing ceremonies and everything, but not everybody stayed all the way from opening ceremonies till closing and our event was pretty much at the end of the two-week Olympic window so by the time I was done skating I just wanted to go home and I also I got maybe three hours of sleep the night before the contest I just couldn't go to sleep it was like 4 a.m when I finally did I had to be up at 7 so it was a very long 48 hours after that and then I went I got home the night after the event at 4 a.m.

33:29again, and I had to be up at 6 to do interviews. I got five hours of sleep in the course of 48 hours, so I was dying. So I just wanted to go home, and that was the only seat that was available. So I was like, it's fine. Thanks, NBC. It was all right. Okay, so I'm going to go back to some of the main stuff we talk about on the show. One of the core things that we like to talk about on this podcast is this innate need to feel like we matter, to feel like we belong, that our lives hold some form of significance, not just about success, but in how we impact others. Do you feel like your skating truly matters beyond the competition?