There are a lot of reasons Team USA snowboarder Jake Pates could have grabbed your attention during the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Perhaps you saw the 27-year-old Colorado native’s massive run in the Men’s Halfpipe Final that earned him an 8th place finish. Or maybe you’ve read about his mental health advocacy, stemming from his own experience retiring from snowboarding in 2020 due to mental health concerns. (Jake came out of retirement after four years.)
But if you know Jake primarily from his very funny TikTok content coming out of the Olympic Village in Livigno, then you’ve been privy to two very important pieces of information. First, he spent Valentine’s Day alone and is thus, in my humble opinion, the Olympic Village’s most eligible bachelor. And second, he has an absolutely massive Star of David tattoo.
Jake’s tattoo has featured prominently in multiple viral TikToks, including this one where he states he’s single. But in a recent tattoo tour, he explicitly acknowledged the tattoo and spoke to his inspiration for getting it. Pointing to the unfilled Star of David tattoo on his upper right pec in the video, Jake says it’s “for my Jewish baddies.”
@jakepates Tattoo tour by request 🤷 sorry mama #milanocortina2026
While it’s still unclear how Jake identifies when it comes to Judaism, we did slide into his DMs to ask him, and will update you all as soon as we hear back. And the good news is that Tu B’Av, the Jewish day of love, is still months away. So don’t worry, Jake! You still have plenty of time to find a Jewish baddie to spend it with.
