For many Olympic hopefuls, the financial burden of training and competition remains a constant challenge. For figure skaters, those costs are even steeper, and one teenage American prodigy has now turned to GoFundMe to keep his Olympic dream alive. His goal is not just to make it to the Games, but to achieve a historic first for American men on the sport’s biggest stage.

Because for Jacob Sanchez, it’s not just the chance to be an Olympian. For him, it’s the chance to become the first-ever Latino male figure skater to represent the USA at the Olympics. That’s exactly what his GoFundMe page reflects, with over $ 7,000 already raised by the end of the World Championships.

“Some dreams are bigger than one family can carry alone,” reads the GoFundMe page. “Jacob Sanchez’s dream is one of them. Jacob isn’t just fighting for a spot on Team USA—he is fighting to become the first Latino male figure skater to represent the United States at the Olympics.”

“For a young skater from the Hudson Valley, that dream once felt impossible… until he worked day after day, year after year, to make it real. Behind every early morning practice and every late-night training session is a story of sacrifice, love, and unshakeable belief.”

Born on April 23, 2007, in Middletown, New York, Sanchez started skating at age five after trying figure skates instead of hockey ones at Hudson Valley Figure Skating Club. Now based in Montgomery, New York, the 170 cm tall student trains 20-24 hours weekly under 1984 Olympic pairs bronze medalists Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov, with choreography by Adam Blake.

He aims to pioneer as the first Latino male U.S. Olympic figure skater and supports Diversify Ice. His mother launched a GoFundMe in late 2025 seeking $25,000 for training, coaching, and travel expenses amid his rising career, featured in the Olympic Dreams documentary.

The page further added, “His family has held this dream with everything they have—financially, emotionally, and spiritually—because they know what it would mean for Jacob, and for every child who has never seen themselves represented on the ice.”

And the 18-year-old’s performances over the last few years have defined him, making him one of the standout junior American stars. He won the silver medal at the 2018 U.S. Juvenile Championships in his final tournament as a juvenile before moving up to the junior category.

After struggling initially, Sanchez has since thrived, winning the silver medal at the 2023 US Junior Championships and the gold medal at the Coupe du Printemps that same year.

He then competed on the 2023/24 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit and was named to the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics team, where he won a silver medal in the team event and the short program in the individual event, although he finished fourth overall. The next few years saw Jacob Sanchez do well yet again, winning four gold medals at the junior and senior levels, including at the Tallinn Trophy.

It has seen Sanchez’s confidence rise, even if he is the only figure skater of Puerto Rican descent, as has been the case at most top competitions. However, the teenager is hoping to change that.

Jacob Sanchez hoping to be the catalyst to increase minorities in skating

And Jacob Sanchez’s performances will definitely help with that. The 18-year-old did exceptionally well in the 2025/26 season, finishing fourth at the US Championships and the World Junior Championships. That eventually led to him being named a third alternate for the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships, and he was called up when Jason Brown withdrew.

The teenager did relatively well in the competition, setting personal best scores in the short and free program, albeit placing twelfth. But Sanchez has higher hopes for the future, as he wants to change perceptions of Hispanic figure skaters.

“I think it’s really important because a lot of people, especially people who are of Hispanic heritage, they overlook skating a bit,” Sanchez said, as per Olympics.com. “A lot of people feel that Hispanic people don’t generally fit in.

“But I think that anybody could try skating. I think skating’s for everybody, and I encourage everybody to at least give it a try because I feel like everybody should have a chance at such a beautiful sport.”

It didn’t start out with figure skating for Jacob Sanchez, as he initially entered the rink with a view of playing ice hockey. But issues with the hockey skates led him to switch to figure-skating blades, which kicked off the rest of his career. And yet, Sanchez continued to play other sports, including baseball, football, and basketball, alongside ice hockey.

But when he was 8, his family sat him down and asked him to focus on one sport, and much to their surprise, Jacob Sanchez picked figure skating.

“My family, they were very supportive in my decision to do figure skating,” Sanchez explained. “Everybody was kind of like, I wouldn’t say confused, but they were surprised that I picked skating over baseball and all these other contact sports.

“It’s kind of difficult to come across a skater that’s from Puerto Rico because our heritage is not familiar with figure skating or any ice sports at all.”

But now, having made his mark at the World Figure Skating Championships, the future is at Jacob Sanchez’s feet. However, only time will tell whether the teenage skating prodigy lives up to the high expectations placed on him.