Photo: Nicholas Maggio
Nyjah Huston has been pulling double duty: while training for the Olympics, he also worked on a new passion project for Privé Revaux Eyewear.
“I remember seeing the brand for the first time, seeing Jamie Foxx wearing it, and then hearing that he was one of the founders of the brand. I thought that was cool,” Huston tells PEOPLE. “I met David [Schottenstein], the owner, and he was a cool guy. We ended up partnering up on this collection and we’ve been working on it for a while. It got delayed for a while because of COVID, as everything else did last year, and got this back to this year.”
Huston doesn’t always skate with glasses on because they fall off and break, but he’s designed a special frame that allows him to rock eyewear more often thanks to HoldTight technology. The tech uses strategically placed magnets embedded into the arms of the glasses, allowing the frame to snap and lock closed. (Huston is the first celebrity to use the HoldTight tech in a collection with Privé Revaux.)
“[It’s] a really cool sunglass. We thought it was cool to come up with this idea of it. It actually will stay on your shirt locked on and I’ve done skate tricks. I’ve fallen with them on and they won’t fall off. And it’s something that relates to skateboarding really well and relates to anyone who’s active out there,” the athlete explains.
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
Nicholas Maggio
However, unlike other athletes training in competition-like settings, Huston noted that when it comes to skateboarding, being wary is the safe bet.
“It’s a constant battle as a skateboarder: how hard you want to push yourself compared to how hard you should be pushing yourself and be cautious and think like, ‘All right, I got this big contest coming up. I want to practice, but I also got to stay safe,’ " he says. “When it comes down to it, you can’t really go out there and practice these tricks every day because it’s a lot of impact we’re taking on these big rails and stairs. It makes you so sore and it’s hard on the body.”
Cameron Strand
And with age, Huston says the recovery time is longer. “I’ve been skating for over 20 years now. I was skating over 15 stair rails when I was 10 years old, a really big head start on how hard I was pushing my body and all these falls I was taking,” he shares. “I’m definitely feeling it nowadays, but I’m only 26, I got some years left in me. I’m still feeling good. I have high hopes I can make it to another [Olympics] when I’m 29.”
In addition to the physical strain, Huston also admits that the pressure he puts on himself to succeed has increased. “I’ve always been a really competitive person ever since I was a little kid. I started skating in a little hometown contest when I was 6 years old. And even back then, I was so competitive and that’s just a part of me. I’m always pretty hard on myself to go out there and perform well and do the best I can,” he says.
But for Tokyo, Huston promises to put his best foot forward. “I’m going to do my absolute best to go out there and make everyone proud and make my country proud. I’m stoked it’s in Japan. I’m quarter Japanese myself, so I’m hyped that it’s there in Tokyo. I haven’t been there in a while,” he says.
source: people.com
