Evan Jager is one of the best runners in American long-distance running. He is well known for his long flowing stride and hair.
Coming as a highly-rated talent, he won everything in high school before making his name on the international stage.
Currently, he is the 3000 m steeplechase North American record holder running at 8:00.45 in 2015.
Moreover, he left college to turn pro at the age of 19 and has been sponsored by Nike.
Likewise, he is one of the best-paid runners in the USA and has an estimated net worth of $1 million.
Talking about his personal life, he married his long-time girlfriend Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen n 2016. Let’s dive into quick facts before beginning our article.
Quick Facts
| Name | Evan Reese Jager |
| Date of Birth | 8 March 1989 |
| Birth Place | Algonquin, Illinois, USA |
| Nick Name | Unavailable |
| Age | 36 years old |
| Gender | Male |
| Religion | Unknown |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Unknown |
| Horoscope | Pisces |
| Profession | Long-distance runner, Athletics |
| Height | 6’2″ (188 cm) |
| Weight | 66 kg (145 lbs) |
| Body Mass Index (BMI) | 18.6 |
| Build | Athletic |
| Hair Color | Blonde |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Tattoo | No |
| Father Name | Joel Jager |
| Mother Name | Cathy Jager |
| Siblings | Mallory Jager (sister) |
| Relationship | Married (2016) |
| Wife | Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen |
| Education |
|
| Team | Bowerman Track Club |
| Coach | Jerry Schumacher |
| Career | 2008-present |
|
2012 London 3000m steeplechase (6th) 2016 London 3000m steeplechase (2nd) |
| Personal Best |
|
| Salary | Unavailable |
| Net Worth | $1 million |
| Shoe | Nike |
| Social media | Instagram, Facebook, Twitter |
| Merch | Autographed Photo |
| Last Update | April, 2025 |
Evan Jager | Background and Personal Life
Evan Jager was born on 8 March 1989 in Algonquin, Illinois, USA. He is the son of Joel Jager and Cathy Jager. The athlete also has a sister named Mallory Jager.
Jager is also a huge shoe collector. He has a wide range of shoes like Air Max, Jordan 1, Air Force, and many others in his closet.
Winning a Car
Once Joel made a bet with Jager to run a mile within 5 minutes, he would buy him a brand new Ford Mustang.
During the ending races of the season in middle school, he ran a mile at 5 minutes and won a bet.
Later, his father bought him a 1989 Mustang, which he rode throughout high school.
Lovestory tied to running
He is married to his long-time girlfriend, Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen. They married in 106 at Sigtuna, Sweden.
Moreover, their love story dates back to the 2008 IAFF World Junior Championship held in Bydgoszcz.
At the event, Jager competed in 1500 m, whereas Jonsen competed in 200m for Sweden. They used to hang out as their hotel rooms were close.
Later, she came to the states and enrolled in The Unversity of Mississippi under the athlete scholarship program.
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Evan Jager | Body Measurement and Training
Runners tend to have lean bodies due to high-intensity endurance training. It’s not a difference in the case of Jager; he also has an ectomorph body type.
He is quite tall, standing 6 ft 2 inches (188 cm), and weighs around 66kg (145 lbs). Likewise, his BMI is 18.6.
Not to mention, he also has a big tattoo on the right lower chest of his body. The tattoo represents the 5 Olympics rings inked in different colors.
Training and Diet
Jager likes to train twice a day, one in the morning after breakfast and another after lunch every day.
Although he regularly trains in the morning, he mostly tends to rest days in afternoon training. Likewise, he likes to perform core workouts which mainly focus on the muscle groups located in the midbody.
One common training schedule is 70 minutes run and core session, which he does four times a week.
Likewise, his other strength training includes 50 minutes treadmill run, 2-hour run, mile turf run, and 200-meter run.
Jager food routine also depends on the days. However, one most common thing about his food routine is that he always drinks 2 cups of coffee daily.
In addition, he eats green vegetables, eggs, salads, protein-rich meats, and sometimes cookies and wine for lunch and dinner.
Similarly, he likes to consume protein bars, RXbar, and Lara bars for his lunch.
Evan Jager | High School and College Career
High School
Evan Jager went to Harry D. Jacobs Hig School. During Jager’s high school career, he managed to secure three individual state titles and one relay title.
In his sophomore year at the 2005 Foot Lockers Cross Country Championship held in San Diego, he finished 9th.
Later, in the same season, he ran 4:08.15 to win Midwest Distance Gala.
As a junior in 2006, he won the title of 1600 m running in 4:11.22 and 4×800 m, finishing at the time of 7:40.02.
Likewise, in his senior year in Nike Outdoor Nationals, he placed 4th running at the time of 8:47.59.
Similarly, in the same event, he finished 3rd place in the mile run after completing the race at the time of 4:05.68.
Furthermore, Jager also won the cross country state title, completing at the time of 14:07 and 3200m running in 8:52.33.
College Career
For college, Jager went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There he joined Wisconsin Badgers as a member of the athletic team.
He didn’t compete in the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championship during his freshman year.
However, in the NCAA Outdoor Track Championship, he secured 8th position and became an All-American member.
He also managed to represent the USA at the IAFF World Junor Track and Field Championship.
He won 1500m with a time of 3:47.43. But, in the USA Junor Track ad Field Championship, he finished eighth.
Turning Pro
That same year in 2008, Evan Jager forfeited his NCAA eligibility to sign his first professional contract with Nike.
He always wanted to train under Jerry Schumacher. So, after Jerry left Wisconsin to join Nike to train professional runners, Jager followed him.
However, he left Wisconsin and attended Portland State University to complete his studies.
Evan Jager | Professional Career
Debut
Evan Jager made his debut competing at 5000m in USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Although taking 200m initially, he finished third behind his fellow teammates.
Later, he earned the chance to participate in the 2009 IAAFWorld Championship held in Berlin.
However, he finished 11th in the qualifiers at the championship and didn’t make it to the finals.
Wisconsin to Worlds, Runners World web series documented most of the Jager professional debut season.
Injury
Going into his second professional season, Jager suffered pain during training. After taking a little break, he returned to competition.
But, sadly, during USATF Championship, he suffered a stress fracture while competing in the 1,500m finals.
So, on 28 July 2010, Jager did surgery to repair his fractured navicular bone. He focused on pool and bike workouts for quick recovery.
Rather than competing 2011 season, he did high-level intensity training.
Transitional Phase
In the 2012 spring, Evan Hager switched himself to 3000m steeplechaser after consulting with coach Jerry Schumacher and Pascal Dobert.
As a steeplechaser, he competed in his first race at the MT. SAC Relays. He won the race, finishing at a time of 8:26.14.
Likewise, he even beat that time American best steeplechaser Daniel Huling, who is currently his training partner.
Later, he secured a place in the Olympics after comfortably finishing first in the US. Olympics Team trails running 8: 17.40.
Similarly, on 20 July 2012, Evan Jager became an American new record holder in 3000 steeplechases, completing the race at 8:06.81.
At the Olympics, he managed to secure 6th position. Furthermore, in Stockholm Diamond League, he broke his personal best record running 7:35.
Rise to Stardom
Jager started the 2013 indoor season by finishing fourth in the Millrose Games 2 miles, running in 8:14.95. That timing made him the fourth-fastest American indoor two miles ever.
Likewise, in the New York Columbia 500 m, he completed the race at a time of 13:33.37, finishing fifth.
Later, he secured a podium position finishing second at the Seattle Husky Classic indoor mile racing in 3:56.14.
He became second in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational during the outdoor season, completing the race in 13:14.60.
Young Jager also secured a second-place finish at the OXY HP 1500m running in 3:36.34.
Jager followed his incredible performance during USATF Outdoor championship, where he ran 8:08.6 in the 3000m steeplechase, quickly securing the victory.
Later, he finished fifth at the 2013 IAFF World championship, Moscow. Finally, he ended the season competing at the Brussels Diamond League Meet, 5000m.
During the 2014 outdoor season, he secured third place in the international mile at the Prefontaine Classic, running his personal best of 3:53.33.
In June, he ran 8:19.38, defending his title at the USA 3,000m steeplechase.
Later, in Continental Cup held in Morocco, he secured place second in the 3000m steeple with a time of 8:14.08.
On 27 June 2015, he came victorious at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship steeplechase at 95°C temperature.
However, in the World Championship held in Beijing, he managed to get a 6th place finish.
You can check the detailed profile of Jager on worldathletics site.com.
Olympic Medalist
He again managed to qualify for the Olympics after winning USA Olympic Trails running in 8:22.48.
Later, on 17 June 2016, Evan Jager won a silver medal for the USA at the 2016 Olympics, where he ran in 8:04.28.
Likewise, in the 2017 World Championships held in London, he secured third place in the 3000m finishing at 8:15.53.
Similarly, he was able to win consecutive 300m steeplechase at the U.S. championship.
Evan Jager dominated 3000m steeplechase at the Olympics trails and National Championship last decade.
Sadly, a series of injuries has hugely impacted his career later. He missed the 2019 and 2020 seasons recovering from Achilles and calf pain issues.
Recently, he also announced that he wouldn’t be competing in the 2021 USA Olympics trials.
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Evan Jager | Endorsement and Net Worth
Evan Jager is one of the famous runners in the USA. Since then, he has been a Nike athlete his whole career.
In 2018, he signed a new ten years contract extension with Nike. Likewise, he represents Bowerman Track Club. As a result, Jager has quite more sponsors than other runners.
He signed a partnership with Kenyan homemade bracelets brand Artiken. Moreover, he wears them while competing in the events.
He also has tied a sponsorship deal with Bare Performance Nutrition and Hotshot. Furthermore, one can get 10% off on BPN supplements using his promo code.
Although Jager has not revealed his salary to the public, the online website lets run.com estimated his salary to be around US $1,50,000.
Similarly, after winning the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, he received $15,000 as prize money from the USA.
The estimated net worth of Evan Jager is $1 million.
Evan Jager| Social Media Presence
Instagram: 56.9k Followers
Twitter: 45.1k Followers
Facebook: 4k Followers
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Evan Jager withdraw from US Olympic Trials?
Evan Jager has not run since the end of 2019 after suffering from Achilles and calf pain issues.
Although he was expected to make a comeback for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he withdrew from competing in the US Olympic Trials a few days before the event.
Where did Evan Jager go to college?
Evan Jager enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a student-athlete in 2007. But soon after, in freshman season, he signed a professional contract with Nike.
So, he became uneligible to attend college due to NCAA rules. Later, Jager attended Portland State University just as a student.
Is Evan Jager retired?
Jager is not retired yet. However, after falling from several injuries and recovering his health he is taking a break from the game.
