Olympian: Check. 

Olympic medalist: Check. 

Olympic all-around finalist: Check. 

Those were all goals on Paul Juda’s whiteboard nine months ago. 

But there were times it all felt out of reach; when he just wanted to grab the whiteboard eraser and let it go. 

“I definitely was on the outside looking in to make that Olympic team,” Juda told NBC Olympics. 

But he’s never been the type to shy away from having lofty goals. In Juda’s mind, big goals equal growth. 

“I’ve always said if it doesn’t scare you when you write it, then it’s not a good goal,” Juda said. “Once you write it down, you kind of will it into existence.” 

Although Juda secured the United States an individual quota spot through the 2021 Pan American Championships, he wasn’t selected for the Tokyo Olympic team after finishing eighth at Olympic Trials. Candidly, he felt he didn’t earn his spot anyways. 

As Juda put it, he didn’t want a consolation prize. 

He trudged on, holding onto the belief that good things come to those who wait – and to those who do good. 

“Eventually if you do good for long enough, some good might come back to you,” Juda said. 

At a national team training camp in May, Juda had a chance to gather his teammates and share a few words of wisdom. At the time he didn’t see himself as a front-runner for the team, so he was speaking as somebody who had already been left off one Olympic team, and could potentially be left off another come June. 

“I said, ‘For the next month, if we just commit ourselves as a national team to do everything we can in the gym to push ourselves and push this national team to the top, then the end result is going to be a medal,’” Juda recalled telling the team. “‘It’s going to be whatever the best group of gymnasts is. I wish it could be everyone, but at the end of the day if we push each other – iron sharpens iron – and whoever goes are going to be the five who get the job done.’”

Throughout this Olympic cycle, Juda did what he felt he didn’t do last time: He fought all the way until the end. 

He fought through injuries, he fought through doubt, and most importantly, he left his goals on the whiteboard and put in the work. 

One by one Juda has been able to check off his goals. 

On June 29 he officially became an Olympian after finishing fourth at Olympic Trials. Then came the qualification round at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he had one of the strongest performances of his career to lock a spot in the all-around final. Then, the team final – where Juda and his teammates brought home the first Olympic medal for the U.S. men’s gymnastics team in 16 years. 

There’s just something about the Olympics that has brought out the best in Juda. In the Olympic Village he is constantly reminded just how far he’s come thanks to the Olympic rings and Paris 2024 logos plastered everywhere. Admittedly, it’s hard to feel anything but excitement and joy in that environment. “There’s no crying on the yacht,” Juda exclaimed. 

After the all-around final, where he solidified himself as one of the top all-around gymnasts in the country, Juda’s Olympics are now done – his Olympic medal tucked away in his pants pocket as we spoke. 

He’s ready to soak in every last moment of his first Olympic Games and his final few days in Paris. (Watching Team USA play golf is a must on his to-do list as an avid golfer himself!) 

Then it’s time to head back to Ann Arbor and pack up his apartment and move to a new one, where he plans to drop his Olympic medal inside the Lego Eiffel Tower he made before leaving for Paris. 

He’ll make a few ticks on his whiteboard and then it’s time to shift gears to the next goal — bringing a team NCAA title back to the University of Michigan.