A male figure skater in a sparkling blue costume smiles while gliding on ice during an Olympic event.

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Olympic Games 65K views Save

Adam Rippon on walking in with Gus Kenworthy

Name: Adam Rippon on walking in with Gus Kenworthy
Uploaded: 2019-10-18T17:59:03Z
Duration: 7 min 7 s
Description: Adam Rippon has an Olympic bronze medal in figure skating, but the best story he tells about the PyeongChang Games happens in a holding tent on the night of the opening ceremony.

Adam Rippon has an Olympic bronze medal in figure skating, but the best story he tells about the PyeongChang Games happens in a holding tent on the night of the opening ceremony. more

Meryl Davis visits him at home for the Olympic Channel and introduces him as a medalist, a cultural icon "and my friend most importantly." When she thanks him for having her, he jokes about the house. "I had to clean up a lot before you got here."

He wasn't a world champion, he says, but he was proud of what he had done and learned that "success is so personal." His number one goal was to "represent myself to the best of my ability." That meant skating as well as he could and being honest about who he was. He promised himself he would answer any question honestly, even "how are you feeling?" when the real answer was more than anyone needed to know.

He believes in speaking up. "What's the point of having one if you don't use it?" he asks about his voice. At those Games he and Gus Kenworthy shared the honor of being the first openly gay athletes on Team USA. Kenworthy does a different sport, and the two had never met until the night of the opening ceremony.

They met in the holding tent where all the athletes wait, and it felt like they had known each other forever. Then, just before the walk in, Kenworthy turned to him and asked, "Do you want to walk in together?" Rippon calls it "almost a political act." He thought about himself at ten years old and how, if that boy had seen this, "maybe he wouldn't have felt so uncomfortable for 20 years."

A male figure skater in a sparkling blue costume smiles while gliding on ice during an Olympic event. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Adam Rippon has an Olympic bronze medal in figure skating, but the best story he tells about the PyeongChang Games happens in a holding tent on the night of the opening…

He's quick to share the credit. A lot of people before him did the work, he says, so "somebody who's like me, who's got a big mouth, can go to the Olympics and be embraced by so many different kinds of people."

The lean years come up too, back when he lived in his coach's basement and had to choose between paying for ice time and buying groceries. His advice to that younger skater is "don't forget this feeling," because those hard times brought his biggest breakthroughs. Then he adds, "Sorry. You'll have more money later. But just, like, focus."

Asked if he ever pinches himself, he says no, "because I can believe it." For the movie of his life, Margot Robbie "would do a good job," though his only rule is "somebody young and hot," and he admits, "I was talking about myself."

Next, he wants to make people laugh "because it brings me a lot of joy." The ice has gone from his job to "almost my place of therapy," and he has done choreography for other skaters. "Skating changed my life," he says, and soon the two friends part with a quick "Love you" each way.

A smiling young man with short hair, wearing a gray sweater, sits indoors near glass panels. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Near the end of the visit, Rippon grins as he and Davis say their goodbyes.

Plenty of people are surprised he was the first. One remembers watching him at fourteen and says he has inspired them so much. That's close to what he wished for the ten-year-old he used to be.