Adam Rippon Opens Up About Olympic & Gay Pressures

Screenshot via YouTube @Olympics

Adam Rippon is opening up more about his journey to the Olympics and through the world of sports.

This time last year, you couldn’t escape the name Adam Rippon. It seemed like Rippon had suddenly become America’s darling. Or at least, Gay America’s darling.

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Rippon was a figure skater from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He had won a spot to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea and became the first openly gay male athlete to do so. This made him the focus of heavy media attention for several months.

But thankfully, Rippon excelled exceptionally under the heavy media eye. His light and witty personality helped to make him the star of the moment. But what was going on in his head during all of it? What did Rippon think of all the attention while he was also competing at the biggest athletic competition in the world. And getting a bronze medal while there, we might add.

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Well, now we can find out a little bit about that. The official YouTube channel for the Olympic games recently released a video interview with Rippon where he talked about his career as a competitive figure skater, his instant rise to fame in the LGBTQ community, and his time at the Olympics.

Rippon says that he tried to remain focused while at the games (despite everything that was going on around him).

“My number 1 goal was to represent myself to the best of my ability. That meant skating the best I absolutely could and it also meant being honest and showing who I was “, said Ribbon.

He then added, “Your voice is and can be so powerful. What’s the point of having one if you don’t use it?”

To hear more from Rippon about his time last year and where his career and life have gone since PyeongChang, check out the full video interview below.

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