Rippon, Adam (1989-…), was a star American figure skater. Rippon won the men’s 2016 United States Figure Skating Championships (also called the nationals, or U.S. Championships). He won a bronze medal in the figure skating team event as a member of the U.S. team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Rippon and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy were the first openly gay American male athletes to compete in the Winter Olympic Games.
Rippon won the Junior Grand Prix Final in 2007. The Junior Grand Prix competition, organized by the International Skating Union (ISU), includes a series of international skating events leading to a final competition for the top skaters. The ISU is the governing body of international figure skating. Rippon won the 2008 United States junior national title and the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships. He also won the 2010 Four Continents Championship for skaters from non-European countries. Following a fifth-place finish at the 2010 U.S. national championships, Rippon was named an alternate for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He won the silver medal at both the 2012 and 2015 U.S. Championships.
Rippon was born on Nov. 11, 1989, in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, near Scranton. He began skating when he was nine years old. Rippon and his dance partner, the American dancer Jenna Johnson, won the television contest “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” in 2018. That same year, Rippon announced his retirement from competitive figure skating. His autobiography, Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir, was published in 2019.
