Subhead:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/adam-r...ympics&cx_tag=contextual&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s
I hadn't realized he was deaf as a baby. However, my favorite excerpt might be: "Rippon has been asked so many times what it’s like to be an openly gay Olympian that by now he’s crafted the perfect response: It’s like being a straight athlete with better eyebrows."
"But another series of setbacks nearly cost him a spot on the Olympic team. He broke his foot in early 2017 and spent much of the remaining season in rehabilitation. He said he used the time to study the Olympic qualification criteria, and by the time he came back, was courting reporters, talking up his chances and checking off every requirement.
To hit the penultimate requirement, qualification to the Grand Prix Final, Rippon went to extreme lengths. He came down hard on a quadruple Lutz attempt in the opening moments of his free program and dislocated his shoulder. His injury came only minutes after another skater incurred the same injury, withdrew from the competition and was sent to the hospital.
That wasn’t going to work for Rippon. He resorted with what he had learned from watching survivalist videos on YouTube, pausing his routine briefly to pop his shoulder back in while still on the ice.
That particular maneuver allowed him to survive a fourth-place finish at the U.S. championships to make the three-man Olympic team. Rippon insisted he took “full responsibility” for the poor performance in his long program and chided a reporter who suggested that flash photography might have had something to do with it. “No, baby,” he said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/adam-r...ympics&cx_tag=contextual&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s
I hadn't realized he was deaf as a baby. However, my favorite excerpt might be: "Rippon has been asked so many times what it’s like to be an openly gay Olympian that by now he’s crafted the perfect response: It’s like being a straight athlete with better eyebrows."
"But another series of setbacks nearly cost him a spot on the Olympic team. He broke his foot in early 2017 and spent much of the remaining season in rehabilitation. He said he used the time to study the Olympic qualification criteria, and by the time he came back, was courting reporters, talking up his chances and checking off every requirement.
To hit the penultimate requirement, qualification to the Grand Prix Final, Rippon went to extreme lengths. He came down hard on a quadruple Lutz attempt in the opening moments of his free program and dislocated his shoulder. His injury came only minutes after another skater incurred the same injury, withdrew from the competition and was sent to the hospital.
That wasn’t going to work for Rippon. He resorted with what he had learned from watching survivalist videos on YouTube, pausing his routine briefly to pop his shoulder back in while still on the ice.
That particular maneuver allowed him to survive a fourth-place finish at the U.S. championships to make the three-man Olympic team. Rippon insisted he took “full responsibility” for the poor performance in his long program and chided a reporter who suggested that flash photography might have had something to do with it. “No, baby,” he said.
The first time I recall hearing about Adam was at the Liberty Open in Aston, PA. It's called the Philadelphia International competition or something like that now. Adam certainly did not look "big bottomed" like that coach mentioned in the eating disorder article said. He was skating to the Addams Family soundtrack and was a beautiful young skater then. That was probably the same competition where I sat next to Doug Razzano's parents; they seemed pleasantly surprised that a skating fan without a kid competing would go there to watch. Who would have thought Adam would still be competing and at the Olympics in 2018?
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