Figure skater Adam Rippon was not
expected to make the 2018 Olympic team at 28 years of age. But the planets
aligned and the fates smiled for he suddenly began pulling together some of his
best performances when it counted. He ended the Olympics with a Bronze Medal in
the Team Competition, and is now retired from figure skating.
We follow him from his youth where
he pretty well fails at all athletic attempts, but he syncs with figure
skating. He quickly advances through the skating ranks and is regularly winning
junior competitions on sheer natural talent. He’s the oldest of six children,
then his parents divorce, so it’s quite a hardship for the family for the costs
involved. They can afford a coach only a few days a week, they barter for ice
time at area rinks, and they drive several hours each day to get him to
practices.
Reading his story, one wonders how
much farther he could have gone if finances hadn’t been an issue. Or if he’d
had coaches who could have assisted him with the emotional side of competition
as well as the technical aspects. Considering his circumstances, it’s amazing how
far he got. You learn a lot of what it takes to be an elite athlete, and get
some inside information on how US Figure Skating works. Somehow, during the
worst of times he was able to push on through and continue with skating.
He also discusses the difficulties
of being a closeted gay man while competing, and his concerns that other
athletes and US Figure Skating will reject him. He eventually came out before
the Olympics.
He’s funny, honest, and endearing.
Some are stories we’ve already heard from him in other interviews. I’ve been
following him on Twitter and Instagram before he made the Olympic team, and
enjoy his humor — “When I qualified (for the 2018 Olympics), I told myself I
was going to have the full Olympic experience, because it was only going to
happen once, unless I really got into archery around forty and went to the
Summer Games.”
He’s now a spokesperson for several
companies, and has his
own YouTube channel broadcasts.
This book is recommended for fans
of Adam Rippon and figure skating in general.
[If
you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Landing It: My Life On and Off the Ice by Scott Hamilton, My Sergei: A Love Story by Ekaterina Gordeeva, A Skating Life by Dorothy Hamill, or Zero Regrets by Apolo Anton Ohno.]
[
publisher’s official Beautiful on the Outisde web site ] | [ official Adam Rippon
Instagram feed ]
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