Adam Rippon - an American Figure Skater

Adam Rippon is an American figure skater. He was born on November 11th 1989 in Scranton, Pennsylvania and has 5 younger siblings. He is the U.S. national champion for 2016 and Four Continents champion for 2010. He is also the first openly gay American athlete to qualify for the Winter Olympics as he would be representing USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Adam has a signature move known as the “Rippon Lutz”. It is a 3Lz that he executes with both arms above his head. He is also capable of performing the "'Tano Lutz", a 3Lz-2T-2Lo combination with one hand over his head in all three jumps, and a competent lay-back spin.

Adam was ten years old when his mother brought him to the skating rink. From 2000 to 2007, he was coached by Yelena Sergeeva. His first medal was silver at the Novice level at the 2005 U.S. Championships after which Adam won his first gold medal after competing for the Triglav Trophy in Slovenia 2005. He then debuted to place 6th at the 2005–06 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Croatia. At subsequent U.S. Championships, he finished 11th in 2006 and 6th in 2007.In February 2007, Adam began working with coach Nikolai Morozov in February 2007.

At the 2007-08 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, he won the gold medal at the Harghita Cup in Romania and the silver medal at the Sofia Cup in Bulgaria. This qualified him for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final where he won the gold medal, becoming the first man to break 200 points at a Junior level competition. He went on to win the Junior title at the 2008 U.S. Championships, inspiring the Professional Skaters Association to award Adam the EDI Award. At the 2008 Junior Worlds, he won the gold medal after finishing first in both segments.

The 2008 to 2009 season was when Adam moved up to the senior level. He placed eighth at the 2008 Skate America and fifth overall in the 2008 Cup of Russia. He then changed coaches and moved to Canada to train with Brian Orser. Adam placed seventh at the 2009 U.S. Championships and was part of the team for the 2009 Junior World Championships, which he won, becoming the first single skater to win two World Junior titles. He won the bronze medal at the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard and finished 6th at the 2009 NHK Trophy.

At the 2010 U.S. Championships, Adam finished 5th overall, following which he was named as a second alternate for the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 World Championships, and assigned to the 2010 Four Continents Championships. He won the bronze medal at the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix season. Adam finished in 5th place at both the 2011 U.S. Championships and the 2011 Four Continents Championships. In June 2011, Adam left Canada and returned to the US to train under Jason Dungjen at the Detroit Skating Club in Michigan.

Adam opened the 2011 to 2012 season with a 4th-place finish at Skate Canada, marking his first attempt at including a quad jump in his free program. He then won the silver medal at the 2012 U.S. Championships, finishing 4th at Four Continents and 13th at Worlds. In September 2012, Rippon changed coaches to train with Rafael Arutyunyan in Lake Arrowhead, California. Rippon finished 4th at the 2012 Cup of China, 8th at the 2012 NHK Trophy and 5th at the 2013 U.S. Championships. When Adam competed at the 2013 Skate America, he included a quad lutz in both short and long programs, setting personal bests in both segments and winning him the silver medal. In 2014, Rippon finished first in the free program and second overall at the CS Finlandia Trophy, 7th in the free skate and 10th overall at the Skate Canada International and 5th at the Trophee Eric Bompard in November.

At the 2016 U.S. Championships, Adam Rippon won the gold medal. He went on to the 2016 World Championships in Boston where he placed sixth and received a standing ovation from the audience. Adam then won the bronze medals at the 2016 CS U.S. Classic, the 2016 Skate America and 2016 Trophée de France, qualifying him to the Grand Prix Final for the first time, where he finished 6th at the event in France. Adam had a strong start to the 2017 season with a bronze medal at the CS Finlandia Trophy. He then won silver medals in both the 2017 NHK Trophy and 2017 Skate America, qualifying him for his second Grand Prix Final. Even though he placed fourth at nationals, Adam was selected in January 2018 to represent USA in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.