I was living in my coach's basement.
— Adam Rippon
Sometimes I just get attention, and I really don't know how it happens.
As an athlete, I know that I'm such a perfectionist that I'll want to go out and keep working on something over and over until it's perfect. Part of growing up is learning to take a step back.
I can see my competitors sweating, and I am cool as a cucumber.
Sometimes when you're not confident in yourself, to see someone who doesn't care - and I don't care anymore. I really don't care - it gives you that confidence.
I think what you think of as the American people embracing - I don't think, on paper, I embody anything of that perceived persona. I think that's what people are latching on to, that I'm different.
It's my world, and the rest of us are living in it.
I'm representing my country whether they like me or not.
It bothers me so much that people have gone out of their way to make trans people feel less than.
I think it's so important for somebody like me to stand up for the things I believe in and speak up on things I don't think are right.
There are so many emotions when I step on the ice.
My mom has always taught me to stand up for people who don't have a voice.
It takes a lot of effort to look this mediocre.
When I found skating, it was something that was individual, and it was something that I could focus on being my best. And I loved the whole practice, and I also loved performing. It was probably the first time I felt really good about myself and that I was good at something, because I always liked being athletic.
Growing up, I really didn't have a lot of role models.
Mike Pence doesn't stand for anything that I really believe in.
I looked around and saw my competitors: they're all doing these quads, and at the same time, they're a head shorter than me, they're 10 years younger than me, and they're the size of one of my legs.
I've gotten so many messages I could even get emotional thinking about it, but I've gotten so many messages from young kids all over the country that my story's resonated with them.
I know what it's like to be young and to feel like you don't belong.
I don't follow the rules!
I am usually wearing some sort of see-through when I am competing.
I remember seeing people who I thought were so confident and exuberant. I remember being young and watching Oprah and being like, 'Damn. That lady is so confident. She can talk to anybody.'
I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren't a friend of a gay person but that they think that they're sick.
Nobody loves me as much as I love me, so I guess I'll just be my own valentine.
I want to inspire other young kids, no matter what their background is or where they're from or anything like that, that they can go out there and, if you work hard, you can do anything.
I came out seven times in one weekend. I have a flair for the dramatic.
I want to represent my country to the best of my abilities. I want to make Reese Witherspoon proud.
Those are the moments athletes live for - we live for those exhilarating, breathless, take-your-breath-away, you're-on-the-seat-of-your-chair moments.
I love to have my own story, my own path, and forge ahead because my career isn't going to be like anyone else's.
I remember when I told my mom that I wanted to come out, and my mom was a little hesitant. She was saying, 'Are you sure? Do you think that might affect your scores?' or, 'Is it something that you think that you need to do?' And I told her, 'I don't care. It's important to me.'
I think that in figure skating, and in sports in general, that when you're young, it's considered a huge advantage because you're fearless, and you also don't have bad past experiences. But with age comes experience, and I have found that my experience is a huge advantage to me as a competitor.
It's 2018, and being an openly gay man and an athlete, that is part of the face of America now.
I don't think he has a real concept of reality. To stand by some of the things that Donald Trump has said and for Mike Pence to say he's a devout Christian man is completely contradictory.
My mom always taught me to stand up for what I believe in.
I'm not like a gay icon or America's gay sweetheart. I'm just America's sweetheart, and I'm just an icon.
I always said that if I had the platform and the opportunity to share my story and make it easier for others, I would - so that, in a way, I can be the role model that I was looking for as a kid.
Being gay has never been a big deal to me, which is why it's a little funny to be getting all this attention about it.
I don't find it distracting to be me.
Sometimes I might meet people, and they might just not like me, not want to get to know me. And that's OK. They're boring as hell anyway.
Haters are fans in denial.
I've gotten a lot of attention, I think, just for being myself. I think that a lot of people, when they come to a competition, are afraid to be themselves no matter who they are.
They usually say that after the Olympic Games, somebody's life changes forever, and a lot of times, it's the gold medalist. But I have a feeling that my life has changed forever.
I've been given this amazing platform as an Olympic athlete, and there are so many people out there who don't feel like their voice is being heard. I feel it's my responsibility to speak out on issues that are important.
There's no such thing as a wardrobe malfunction - only a wardrobe opportunity.
As an audience member, I like to watch what they're doing, and that's one of the reasons I love skating: because it's a performance, and I love to perform. That's my favorite aspect of skating.
I can't tone it down. I'm being me and being myself.
I enjoyed playing the other sports. I just sucked at them.
I'm able to go out there, and I'm really able to be, like, unabashedly myself. And I want somebody who's young, who's struggling, who's not sure if it's OK if they are themselves to know that it's OK.
What makes America great is that we're all so different.
I think I had a stress fracture before I broke my foot, and I think that was absolutely because I was not getting enough nutrients.
