When I was young, to have had somebody out there to look up to... it would have made a world of difference; it would have changed my life.
— Adam Rippon
I've been skating since I was 10 years old.
I am from Scranton, PA.
Athletes are given a really special platform. It's our duty, as athletes, to be role models.
I remember my mom let me stay up late and watch Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan compete in the 1998 Olympic Games. I made paper medals and wore them the whole night. I didn't start skating until 2000, but I was so inspired by their skating that it was why I wanted to start.
I love being active.
Being gay is not something that defines me. What defines me is what my mom always taught me: to treat everyone with respect, to always be a hard worker, and to be kind.
I've never made a meal that I wasn't able to eat, but it that doesn't mean anyone else would ever eat it, haha!
For such a long time in my life, I didn't trust my own voice at all. I always tried to do what other people wanted.
I personally don't have anything to say to Mike Pence. I'm very lucky because legislation that he's pushed hasn't affected my life at all. I spoke out because there are people out there whose lives have been affected by change that he's tried to make.
I'm proud of a lot of things I've said on Twitter.
I've used my sense of humor as a coping tool. It's gotten me through a lot of challenging times.
I usually finish things in the last second. But I think, as I've gotten older, I don't worry about it, and I just rock it.
I don't want my Olympic experience to be about Mike Pence. You know, I want it to be about my amazing skating and being America's sweetheart.
Chris Martin has this voice that resonates through a whole arena.
I'm like a witch! You can't kill me!
I can't tone it down. I'm being me, and I'm being myself, and I'd be doing myself an injustice, and I'd be doing an injustice to those kids who don't feel like they're comfortable to be themselves.
The first time I ever sang in front of a crowd of people was, like, 10,000 people in Japan at a skating exhibition.
It's totally crazy! I can't believe all the young kids doing it in competition now. It's pretty unbelievable to have an element variation named after me.
I feel so honored that I've had the opportunity to share my story with so many people.
I know that I can do myself better than anybody else can.
My earliest memory of the Olympics was watching the 1996 Games in Atlanta. I remember everyone being so excited to watch. Seeing the American athletes on the podium, I saw myself. I knew that that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to be one of those athletes on the podium representing their country and bringing home medals.
I'm just one of those people that, if there's a problem, I want to work through it. Push through it and do everything I can. Anything.
1988 Olympic Champion Brian Boitano was famous for doing a Lutz with one arm over his head. And I wanted to build on that.
As a self-proclaimed cooking disaster, I try to makes things that I think I can easily master.
I realize now that it's important that I share my story... Also, it'll be easy for me to do an interview, to interact with people.
When you're not hiding anything, it's just very easy to be yourself - shockingly.
It might come off as cocky, but I've been through a lot in my life.
Honestly, it's really fun to be yourself. It's really fun to be me.
If I forgot to put something on, and I have to wear a trash bag, I'm just like, 'I'm gonna rock a trash bag today.'
I can't explain witchcraft.
Sometimes I'll be listening to NPR at the gym, and I'll hear them say, 'Oh, Donald Trump did this today.' And I'm like, 'What?' All of a sudden, I have more energy than if I drank an espresso.
You have a personality like mine, it's for everybody... It's not just for some group of people.
I know I am delusional at times, but I'm not completely-out-of-touch delusional.
I love being on Twitter and interacting with different people. Also, I very dangerously love to go shopping online!
Given this platform of being an Olympic athlete, I think it's really important that we stand up for what we believe in, and we speak out against things that we think are wrong and injust.
I always loved music, to dance, and to be really active. When I started skating, it was the first time all of these things came together. It felt like magic, and I always wanted to be at the rink.
As soon as I broke my foot, I remember thinking that I'm going to make this the best thing that's ever happened to me.
When I am home in L.A., I love to stop by a yoga class or Soul Cycle session. There is nothing like doing some cycling in the dark to club music and candle light.
All the sacrifices my mom and family had made had been worth it.
First and foremost, I'm an athlete. And I'm an Olympian. I'm not a gay Olympian. I'm just an Olympian that's also gay. I don't mind reading that - like, 'gay Olympian Adam Rippon.' It's fine. I hope that, in a way, it makes it easier for other young kids who are gay. If they go to the Olympics, they can just be called Olympians.
I really brought that with me: that people think gay people are disgusting... I remember thinking, 'Okay, I might be gay. But I won't tell anybody. Nobody will ever know.'
Representing the U.S.A. is one of the greatest honors of my life, and being able to do it as my authentic self makes it all so much sweeter.
I've always spoken my mind and from the heart.
I would say that I'm a hot mess all the time.
I'm really go-with-the-flow, but I take things really seriously. At the same time, when things don't go my way, I don't ever freak out. Why? Why freak out?
I'm confident in who I and what I'm doing.
If you ever have the option, come to the Olympics. It's, like, a fun time.
I think I've shown the world I'm a fierce competitor, yes. But I've also shown them that I'm a fierce human being.
