The Adam Rippon Good News Thread

Adam being interviewed on NBCSN right now. Says he turned down the opportunity to be an NBC commentator for the rest of the Olympics because that would have required him to leave the team and the Olympic village. He wants to be there with his team and for his team, so he's not going to do it.
 
Allskate said:
Adam being interviewed on NBCSN right now. Says he turned down the opportunity to be an NBC commentator for the rest of the Olympics because that would have required him to leave the team and the Olympic village. He wants to be there with his team and for his team, so he's not going to do it.
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I was stunned but it speaks to his integrity, and certainly refutes the claim below - it seems he is very much there for the skating and his team.

aml78 said:
I guess it’s just feeling like the skating was secondary. I know he had no shot for a model but it almost felt like he wasn’t even here to skate.
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ETA: Adam killed that interview. He was humble, self-effacing and incredibly grounded.
 
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Hahaha I love Adam's "arrogance" and "snob." It reminds me a lot of the stuff that comes from Drag Queens (it should be noted Mirai and Ashley, who also watch RuPaul's Drag Race, say similar things but aren't getting the flack for it) - arrogance because it's funny to be so over-the-top in love with yourself. Of course, some are truly that arrogant (ie. Milk this season of All Stars), but most are facetious about it.
I also think it works in Adam's favor. Even if you don't truly believe in yourself, some people can convince themselves that they're capable - and then end up exceeding expectations because they're so confident in their ability to succeed. Even though most athletes stay humble for the media, I can guarantee you that almost every one of them is as confident in private as Adam is in public. If you aren't sure of yourself, you're not going to do the crazy things necessary to win.

In real life I've heard nothing but kind things about Adam - that he's incredibly kind, approachable, and encouraging to other skaters.
 
^ On the topic of quads.... TAHbKA posted a super interesting interview translation with Raf: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/vaytskekhovskayas-interview-with-arutyunian.103449/

It focuses on Nathan, but included some Adam stuff as well:
Adam Rippon was training well - he went out there with 2 axels, made it to the top 10, made it to the team event and got a bronze medal. I can tell Adam always listened to me very carefully, trained well and did all I told him. We wrote down a detailed plan how to make it to the Olympics and do the most there. Everything worked out. For me it was a personal coaching bonus.

EV: Why doesn’t your `bonus' do the quad jumps?

RA: Because he is an adult - he is 28. He is heavy - that's the way he is built. When he is attempting the quads in the practices his feet hurt so badly we can't train the next couple of days, never mind jump. And we have to. I work with what we have
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Before the individual FS I was kinda hoping he'd whip out an underrotated 4Lz (because YOLO) but after reading this, I'm very happy he didn't go there.
 
Skittl1321 said:
:rolleyes: "he's heavy"
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Well, if skaters like Nathan and Vincent are the measuring stick, even a fairly petite guy like Adam is "heavy" because he has a somewhat more muscular build. (Also, probably not too long ago Raf would've used an even more unfortunate word to describe this state of affairs, until enough people told him that he can't go around calling his skaters "fat". So... there's that.)

Actually... IIRC, there was some interview where Raf talked about how Nathan's hips are too wide i.e. not ideal for all those quads (probably compared to Boyang? IDEK) but Nathan has managed to overcome this rather unfortunate physical obstacle thanks to technique and hard work. Or something along those lines.
 
A number of Raf's interviews have made me think he doesn't exactly love the US system. That the coach doesn't have the ultimate say. That he can't call people elephants. Etc.
 
Skittl1321 said:
A number of Raf's interviews have made me think he doesn't exactly love the US system. That the coach doesn't have the ultimate say. That he can't call people elephants. Etc.
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Yeah, that seems to be a recurring theme in his interviews. From an old interview with Vajtzehovskaya (circa 2006):
Experience tells me that the athletes of this level seek not only a coach, but the best training conditions. Nobody knows how long Asada will stay in Lake Arrowhead. If she stays a long time, then we can talk about contracts.

Do you want a guarantee that the athlete won’t leave you?

It’s not that. It’s just how thinks are done in America. Each coach, including me, always has a certain number of students. If a strong skater joins the group, and the coach needs to accompany them to competitions, other athletes may leave. As long as the coach is working with the star, he doesn’t usually lose financially. However, if the star suddenly leaves, a coach may be left with nothing. Don’t forget that living in America you have to pay the bills regardless of whether or not you have ample work. That’s why contracts are sighed. Luckily, American figure skaters understand very well that coaching in the USA is primarily a business.

Myself, I only understood this recently, though. We grew up I a different world, where nobody taught us those things.

Athletes are different here as well. You don’t have to force them to work, as they always know exactly what they want. That’s another thing you have to learn in America. Also, you have to learn that you’re not a despot, not a baby sitter, but just a coach. You can suggest something, but you can’t insist. It would be in bad taste. You can’t tell your students the word “must”. Here, people are raised with a feeling they don’t owe anyone anything. It’s even unethical to repeat something twice, as this may suggest to a skater that you think him a fool.

Remember the cooperation between Sasha Cohen and Tatiana Tarasova? The progress was visible right away – I could appreciate this as a coach. Cohen wasn’t afraid of work, and she understood Russian. In other words, everything seemed to be working out. Yet Cohen left. She was not willing to be constantly under a coach’s pressure.

It took me a while to understand that working the US you have to consider each sentence, each word. There shouldn’t be “too much” of the coach. The athletes don’t usually say “no”. However, if you see that the person listened to you, yet is continuing to do things his way, then he is consciously rejecting your point of view. It’s pointless to insist. Your students will just leave.

That’s how I now work – if you like what I’m suggesting, the heed the advise. If not – no one is forcing anyone. I offer my professional services, no more.
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...but on the other hand I've gotten the impression that he wouldn't love working within the Russian system -- dealing with their Fed & hierarchies & politicking -- either. That he'd rather keep working in the US style market economy with the stubborn, individualist skaters that employ him (and don't always listen to him, and whom he isn't allowed to call "fat" anymore), he just likes to keep criticizing and complaining about stuff he thinks makes his work more complicated.
 
nimi said:
Yeah, that seems to be a recurring theme in his interviews. From an old interview with Vajtzehovskaya (circa 2006):

...but on the other hand I've gotten the impression that he wouldn't love working within the Russian system -- dealing with their Fed & hierarchies & politicking -- either. That he'd rather keep working in the US style market economy with the stubborn, individualist skaters that employ him (and don't always listen to him, and whom he isn't allowed to call "fat" anymore), he just likes to keep criticizing and complaining about stuff he thinks makes his work more complicated.
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Raf is SO my awkward Asian dad. :rofl:

And IMO, saying that Adam is "heavy" is beyond the point - if Adam's feet really do hurt badly after practicing quads and he can't train at all, obviously he can't train quads. It doesn't sound like Raf browbeats his skaters, at any rate.
 
Rafael calling Adam his "personal coaching bonus" (translated excerpt in post #519 above) is about the highest praise that can ever be expected. :) For more context, this was published in yesterday's CNBC article:
As he told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on Squawk Box: "Six years ago, I had no money to my name. I was living in my coach's basement. I just leased a car and I got a letter in the mail saying that my credit was so bad that they needed to take the car back.
"My coach co-signed on the lease so that I could keep the car and he said: 'I trust you. And I trust that you're going to work hard.'"
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Here's the video clip from this part of Adam's interview, tweeted by CNBC: https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/965978718287073281
:D
 
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Sylvia said:
Rafael calling Adam his "personal coaching bonus" (translated excerpt in post #519 above) is about the highest praise that can ever be expected. :) For more context, this was published in yesterday's CNBC article:

Here's the video clip from this part of Adam's interview, tweeted by CNBC: https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/965978718287073281
:D
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I love Adam and his skating but he could have been a little more articulate at the end talking about why companies should sponsor him. Just saying "I love money" doesn't sell it. Maybe he would be good at marketing personal grooming products, cruises, dance/workout gear, nutritional bars? Hope he gets some business deals after the Olympics! And that's a really nice story about Rafael co-signing his car lease; how many people would do that for someone who is not an immediate family member?
 
LarrySK8 said:
Adam's greatest performance, IMHO, was when the "Arrival of the Birds" program was only a few weeks old -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQiDVE7Ucuk
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This is still my favorite performance of that program, despite the fact that he’s had more amazing performances of it this season. Just the timing of the jumps with the music was perfect there, plus the gorgeous Rippon lutz at the end :swoon:
 
@olympic, as I understand it, USFS still can submit their original entries and alternates by the Worlds deadline of 2/26 20:00 in Milan (if they haven't already done so) and swap in a sub from the alternates list anytime before the SP draw.

ETA:

BTW, I notice that Adam now lists a WME Entertainment agent's email in his Twitter bio for Inquiries.

His latest tweet today (same Instagram photo linked in post #531 above): https://twitter.com/Adaripp/status/967394309476466689
When you medal at the Olympics, the USOC presents you with the Order of Ikkos (a medal for you to present to your coach). I consider Rafael, Derrick, Vera, and Nadia my family. They couldn’t be at the presentation so I changed it up and got to award this medal to my mom [red heart emoji]
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Sylvia said:
BTW, I notice that Adam now lists a WME Entertainment agent's email in his Twitter bio for Inquiries.
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I guess that's probably an inevitable consequence of wanting to move beyond the skating world (no surprise), but I feel badly for his former agent, who is a super nice guy.
 
Thanks, @Tavi. I know very little about how representation works but it seems like it's a natural progression rather than a breakup.
 
I'm taking bets that Adam will show up at the Oscars, if he decides not to go to Worlds. Last time, he was Ashley's plus one with little or no profile. This time, if he is invited and/or he takes Ashley, he'll be the one with higher profile. She complained about him not being available to her and/or returning her texts.
 
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