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Everyone Is Obsessed With Olympic Figure Skater Adam Rippon After This Weekend & It’s Obvious Why

Adam Rippon, the first openly gay winter Olympian, made a strong first impression with his Olympic debut over the weekend in Gangheung, South Korea. USA Today reports that the Olympian “dazzled” crowds with his performance, drawing a lot of attention as a first time Olympian.

Image source: NBC Olympics

Rippon, 28, scored a 172.98, which earned Team USA eight points. Exiting the rink after his phenomenal performance in the long competition, Rippon couldn’t hide his excitement. “Now I’m actually an Olympian! They have the footage,” he said.

But despite all of the excitement in helping Team USA earn a bronze medal, many believed that Rippon had been unfairly judged, placing after competitors Mikhail Kolyada from Russia, and Patrick Chan from Canada. Both higher placing competitors fell during their routines.

While Twitter sounded off with both people’s admiration for Rippon and their anger for the scoring, Rippon responded with his trademark honesty.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous at 10 a.m. in my entire life,” said Rippon. “It felt great. I thought I was going to throw up but I kept it together.”

This honesty is in part what has made people fall in love with the skater. Rippon has taken advantage of his openness and is trying to make a mark in the skating world.

“I think my voice has given my skating more importance,” he told ESPN. “It gives my skating a greater purpose.”

People agree – and are very vocal about their new obsession with the skater.

For Rippon, all of this attention is just a cherry on top of the hard work he’s put into his Olympic dream. So whether or not the scoring was unfair, Rippon is happy to be competing.

And as for being an openly gay athlete? Rippon says it’s, “lots of hard work, but usually done with better eyebrows.”

After a weekend of good brows and great skating, we can’t wait to see where else Rippon’s career takes him.

Arielle Kimbarovsky is a writer, artist, and recent Broadway fan studying advertising at Boston University. When she's not writing an article, you can find Arielle drinking too much coffee or taking on casual projects like sending cameras into space.