Figure skates worn by Adam Rippon at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games

Figure skates worn by Adam Rippon at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games as part of the costume he wore during the men's free skate. The skates are a Jackson boot, size 8 medium, matte black leather boot with black laces. The blade has a sharp jagged toe pick and is a "Revolution 99" model made by John Wilson, engraved with the maker's name on one side, and "Adam Rippon" on the other. The blades are attached to the boot with metal plates and screws. These are worn with a sequined bodysuit and blue pants, 2018.0219.01 and 2018.0219.02.

With his bronze medal win in the team competition at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, Adam Rippon made history by becoming the first openly gay, American athlete to win a medal in the Winter Olympics. Skating since age ten, Rippon had always set specific goals for himself and winning gold through four junior championships was a good start. Struggling from the pressure winning brings, his performance before the 2014 Sochi Games was less than stellar and was devastated when he did not make the Olympic team. Failure, however, seemed his best remedy and Rippon was soon skating with purpose, winning the 2017 US National Championships and cementing his spot on the 2018 Olympic team. He attributes coming out in his early twenties as a catalyst for helping him succeed as an elite athlete and is a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights. After his Olympic winning performance, Rippon went on to win Dancing with the Stars with his partner Jenna Johnson and says he will continue to perform in some way or another.

The 2018 Winter Olympics, also known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad were held in PyeongChang, South Korea with 92 countries, 1,680 men and 1,242 women athletes participating. These Games saw the debut of four new events including big air snowboarding and mixed doubles curling and was the first Winter Games that awarded more than 100 medals. The “Olympic Athletes of Russia” (OAR) team was assembled by those Russian athletes not affected by the 2014 Russian doping scandal at the 2014 Games. US figure skater Nathan Chen was the first competitor to land five quadruple jumps in one program helping the men’s team win the bronze. Teammate Adam Rippon became the first openly gay American to win a medal in the Winter Olympics. Norway won the medal count with 39.

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