Even though he has never competed at the Olympics before the 2018 Winter Games, figure skater Adam Rippon just may be the most popular athlete from Team USA at PyeongChang. He has won over so many Americans with his dynamic personality and because of his allure, Adam Rippon's relationship status is a point of intrigue. So, is Adam Rippon dating anyone? Well, if you have a crush on this Olympian, you might have a chance.
Not only is Rippon the first openly gay male Olympic figure skater for the U.S., the 28-year-old was the first openly gay athlete to qualify for Team USA (freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy was the second). And while his sexuality doesn't define him as a competitor or as a person, he has been using his platform to advocate for the LGBTQ community. He even called out Vice President Mike Pence, who is representing the U.S. at the Olympics. Because of his outspokenness and large personality, Rippon has been dealing with homophobia and bigotry. But a significant portion of the population rightly can't get enough of Rippon's figure skating and personality. So does that mean he has a significant other? Because who wouldn't want to date Rippon?
Rippon came out publicly in October 2015, but he said in an interview for Team USA that being a figure skater actually made it harder for him to accept his sexuality. "A lot of times it's taboo, especially with boys, like, 'You skate, you're gay,'" he said. "That's not always the case, but that being said, you feel a little shame. Being gay and a skater, you don't want it to be true."
In a recent video for YouTuber Tyler Oakley, Rippon noted again how the stereotype that all male figure skaters are gay isn't true. But this time around, he revealed his current relationship status in the process. "Not everybody is gay in figure skating," Rippon said. "Maybe I wouldn't be f*cking single then."
The video was posted on Feb. 6 and considering Rippon has been busy competing in the Olympics since then, his relationship status most likely hasn't changed. (Although he did hilariously mock the condoms provided at the Olympic Village in an Instagram story.) He also told Oakley that he has "of course" been on the dating app Grindr, but that he's not on it now. After all, he's a tiny bit famous currently. This interview inspired people to hope that Rippon and Oakley will date, as can be seen by the numerous comments on YouTube about it.
But dating rumors don't stop there for Rippon. People have also commented on the posts of Rippon and fellow Olympian Kenworthy. If you ignore the homophobic comments on posts like the one below, you'll see some people either assume or hope that these two are together. Yet, Rippon and Kenworthy are just friends — Kenworthy has been in a relationship with actor Matt Wilkas for years.
It's not necessarily right to assume that the only two openly gay male athletes of the U.S. Olympic Team would be dating strictly because they're both gay. But this desire seems to stem more from how much people adore Rippon and how they want him to be happy. Plus, his charisma is partly flirty in nature, as USA Today noted in an interview with him. After all, he is America's sweetheart — he has said so himself.
As for the type of person, he'd be into, Us Weekly asked Rippon who his celebrity crush is. And his answer was someone that many people will support. "I didn't realize that he was cute until One Direction broke up. But now that Harry Styles is living that solo singer career, I'm into it," Rippon said.
But at the end of the day, the number one person that Rippon is devoted to is himself. As he tweeted in November 2017, "Me with the love of my life (myself)."
That focus on himself will be essential as Rippon continues his PyeongChang Olympics dreams. And no matter where he places after the final competition, his dateability after the Olympics will continue to be gold medal status.
