FANTABULOUS ADAM RIPPON INTERVIEW, READ & BE AMAZED ETC ETC
BAD ASS MOFOS INVITE YOU IN
Adam Rippon started skating at 4 years of age, when one day his mother took him to a skating rink. Even though he didn’t like it at first, in time he grew to love it. He is the eldest of 6 sisters and admits he admires skaters such as Daisuke Takahashi, Alexei Yagudin, Shizuka Arakawa, Ando Miki and Michelle Kwan. In the fall of 2008 he relocated to Canada to train under Brian Orser and since he began competing in 2002/03, his career/trajectory has prospered at gigantic rates.*
In this now completed 2009/10 season, Adam finished 5th at the US Nationals, with which he won the spot to compete at Four Continents , where he traversed spectacularly from 7th place in the SP to 1st place, winning the gold medal in Korea. After his colleague Johnny Weir’s retirement following the Vancouver games (O RLY?), Rippon travelled to Torino to compete at Worlds where he finished 6th in his world debut.
You began skating at an older age than the rest of your peers, was there anything stopping you from skating earlier? How did you decide you wanted to skate?
- I was never interested in skating when I was little. I tried it a couple of times each winter, but finally, when I got older, I fell in love with it.
Keeping in mind that many of your rivals already had some years of advantage over you, what significance did winning Junior Worlds so soon have for you?
- Well, I never really felt becoming champion came too soon. It was my third world championship in the junior category. For someone who’s 15-18, 3 years can seem like an eternity. Looking back I can see it was too quick! It was a lot of hard work and I did everything I could to maintain a positive outlook and stay concentrated to obtain what I’d been working for.
Since you began competing, your evolution in such a short time has been astounding. On one hand, we imagine this is an extra incentive, but at the same time, the fact that people expect so much of you, does it become an extra motivation or is it additional pressure hard to deal with?
- I like that people expect me to do a hard program. For me, it means I’m recognized as a consistent competitor and that I can do a solid program. Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure, but I feel it’s a privilege to compete in these competitions and I’m thankful for it every day.
Who were your favorite skaters when you began skating? Have you had the chance of meeting any of them?
- Michelle Kwan, of course! I’ve always loved her. I had the chance of meeting her on Ice All Stars in Korea, this past summer. She was so nice! When I had the chance of practicing with her, I made sure watch her skating and immerse myself in the experience.
We imagine that some of the skaters you watched on TV when you were little are now your rivals. What did you think when you share the ice? Is it hard to turn an idol into a rival?
- Yes! Sometimes it’s hard to think that some of the skaters I’m competing against were the ones I saw on TV when I was younger. The first time I thought about it was at the Cup of Russia when I competed against Cheingjeng Li, from China. It sounds funny, I don’t know why, but I’d always dreamed of competing against him. I never change my goals but I had to look at the final scores to assure myself we were in the same competition.
You’re a young skater, but that doesn’t stop you from being innovative. At just 21, you have your own jump, the triple Rippon Lutz, which from what we’ve read, began as a joke during your training. How was that moment?
- It started as a joke. Brian saw me attempting a single Lutz with one hand above my head and started laughing saying “if you can do it with one hand, why not both?!” I started thinking, Why not?! The first times I tried it I was pretty scared, but I got into the jump’s rhythm quite quickly. I love having an element with my name!
You skate in singles, would you like to try pairs or ice dancing?
- Secretly, I would love to try ice dancing. I’m not tall enough to be part of the couples. I think it would be fun to skate with someone else.
After 2 years of training under Nikolai Mozorov, you decided to change trainers last year to begin working with Brian Orsser, Yu-Na Kim’s coach. What’s your relationship with them like? Is it a positive thing to train with a champion such as Yu-Na?
- I love skating with Brian! He’s more than anything a skater could ask for, and skating with Yu-Na is fantastic. She’s really beautiful and it’s a pleasure to share the ice with her.
After Vancoucer, many young skaters such as you are probably thinking about Worlds, Grand Prix, and of course, Sochi…during the next 4 years. Who do you see as direct rivals or those who aspire to be on the podium?
- I don’t think you can give a spot to anyone in the Olympics right now ;) There are a lot of talented skaters who are starting out with the same goals and dreams as me. I think it’s incredibly motivational to be included in such a group.
Having experienced so many competitions, you have probably visited a large amount of cities and countries, which ones is your favorite to skate in? Would you like to visit any in particular? Maybe Spain? (we don’t have many rinks but it’s really nice in the summer…)
- To be honest, I’ve had many good times in all the places I’ve been in. I would love to visit Barcelona :) the closest I’ve been to Spain was Andorra and it was like a dream, it was so pretty.
Thanks to this season, you first 100% senior season, you’ve won many hearts around the world. Are you prepared for the fan phenomenon?
- Hahaha, thanks! I’m ready :)
This season we’ve seen you saying “hello” at the K&C in many different languages, do you like languages? If you want to start with Spanish, you can try this really important phrase: “Amo a mis fans españolas” (I love my [female] Spanish fans), it’s very simple and it will give you many great results, I promise.
- Wherever I am, I try to learn a few words from the language. I always love learning new words. I’m trying to learn Korean with Yu-Na, but I'm a really impatient student :P
If you hadn’t chosen skating, what do you think you would be? Doctor, lawyer, journalist…surprise us.
- I have no idea, I can’t imagine my life without skating.
THIS IS THE BEST PART I''M NOT PUTTING IT UNDER A CUT
Now here comes the easy part. Say with as little words as possible what first pops into your mind when you hear these words:
- Twitter: fun!
- Quad: I’ll show you next season!
- Toronto: my apartment!
- Straight hair: curly hair is better ;)
- Plane: long trips!
- Toronto: Cricket Club
- The gold: competitions!
- Fall: GET UP!
- Olympic games: inspiration
- Figure skating: happiness!
To finish that last question, what do these names say to you?
- Stephane Lambiel: one of my favorites!
- Evgeni Plushenko: 4toe-3toe and his haircut
- Nikolai Mozorov: old
- Brian Orser: David Wilson!
- Javier Fernandez: One of the best people I’ve met! :)
- Evan Lysacek: Evan, congratulations!
- Yu-Na Kim - Bond girl
- Mao Asada - triple axel queen
LOL @ ALL OF THESE. OMG
found here BUT IT WAS IN SPANISH LOLZ SO THE AMAZING jennitarox TRANSLATED IT <333
Adam Rippon started skating at 4 years of age, when one day his mother took him to a skating rink. Even though he didn’t like it at first, in time he grew to love it. He is the eldest of 6 sisters and admits he admires skaters such as Daisuke Takahashi, Alexei Yagudin, Shizuka Arakawa, Ando Miki and Michelle Kwan. In the fall of 2008 he relocated to Canada to train under Brian Orser and since he began competing in 2002/03, his career/trajectory has prospered at gigantic rates.*
In this now completed 2009/10 season, Adam finished 5th at the US Nationals, with which he won the spot to compete at Four Continents , where he traversed spectacularly from 7th place in the SP to 1st place, winning the gold medal in Korea. After his colleague Johnny Weir’s retirement following the Vancouver games (O RLY?), Rippon travelled to Torino to compete at Worlds where he finished 6th in his world debut.
You began skating at an older age than the rest of your peers, was there anything stopping you from skating earlier? How did you decide you wanted to skate?
- I was never interested in skating when I was little. I tried it a couple of times each winter, but finally, when I got older, I fell in love with it.
Keeping in mind that many of your rivals already had some years of advantage over you, what significance did winning Junior Worlds so soon have for you?
- Well, I never really felt becoming champion came too soon. It was my third world championship in the junior category. For someone who’s 15-18, 3 years can seem like an eternity. Looking back I can see it was too quick! It was a lot of hard work and I did everything I could to maintain a positive outlook and stay concentrated to obtain what I’d been working for.
Since you began competing, your evolution in such a short time has been astounding. On one hand, we imagine this is an extra incentive, but at the same time, the fact that people expect so much of you, does it become an extra motivation or is it additional pressure hard to deal with?
- I like that people expect me to do a hard program. For me, it means I’m recognized as a consistent competitor and that I can do a solid program. Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure, but I feel it’s a privilege to compete in these competitions and I’m thankful for it every day.
Who were your favorite skaters when you began skating? Have you had the chance of meeting any of them?
- Michelle Kwan, of course! I’ve always loved her. I had the chance of meeting her on Ice All Stars in Korea, this past summer. She was so nice! When I had the chance of practicing with her, I made sure watch her skating and immerse myself in the experience.
We imagine that some of the skaters you watched on TV when you were little are now your rivals. What did you think when you share the ice? Is it hard to turn an idol into a rival?
- Yes! Sometimes it’s hard to think that some of the skaters I’m competing against were the ones I saw on TV when I was younger. The first time I thought about it was at the Cup of Russia when I competed against Cheingjeng Li, from China. It sounds funny, I don’t know why, but I’d always dreamed of competing against him. I never change my goals but I had to look at the final scores to assure myself we were in the same competition.
You’re a young skater, but that doesn’t stop you from being innovative. At just 21, you have your own jump, the triple Rippon Lutz, which from what we’ve read, began as a joke during your training. How was that moment?
- It started as a joke. Brian saw me attempting a single Lutz with one hand above my head and started laughing saying “if you can do it with one hand, why not both?!” I started thinking, Why not?! The first times I tried it I was pretty scared, but I got into the jump’s rhythm quite quickly. I love having an element with my name!
You skate in singles, would you like to try pairs or ice dancing?
- Secretly, I would love to try ice dancing. I’m not tall enough to be part of the couples. I think it would be fun to skate with someone else.
After 2 years of training under Nikolai Mozorov, you decided to change trainers last year to begin working with Brian Orsser, Yu-Na Kim’s coach. What’s your relationship with them like? Is it a positive thing to train with a champion such as Yu-Na?
- I love skating with Brian! He’s more than anything a skater could ask for, and skating with Yu-Na is fantastic. She’s really beautiful and it’s a pleasure to share the ice with her.
After Vancoucer, many young skaters such as you are probably thinking about Worlds, Grand Prix, and of course, Sochi…during the next 4 years. Who do you see as direct rivals or those who aspire to be on the podium?
- I don’t think you can give a spot to anyone in the Olympics right now ;) There are a lot of talented skaters who are starting out with the same goals and dreams as me. I think it’s incredibly motivational to be included in such a group.
Having experienced so many competitions, you have probably visited a large amount of cities and countries, which ones is your favorite to skate in? Would you like to visit any in particular? Maybe Spain? (we don’t have many rinks but it’s really nice in the summer…)
- To be honest, I’ve had many good times in all the places I’ve been in. I would love to visit Barcelona :) the closest I’ve been to Spain was Andorra and it was like a dream, it was so pretty.
Thanks to this season, you first 100% senior season, you’ve won many hearts around the world. Are you prepared for the fan phenomenon?
- Hahaha, thanks! I’m ready :)
This season we’ve seen you saying “hello” at the K&C in many different languages, do you like languages? If you want to start with Spanish, you can try this really important phrase: “Amo a mis fans españolas” (I love my [female] Spanish fans), it’s very simple and it will give you many great results, I promise.
- Wherever I am, I try to learn a few words from the language. I always love learning new words. I’m trying to learn Korean with Yu-Na, but I'm a really impatient student :P
If you hadn’t chosen skating, what do you think you would be? Doctor, lawyer, journalist…surprise us.
- I have no idea, I can’t imagine my life without skating.
THIS IS THE BEST PART I''M NOT PUTTING IT UNDER A CUT
Now here comes the easy part. Say with as little words as possible what first pops into your mind when you hear these words:
- Twitter: fun!
- Quad: I’ll show you next season!
- Toronto: my apartment!
- Straight hair: curly hair is better ;)
- Plane: long trips!
- Toronto: Cricket Club
- The gold: competitions!
- Fall: GET UP!
- Olympic games: inspiration
- Figure skating: happiness!
To finish that last question, what do these names say to you?
- Stephane Lambiel: one of my favorites!
- Evgeni Plushenko: 4toe-3toe and his haircut
- Nikolai Mozorov: old
- Brian Orser: David Wilson!
- Javier Fernandez: One of the best people I’ve met! :)
- Evan Lysacek: Evan, congratulations!
- Yu-Na Kim - Bond girl
- Mao Asada - triple axel queen
LOL @ ALL OF THESE. OMG
found here BUT IT WAS IN SPANISH LOLZ SO THE AMAZING jennitarox TRANSLATED IT <333