Adam Rippon again absolutely crushed his performance. This time it was the short program for the men’s individual competition.
During the team event he was tapped for the free skate, but this time it was the short program he executed seemingly to near perfection.
The problem for Rippon is that he didn’t have any quads in his short program. That is, he didn’t have any jumps in which he jumped four full rotations. The current scoring system devalues artistry and values strength more highly.
Regardless, Rippon was darn near perfect. Almost every element scored high marks and he looked absolutely beautiful skating to the dance hit “Let Me Think About It,” by Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand.
Rippon competes in the free skate next. That is a better program than his short program, including a couple quads.
Still, he has zero shot at a medal because of the ridiculous value the scoring system places on quads. It’s essentially the same system that thwarted Johnny Weir eight years go.
It’s a combination of the 2002 scoring scandal… and a desire to make figure skating more “straight” and masculine.
In 2018, it hurts Adam Rippon.
You can find complete Winter Olympics 2018 coverage on SB Nation, and Outsports will have the LGBT angle.
