Adam Rippon hit at least a triple in his short program of the Men’s Individual competition of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The problem is… he hit only a triple.
Getting to home base will be nearly impossible.
To the casual eye, Rippon was a vision. He looked great and he moved beautifully.
The problem is one of math.
To win a medal in a men’s competition, a figure skater has to have a series of quad jumps. That is, they need to jump and rotate at least 1440 degrees — four times around.
Rippon has very few of those jumps. Despite losing as much weight as possible to launch himself off of the ice, Rippon had only triples in his short program. He may not even have any quads in his free skate Friday night (Eastern).
Already trailing by almost 17 points after the short program, it’s virtually impossible for Rippon to piece together enough points to win a medal.
Regardless, we’re just hoping he can perform his free skate flawlessly and continue to impress America.