With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to dominate the headlines, we could use every ray of light we can find to get us through these strange times. Fortunately, one of those rays of light looks exactly like the signal for America’s Sweetheart.
Last weekend, Adam Rippon took some time away from self-quarantining to appear on NPR’s “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” radio show. As is usually the case, the Olympic medalist showed that social distancing hasn’t affected his ability to throw shade, oftentimes at himself.
When asked how he was keeping busy, Rippon informed the panel that “I’m trying to go on a health journey now. Because probably about a week ago, I felt like my organs were competing, like which one would fail first. Now I’m feeling much better.”
As if to prove that his brain was not the first organ to fail, Rippon then turned the tables and stumped quizmaster Peter Sagal with a reference to workout guru Shawn T. Perhaps the longtime NPR host is waiting for the popular fitness trainer to release a video called Baroque Concerto for Harpsichord Abs.
Rippon also reminisced with the panel about his triumphant 2018 Olympic experience at the “advanced age” of 28 and what it felt like taking the ice with 17 and 18 year old teammates…
“I told them I had wisdom. Because when these younger kids were coming up, they were better than me. So the only thing I had going for me was that maybe I wasn’t a virgin.”
As any Olympic analyst will tell you, there’s no substitute for veteran experience.
When asked if he missed competing as an active figure skater, Rippon briefly turned introspective, admitting, “There’s a huge part of me that’s like, I absolutely never want to compete ever again. Because I never really enjoyed competing. I loved training but I didn’t love the competing.”
Despite that revelation, it was time for Sagal to segue into the competition portion of the segment entitled “Rippon? Try these rip-offs.” Sagal asked three questions testing Rippon’s knowledge of bizarre attempts to rip off famous products throughout the world.
Did the figure skating champion’s skills cross over to the Public Radio quiz show genre? Click here to find out, and click here if you’d like to listen to the entire “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me” broadcast.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this story called Adam Rippon a former Olympic medalist. We’ve removed the word “former” following a comment by an eagle-eyed reader who caught our mistake. We regret the error, but we appreciate the opportunity to fix it.