Adam Rippon delivered the performance of a lifetime during the men's portion of Sunday night's team figure skating competition, embracing his Olympic moment as the oldest first-time American skating Olympian since 1936. He had the audience hanging on his every move, and never fell once during his routine.
So why did he finish behind Mikhail Kolyada of Russia and Patrick Chan of Canada, who both fell on the ice? Twitter was incensed, particularly figure skating superfan Leslie Jones of "Saturday Night Live," who thought Rippon got robbed.
Adam Rippon was robbed by these judges, and you cannot convince me otherwise. I have two eyes that work just fine, and I know what I saw.#PyeongChang2018
— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) February 12, 2018
my extent of figuring skating knowledge is watching I, Tonya and Go Figure. so in my expert opinion, ADAM RIPPON WAS ROBBED
— Morgan Roussos (@morganroussos) February 12, 2018
If you turn the channel to NBC, you can see Adam Rippon being ROBBED on live television. pic.twitter.com/zOkJn93sL1
— sam (@thrillifying) February 12, 2018
I don’t get free style ice skating. Rippon looked flawless with all green marks. Damn near in tears after he dominated the routine. Two other dudes fell & looked defeated yet still beat out Rippon. We need Chazz Michael Michaels as a judge cause this is insanity. #Olympics
— Matt Overton (@MattOverton_LS) February 12, 2018
The 5 Stages of Adam Rippon
— Jeff Barrett (@BarrettAll) February 12, 2018
1. Awesome!
2. He got robbed!
3. Wait, I know nothing about figure skating.
4. Don't care.
5. ROBBED! pic.twitter.com/c8EazR2NoV
Rippon's performance set the tone for the Americans to start the night. While it lacked the quadruple jumps that some of his other competitors attempted, it also didn't have a single fall.
ADAM RIPPON. Because he slays. #WinterOlympics https://t.co/fmMl0C4Amf pic.twitter.com/fkG1KgiTb0
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 12, 2018
OUR HEARTS. #GoTeamUSA pic.twitter.com/5JImJ046fZ
— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) February 12, 2018
You’re incredible @Adaripp 🌟 https://t.co/rxkzd9Vf4v
— Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) February 12, 2018
But not attempting a quad on any of his jumping passes is exactly why Rippon found himself behind Chan and Kolyada, going by the rules put in placing following the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Here's a great explanation from USA Today's Maggie Hendricks on why playing it safe didn't pay off for Rippon.
To understand it all, we have to take a trip back to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when American Evan Lysacek won gold. The scoring at that time valued clean skating over innovation. Lysacek and his coach Frank Carroll worked the score sheet, taking advantage of 10 percent bonus given to jumps in the second half of the skate. What Lysacek didn't do was try a quad.
Russia's Evgeni Plushenko, who performed a quad toe in combination but whose skate wasn't as clean, was livid. He won the silver medal, but complained that an Olympic champion should do a quad.
The skating world agreed that innovation was needed, and changes were made to the scoring system to reward skaters who tried different and new things. This gets us to today.
If a skater falls on a quad, technical judges take a close look. Did he land it before he fell? They also look closely at what a skater's foot is doing on landings to make sure it is fully rotated when it lands. The reason quads are such a big deal is because they take so much time to perfect.
So there. While it seems to go against instinct to reward a skater for falling, it's also understandable that the powers that be in the sport want to see innovation, not conservative skating. As a perfect counter point, Rippon's own teammate and friend, Mirai Nagasu, went big and was rewarded for it by landing the first triple axel by an American woman in an Olympics to finish first in the women's skating portion.
"HOLY COW!" You just witnessed a historic triple axel from Mirai Nagasu. #WinterOlympics https://t.co/NsNuy9F46h pic.twitter.com/jCMTb4LtXv
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 12, 2018
Casually throwing it down at the #WinterOlympics. @mirai_nagasu, you have made history.
— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) February 12, 2018
She scores 137.53 points, a HUGE new personal and season's best. Let's #GoTeamUSA. pic.twitter.com/0H10MVIwkp
Now that’s a reaction. Mirai Nagasu really was terrific. Rose to the occasion. 137.53 points. Just what she needed to do for the Americans. pic.twitter.com/B4kFdpyeXA
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) February 12, 2018
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Country
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TOTAL
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|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14 | 14 | 11 | 39 |
|
14 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
|
11 | 8 | 10 | 29 |
|
9 | 8 | 6 | 23 |
|
8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
|
7 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
|
5 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
|
5 | 6 | 4 | 15 |
|
5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
|
5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
|
4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
|
3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
|
2 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
|
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
|
1 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
|
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
|
1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
|
1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
|
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
