Adam Rippon skated to an Olympic bronze medal in 2018, won the 2016 National Championships, and, after publicly coming out in a 2015 interview, became the first openly gay American to qualify for the Olympics. He's been open about the bullying he experienced growing up, telling Today, "One time, I was in the fourth grade and somebody said, 'Oh, because you skate, you're gay.' And I didn't even know what that meant. But to me it felt like they were trying to insult me and I felt so exposed in front of all of my classmates and my peers. I felt embarrassed and I didn't know why and I didn't even know what being gay really meant."
He said his friends, family, and passion for skating helped him rise above the bullies, and after coming out, he said his performance on the ice improved remarkably. In a 2018 interview with InStyle, Rippon said, "It's a really liberating experience to just be yourself."
Image Source: Getty / Kimberly White / Stringer