Although the 2016 U.S. champion did not reach the podium in individual skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, he helped Team USA win a bronze medal and captivated America’s hearts with his passion, musicality, style, energetic social media posts, and joie de vivre.
He certainly caught Sally Field’s son’s attention, and Sam Gleisman tweeted a snippet of his son’s interaction with his Oscar-winner mother, in which she encouraged him by saying, “Sam…he’s so damn cute. Find a way.”
After PyeongChang, Rippon moved on to Dancing with the Stars, where she won the show and was named to Time magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People of 2018.” Since then, he has balanced his entertainment work (guest appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race, appearance in Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” video) with human rights work.
He married his husband Jussi-Pekka Kajala on December 31, 2021.
As for what he wanted to see at the Beijing Olympics, Rippon told E! News, January 2022, “What we want our audience to remember is that these athletes are all human beings, and when we talk about them and celebrate them, they’re going to see how people talk about them. Remember, these are people who have worked their whole lives for this moment, whether it goes the way they want it to or not.”
Ahead of the 2026 Olympics, Rippon teamed up with Chase Cain to host this season’s “My New Favorite Olympian” podcast.
