Adam Rippon in his birthday suit plus four more reasons why he’s our favorite bday boy

America’s gay sweetheart Adam Rippon turns 33 today, and he certainly has plenty to celebrate. Not only is he a highly decorated former competitive figure skater, he’s also gone on to coach the sport’s top talent, shine on TV and even find the man of his dreams. And throughout his many successes, he’s never shied away from speaking his mind and being a queer role model for his many fans.

So to help kick off his birthday weekend, here are five reasons Adam truly kicks a**:

His place in Olympic history

Adam, who came out as gay in 2015, represented the US at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, where he won a Bronze Medal. His engaging personality and all-round social media sassiness won him legions of fans, but it was his sheer talent that impressed the judges and got him to the podium. He also made major Olympic history, becoming the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games.

His Gold medal in thirst

Shortly after the 2018 Games, Adam embraced his birthday suit for ESPN’s Body Issue, taking off everything but his skates for an icy hot photo shoot.

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Related: Adam Rippon’s full ESPN Body Issue pics have arrived and they do not disappoint

He also revealed that coming out gave him a newfound confidence to show off his sexy side. “I couldn’t have done this [shoot] while I was in the closet,” he told the magazine. “I think that, with my experience of coming out, I felt so liberated in so many ways.”

And it looks like he’s been liberated ever since:

 

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A post shared by Adam Rippon (@adaripp)

 

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A post shared by Adam Rippon (@adaripp)

He tells it like it is… and then some

If Adam sees a problem, he doesn’t back down. In fact, he’s repeatedly gone out of his way to stand up to injustices in the queer community and beyond. When Russian fellow skater Alexei Yagudin shared his disgusting, transphobic opinions on Twitter, he swung back hard.

Yagudin made the comments after Rippon announced he had donated to The Okra Project, a charity aimed at helping underprivileged Black, transgender people. In response, Rippon decided to donate even more to the organization–but in Yagudin’s name.

“When Olympic gold, Alexei Yagudin, found out I donated to a charity that helps black trans people he said that he COULDNT WAIT for people like me to die,” Adam posted. “Because of that I feel INSPIRED to donate another $1000 to the @TheOkraProject but this time, in his name.”

“It doesn’t matter how well respected they might be in their own sport,” he added. “If they are hateful, they suck. He apologized but I don’t accept it. He can take his apology, homophobia, transphobia, racist comments, and his Olympic gold medal and shove them up his ass.”

This is just one example of Adam using his platform for good. He’s also made waves when he tore the Olympics a new one over the 2022 Winter Olympics doping scandal, and has even gone toe-to-toe with former Vice President Mike Pence.

He crushed it on Dancing with the Stars

Sure, we could go on about how well Adam and his dancing partner, Jenna Johnson, performed all season long on Dancing with the Stars season 26, making it all the way to the finals and ultimately winning the competition. But we’d rather re-live the duo’s week one performance, when they burst out of the gate with the queerest cha-cha the world had ever seen, set to RuPaul’s “Sissy That Walk.”

His Halloween game is on point

Adam is clearly a fan of spooky season, and we are huge fans of his creative and hilarious costumes.

In 2022 he elicited LOLs when he “dressed up as Ken but ended up as Barbie’s lesbian sister, Skipper”:

 

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A post shared by Adam Rippon (@adaripp)

But he was only just getting started, and his other 2022 look — the carpet from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago raid — was truly inspired:

 

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A post shared by Adam Rippon (@adaripp)

In 2021 he also delivered a totally unique, ripped-from-the-headlines lewk, responding to Nicki Minaj’s much-discussed tweet about her cousin’s swollen testicles with this moment of genius:

And in 2020 he took Cardi B’s words to heart by going as a literal WAP:

So to this champion on and off the ice, we wish Adam the very happiest of birthdays!