Adam Rippon Shares the High Fashion Outfits He Can't Wear at the Beijing Olympics — Here's Why

The Olympic figure skater turned coach reveals he sadly must forego the looks he had lined up, in a TikTok video appropriately captioned: "A missed opportunity for fashion and the fashion community"

By

Tristan Balagtas

Published on February 7, 2022 04:05 PM

Adam Rippon Tik Tok — Photo: Adam Rippon/Tik Tok

Adam Rippon had some fierce looks planned for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

But in a TikTok video that's amassed well over half a million views, the Olympic figure skating medalist turned coach, 32, reveals he sadly must forego the outfits he had lined up, in a clip appropriately captioned: "A missed opportunity for fashion and the fashion community."

Rippon took to the social media platform to air his grievances over the "unspoken culture" of only wearing brand sponsors at the world's biggest sporting event, where he's serving as coach to fellow figure skater Mariah Bell.

"As a coach, you wanna dress up, you wanna look nice. You wanna be professional," he explains at the beginning of Friday's clip.

"At the Olympic games, you can only wear the brand sponsors," Rippon reveals, followed by a sigh of disappointment.

"I brought things with me that I was gonna wear and I just forgot that you can't wear them because they're not a sponsored thing – they're not like Nike or Ralph Lauren. So, I am gonna put on what I was gonna wear. I'm gonna show you."

The former Olympian then proceeds to put on a mini fashion show, modeling two gold medal-worthy looks.

First up — a magnificent red, white and blue Gucci tracksuit. He strikes a few poses and calls his outfit "a coaching moment."

"Think athlete, think tracksuit," he instructs his followers.

Rippon then models outfit number two — a more "elevated" look. The athlete pairs a Balenciaga shirt with a dress pant. He accessorizes with a Hermés belt.

"I'm gonna follow the rules because that's what I do — I follow the rules, and I would never ever dream about breaking a rule, ever in my whole f------ life. I would never dream of breaking a rule," he disappointingly insists.

RELATED VIDEO: Adam Rippon Talks on Missing the Olympics Two Times Before Becoming an Olympic Medalist in 2018

In true Adam Rippon fashion, he then shows off a figure-skating spin and continues, "You'll never catch me breaking a rule ever in my whole damn life."

"And I will obviously be in a mask because I don't want my droplets to go everywhere and that's actually another rule that I would never dream of breaking." Rippon adds, "And with that I say – go Team USA."

To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.