Olympians and Paralympians lose medals. They ding and dent them. Even melt them. Then there’s the unique case of figure skater Adam Rippon.
“Mine actually has barbecue sauce on it,” Rippon told Variety of his PyeongChang team event bronze medal, “because I did an interview, and somebody was cooking at the same time, and they’re like, ‘Come over here.’ I went over there, and I have, like, barbecue sauce on it.”
It may have occurred in PyeongChang, where Rippon appeared on a TODAY cooking segment and ate Korean fried chicken.
Rippon told the story while sitting next to Olympic champion Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who rightly asked if the stain was not on the medal, but on the ribbon.
“No, on the medal part,” Rippon answered, “but it’s in a groove. It’s stuck there forever.”
Shaun White‘s mom once took his medal to a dry cleaners. A Florida jeweler has repaired Summer and Winter Olympic medals. Rippon has the option of getting his finely cleaned.
“You know what, I’m going to keep it there,” he said.
“It adds character,” Shiffrin said.
“And flavor,” Rippon said. “It’s barbecue flavored.”
OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!
MORE: Adam Rippon opines on figure skating future
Follow @nbcolympictalk
