It seemed Adam Rippon’s dreams were over from his first element when he under-rotated and fell on a quad Lutz. He caught himself with a triple Axel-double toeloop-double loop, along with spectacular spins and footwork, to earn 171.82 points. However, with a total score of 268.34, the skater fell from second to fourth overall. The 28-year-old won the title in 2016, but he missed last season’s Nationals due to a broken foot.
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“I take full responsibility,” Rippon said. “I felt really good all week. On the first quad Lutz, I felt like I was losing my right foot a little bit. I let that feeling get the best of me, like it was going. But, I did the things the criteria says to be selected for the Olympic team, but with that being said, Vincent skated very well tonight. No matter what the selection is, I will be 100 percent OK. As a competitor, I take whatever situation given to me. Ross and I, for example, have come up together for 10 years, and I am genuinely happy for him. This is what we train for. When we make a mistake, we get up and keep doing.”
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