Adam Rippon made history this weekend, becoming the first openly gay man from the U.S. to medal at the Winter Olympics.
And the founder of Outsports.com says the bronze medal-winner may have opened the door for other LGBT youth to find a place in the world of sports.
“The fact that Adam backed it up with a great performance on Sunday night and America fell in love, that’s the message that kid is receiving: ‘I can be Adam, and I can still be loved by America, too,’” Cyd Zeigler said. “It’s not just the kid watching Adam be his authentic self. It’s then watching his classmates and other people on social media totally embrace it.”
Rippon and fellow out Team USA member Gus Kenworthy, a freestyle skier who races this weekend, have been widely applauded at the Winter Games. But they also sparked controversy with a selfie captioned “Eat your heart out, Pence.”
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who led the U.S. delegation at the Olympics’ Opening Ceremony, has been criticized for his support of “religious freedom” laws and reported advocacy of “conversion therapy.”
The VP tried to ease any tension, tweeting at Rippon, “I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don’t let fake news distract you.”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/adam-rippon-and-gus-kenworthy-break-the-rainbow-ceiling-at-the-winter-olympics).
After Croatia's long-fought match against Russia on Saturday, the team may not have the stamina to beat England this week. "Croatia's had to play two very long 120-minute games followed by penalty shootouts," says Mike Murphy, deputy editor at Quartz. "That'll work in England's favor."
With the Golden State Warriors signing its fifth All-Star, some wonder whether the league has forever changed. "I just miss the days when guys would compete against each other ... Now with the world we live in, there's so much pressure on these kids to win," Shaquille O'Neal told Cheddar.
The basketball star, who has been DJing since the 80s, tells Cheddar that he initially decided to start spinning after attending a Public Enemy concert and meeting Chuck D and Terminator X. "I got enough money to go to the pawn shop, get some turntables and taught myself how to DJ." His "Summer of Shaq" tour began June 9 and runs through August 5.
The basketball superstar took over Cheddar's Slack channel to tell the team to "BE NICE" and "TAKE MONDAY OFF."
Facebook is in talks to launch a 13-episode series about the Portuguese soccer star for its Facebook Watch platform. It's reported Ronaldo could make $10 million from the series but it's unclear if Facebook's investment in original content would turn into viewers, says Taylor Lorenz, a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Tomorrow's match will pit five-time World Cup champion Brazil against Belgium, which Quartz reporter Mike Murphy says is "the most exciting team at the World Cup." The quarterfinal game kicks off at 2 pm ET on Friday.
Matthew Nordgren, a former Philadelphia Eagle and founder of the Arcadian Fund, drew inspiration from his father, also a former pro, to help weed start-ups grow into businesses of a "championship caliber," he tells Cheddar.
After signing a $154 million contract with the L.A. Lakers, some are wondering if the basketball legend has some ulterior motives in moving to the West Coast. “I think he’s primarily going to become a dominant producing force and maybe becomes an Oprah-type person, who launches his own channel,” Sean O’Connell, managing editor at Cinemablend tells Cheddar.
Russia's shocking win over Spain in the Round of 16 got the team one step closer to its first ever World Cup championship. But while there's still a lot of game left to be played, The Banter's Jeffrey Marcus says, regardless of the outcome, President Vladimir Putin has already achieved his goal.
While many soccer fans will be tuning into the round of 16 starting this weekend, some are still not over the ultimate loss — the United States not participating. However, Jeffery Marcus, publisher at the Banter, tells Cheddar he thinks that for the U.S. to have a solid chance at a 2022 World Cup, it's a matter of "finding better players and nurturing them."
