How Olympians Are Finding A Spotlight Outside Of The Games

America's favorite and maybe even most controversial Olympians have left the competition and are starting to get more screen time elsewhere. Adam Rippon, Tonya Harding, Floyd Mayweather, Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, Hope Solo, Meryl Davis, Nancy Kerrigan, Laurie Hernandez, and Simone Biles are just a few of the many Olympians that have competed on Dancing With The Stars. The popular ABC show Dancing With The Stars is known for bringing celebrities of any kind, from actors to athletes, onto their show. U.S. Olympians are a popular addition to the show and typically end up doing well. Their innate athletic ability helps them on the ballroom floor, but it is America's love and respect for the Olympians that saves them from elimination round after round. Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, Meryl Davis, Laurie Hernandez, and Adam Rippon have all come in first place in the competition with the help of their dance partners. After this many seasons of DWTS, a correlation between Olympic figure skaters and winners of the dance competition is beginning to form. This correlation isn't shocking due to the nature of figure skating. Ballroom dancing and figure skating are similar in style, beauty, grace, strength, and perseverance in memorizing the routine. Since winning his season of DWTS, Adam Rippon has moved on to be one of the judges for Dancing With The Stars Juniors. Rippon's reputation as a figure skater has graced him with the opportunity to stay in the spotlight for far longer than his Olympic career would go. This is true for many athletes; ABC has given them an opportunity to shine in front of an audience again.

One controversial Olympic swimmer, Ryan Lochte, recently joined the cast of the 2019 Celebrity Big Brother reality TV game show. Celebrity Big Brother is a three-week power struggle for half a million dollars. While on the show, Lochte was given an endless pool in order to continue his training for the next summer Olympics. Lochte was joined on Big Brother by his fellow Olympian Lolo Jones who competes in hurdles and bobsled. Lolo Jones also participated in season 19 of Dancing With The Stars. Originally the pair joined forces as allies in the game, but that quickly crumbled when Lochte started to come across as cocky. Many didn't expect anything else from a six-time Olympic gold medal winner and "party-boy." Big Brother gave the pair a three-week spotlight before their next appearance at the 2020 summer Olympics.