‘Dancing With the Stars: Athletes’ Finale Recap: Adam Rippon Takes Mirror Ball Trophy

As foretold by the gods of the ballroom, Adam Rippon was crowned champion of Dancing With the Stars: Athletes last night, but it was a lot closer than you may have expected.

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Over the course of the past few weeks of dominating the competition, Rippon and his partner Jenna Johnson have become full-fledged members of the Mutual Admiration Society. They turned that chemistry into an effervescent back-and-forth for their jazz rendition of “Anything You Can Do,” which netted them perfect 10’s across the board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzsZcW7lYy0

But Tonya Harding and Josh Norman and their respective partners were still in striking distance as they headed into their freestyle numbers. And they continued to turn up the heat, as both of those pairs racked up three 10’s each for their final performances, leaving Rippon and Johnson little room for error.

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The winners-to-be got a little risky for their freestyle, slapping on some black wigs and waving fans around to the tune of a little number called “Scooby Doo Pa Pa.” The crowd was definitely into it, though the judges opted to not quite fully embrace it: Carrie Ann Inaba and Len Goodman held back a little with a pair of 9’s, although Bruno Tonioli did toss out a 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VDylTCCzOY

Ultimately a little less than perfection was still enough to capture the Mirror Ball Trophy, as the final scores for the night were 56 for Tonya and Sasha, 57 for Josh and Sharna, and a champion 58 for Adam and Jenna.

It would have been more than a little anticlimactic if Adam and Jenna had not won, considering their consistency across the season, as they racked up 11 more points over the course of the competition than their nearest opponents.