‘Dancing With the Stars: Athletes’ Crowns a Winner

Dancing With the Stars has a new winning team! Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson danced their hearts out during the finale, and it showed, resulting in them taking home the Mirrorball trophy in the abbreviated all-athlete season.

The duo has dominated their competition all season, and continued to throw down in the finale episode Monday before being crowned the winners of the abbreviated all-athlete season of the ABC reality competition.

Olympic figure skaters Tonya Harding and Rippon, along with Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, all competed alongside their professional dance partners, Sasha Farber, Johnson and Sharna Burgess during Monday’s live finale.

Each pair performed two dances: one in tribute to their time on the show and another in a freestyle form.

For the inspiration dance, Harding and Farber danced the Viennese Waltz to “The Time of My Life” by David Cooke, Norman and Burgess danced the Foxtrot to “Conqueror” by Estelle and Jussie Smollett, and Rippon and Johnson performed a jazz dance to “Anything You Can Do” by the Broadway cast of Annie Get Your Gun.

Rippon’s performance with Johnson throughout the season earned them the designation of “the Wonder Twins of dance” from judge Carrie Ann Inaba during the finale.

In the freeform round, Harding and Farber performed to “I Will Survive” by the Gloria Gaynor, Norman and Burgess danced to “Walk on Water” by Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Rippon and Johnson performed to “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” by DJ Kass.

Rippon and Johnson’s modern dance to the viral song definitely was different than anything fans have seen on the show thus far, and earned mixed reviews from the judges.

“I can’t fault you for what you did, but I felt like something was missing,” Inaba said.

“What it lacked in convention, it made up for in invention,” judge Len Goodman countered.

“It was high-style freestyle,” judge Bruno Tonioli added.

As for the experience? Rippon couldn’t have asked for more, especially with a partner that quickly became a best friend.

“This has been even above and beyond what I thought it would be,” Rippon told the judges prior to his win.

Photo Credit: ABC