GANGNEUNG, South Korea — French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis was left devastated after an untimely wardrobe malfunction took the shine off her short program performance at the Winter Olympics.
Papadakis, who was in second place with 81.93 alongside Guillaume Cizeron at the halfway point, battled on after an embarrassing mishap that left her dress, which came with a haltertop, unfastened at the beginning of the routine and later appeared to reveal the lower part of her breast.
The accident took place when Papadakis threw herself backward on the final element of the performance and her costume rode upwards in a revealing manner. The incident was shown live on international television and was later replayed on slow motion screens in the arena.
Papadakis had tears streaming down her face as she moved through the media interview zone, leaving her partner Cizeron to take most of the questions for her.
“It is just frustrating to miss a few points because of a costume issue,” Cizeron said. “It is not what we get ready for when we train. I am still proud that we managed to pull out a program like that even with a difficulty like this.
“We just look forward to a new day tomorrow and we have all our chances to win and we will just do our best.”
When USA TODAY Sports asked Papadakis if she was OK, the 22-year-old just said “not great,” with a sad laugh.
Later, after composing herself, Papadakis attended a news conference for the top three scoring pairs.
“It was my worst nightmare, happening at the Olympics,” she said. “Yeah, I was pretty distracted.
“It happened in the first few seconds. I told myself I didn’t have a choice and that I had to keep going. I think we should be proud we were able to deliver a strong performance with that happening.
“I felt it right away, and then I prayed. That is about all I could do.”
