Costume mishap at the ice dance: A cunning neckholder with European champion Gabriella Papadakis could be important for the outcome of the Olympic decision.
Ed Sheeran’s voice hadn’t even begun to appear, and Gabriella Papadakis felt that her first Olympic short dance would be the longest in her life.
The halterneck holder of her green-shining dress tore after just a few seconds and forced the European Ice Dancing Champion to make a quick and pragmatic decision.
“I could only go on and pray that everything would go well,”the Frenchwoman later said about her misfortune that she called it the “worst nightmare”. After all, for the 22-year-old and her partner Guillaume Cizeron in Pyeongchang, it’s nothing less than the gold medal.
Icy multitasking was necessary to get out of the unpleasant predicament halfway unharmed. It succeeded, with restrictions: Photos with the exposed left breast of the ice dancer quickly found her way into the net, but at least it remained.
Far more importantly, the gap to World Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada was limited to 1.74 points, and a preliminary sporting decision was not made before the final.
And yet, the spectators in the Gangneung Ice Arena sensed that their usual lightness was a little lost for the fellow favourites. Of course, the fear is understandable, with every elevation, with every twizzle the thin fiddle can slip off completely.
“In such a situation, it is of course difficult to stay focused. We could have run better without the problem,”said Cizeron somewhat annoyed.
This “problem” is almost as old as figure skating itself. Even double Olympic gold medallist Katarina Witt gave and still gives similar photos – before she even naked herself twice under optimal conditions for the Playboy.
The German masters Kavita Lorenz and Joti Polizoakis did not have to fight with slipping costumes, but with unchristian starting times. Nevertheless, it was enough to finish 17th and qualify for the free skating finals.
The day began at four o’ clock, the bus went into the hall at five o’ clock, and the final training was at six o’ clock. Shortly after ten o’ clock he made his appearance to South American sounds. Quite extraordinary for the runner artists, whose decisions are usually made in the late evening hours.
This is also the case at the 2018 Olympics, except not in Pyeongchang, but on the east coast of the USA. For the many millions of dollars that NBC pays to the Lords of the Rings for TV rights, it is also priced in that the first runners enter the ice of the Gangneung Ice Arena on time for primetime in New York and Boston.
And in view of the fact that the 2022 Winter Games will be held in Beijing and thus in almost exactly the same time zone, figure skaters will probably have to compete in China, too, much earlier than usual.
For Martin Skotnicky, exercise bike trainer from Lorenz/Polizoakis, however, there is a problem that can be solved:”You can practice this, you can train it”.