Seconds in, Olympic Skaters Landed in a Very Risque Jam

Yura Min says she was 'terrified' for entire routine after costume hook came undone seconds in
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2018 6:03 AM CST
Seconds in, Olympic Skaters Landed in a Very Risque Jam
Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin perform in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

If anyone can relate to Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, it's figure skater Yura Min. Except as Min skated Sunday in Pyeongchang, it wasn't just a small bit of her costume she feared would come off. Just a few seconds into her Olympic routine with partner Alexander Gamelin, "my hook came undone," Min says, per the Detroit Free Press. And "if that comes undone, the whole thing could just pop off. I was terrified the entire program." She chose not to stop and risk a deduction. Instead, she improvised the rest of the routine (see a short clip here) by avoiding moves that would've risked her costume slipping off, leaving her exposed in front of millions. "That wouldn't be the most ideal Olympic experience, obviously," she says, per the AP. Gamelin, for his part, didn't even notice the issue until they'd completed about half the routine.

"During our twizzle, it came off her shoulder, all of the way," he says. A figure-skating expert tells the New York Times that Min's costume kerfuffle isn't common, as competitors test-run their outfits before a big skate like that, "but, as we all know, stuff happens." Meanwhile, designer Vera Wang tells People such a wardrobe snafu on the ice is a "nightmarish" happening that can derail one's Olympic dreams. Min and Gamelin have a compelling story, per the Free Press: Both US citizens, they're skating for the South Korean team—Min's parents moved to California from South Korea before she was born, and Gamelin, born in Boston, became a naturalized South Korean citizen so they could meet the rules required to represent South Korea together. The duo came in ninth out of 10 pairs Sunday, but they're already looking ahead to the individual pairs competition later this month. (More 2018 Olympics stories.)

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