Unless you haven’t opened Google in a couple of days or if you’re living under the rock, then you surely know that the Winter Olympics are going on right now as we speak. It’s a dream for any aspiring athlete to grow in their career so they can one day represent their country in the Olympics. But imagine being there, in the middle of your routine and experiencing a wardrobe malfunction.
Nerve-wrecking, right?
That’s exactly what happened to the South Korean figure skater Yura Min during the Winter Olympics. 5 seconds into her routine and her red dress’ hook came undone. she had to make a difficult choice between stopping mid-performance, fix it and lose points, or to continue the routine and risk having the top completely come off.
Min took a really brave decision to continue with the performance despite the wardrobe malfunction. She handled it as gracefully as anybody ever can. In conversation with the Detroit Free Press, she said,
“Five seconds into the routine, my hook came undone. I was like, ‘Oh no!’ If that comes undone, the whole thing could just pop off. I was terrified the entire program.”
However, she couldn’t do several steps in her routine because if she brought her shoulders together, her top would have come off. She had to constantly draw her shoulders back to avoid it. She further added,
“This is my first Olympics, our first program and if my top were to come down, that would have been a disaster. I was very nervous that the entire thing was going to come off.”
After this experience, Min has sworn that she will ensure her costume is stitched firmly for all her future performances, including the one coming up next week.
Her partner Alexander Gamelin said,
“Anytime she brought her shoulders in, it came down. I only noticed it halfway through. During our twizzle, it came off her shoulder, all the way. She had to stop and pull it back up and that cost us a bunch of points. It wasn’t because we were skating poorly.”
Min has a dual citizenship since she was born to South Korean parents in California, while Gamelin became a naturalised South Korean citizen.
Both Min and Gamelin found the incident to be an interesting one and they didn’t let the wardrobe malfunction affect their spirit. They took to social media to thank fans and friends for their support.
Min thanked the audience for their constant cheer that kept her going throughout the performance.
Despite the wardrobe malfunction, I had an amazing time competing in my home country! I promise to sew myself in for the individual event. 😂 I would like to thank the audience for keeping us going until the end. Couldn't have done it without you guys ❤ #grateful pic.twitter.com/B8UuRNgRMu
— Yura Min (민유라) (@Yuraxmin) February 11, 2018
Gamelin expressed his pride in his partner’s courage and ability to handle the situation with such grace.
For a first time Olympic athlete, she performed brilliantly well in such a pressure situation. She didn’t let her nervousness show. People all over the world are applauding Min’s performance. But more than that, they are appreciating her calm composure and true athlete-spirit that made her go through with the performance despite the risky malfunction.