French ice dance team rebounds from wardrobe malfunction to earn silver medal
There were no tears this time, well, maybe a tiny one creeping into the corner of Gabriella Papadakis’ eye, but oh, what a difference.
Less than 24 hours removed from becoming the most discussed figure skater at these Winter Olympics and the humiliation of being, literally, undressed in public, Papadakis was at peace.
Not just peace but triumph. The French ice dancer and partner Guillaume Cizeron turned in a spectacular performance to rock the free dance and claim silver at the Gangneung Ice Arena. It was raw, emotional, thrilling stuff, made all the more meaningful by what had preceded it.
On Monday, Papadakis had suffered a figure skater’s nightmare, heck, anyone’s nightmare. In front of a global television audience her dress became unfastened and her breast was exposed. For the entirety of their routine she was powerless to fix it, and had to battle on, knowing that on the biggest stage of all a devastating wardrobe malfunction was threatening her dream of Olympic glory.
It did, affecting their technical elements and knocking them 1.74 points behind Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. But it merely set up the comeback. Epic revivals aren’t all about bottom of the ninth, or 28-3 at halftime, or sudden death overtime. And they don’t always end with a gold medal. Sometimes they are about the power of the human spirit and the strength to will yourself past adversity.
That is what Papadakis did here, along with a partner who never wavered in his support for a second. It would have been easy to wilt. Instead, they were flawless in the free dance, buoyed by the love and backing of a crowd who wanted them to shine.
A score of 123.35 put them into first place, and meant a nervous wait to see if they would be overhauled by first round leaders Virtue and Moir of Canada.
The Canadians are superstars of dance and collected another gold to add to their victory from Vancouver in 2010. Maia and Alex Shibutani of the United States clinched a deserved bronze.
But the sight of Papadakis and Cizeron celebrating, smiling and appreciating the moment left one thing in no doubt: They will leave Pyeongchang as champions.
Source:- https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/martin-rogers/2018/02/19/gabriella-papadakis-guillaume-cizeron-wardrobe-malfunction-silver-medal-ice-dance/353705002/
