An ice skater avoided a points deduction at the Winter Olympics after a clever move to prevent a wardrobe malfunction.
On Saturday, American figure skater Ilia Malinin made history at the Milan-Cortina Games when he landed the first backflip at the showpiece since 1998.
His heroics at the Milano Ice Skating Arena earned him a score of 98.00 in the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Saturday during the men’s short program team event.
A few days later, on Monday, the rhythm dance section of the ice dance competition took place and saw Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier take to the ice for Canada.
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They performed excellently to wind up with a score of 86.18 and find themselves in a podium spot ahead of the free dance section.
Currently only Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA in second and France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron - on course for the gold - are ahead of them.
But it was a genius call from Gilles which has Canada in the bronze medal position.
During one of the incredible lifts and spin maneuvers, a cuff from his outfit ended up getting caught in the tights of Gilles right at the death.
As per the rules, if part of the outlet touched the ice then it would have been an instant one point deduction for the duo.
The fabric flapped about on Gilles' leg but somehow the 34-year-old was able to catch it and improvise with a different final pose that saw her place the material behind her back.
Had Gillies not taken the step she did, then she and Poirier would have had an instant point deduction. That would have placed them in fourth place, outside the medal positions.
The medals will be decided on Wednesday where couples perform choreographed routines.
"We were really in the zone, feeling motivated and hungry and ready to immerse ourselves in the program. We had our blinders on, which allowed us to skate [in the] present," Poirier said after the performance, as per CBC.
"We came into this event unsatisfied with our performance a few days ago, and that allowed us to sharpen our focus. It was such a joy to perform today."
Topics: Olympics
Josh Lawless