Ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis' dad praises her strength in outfit disaster

Ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis' dad praises her strength in outfit disaster

The Texas-based father of Gabriella Papadakis, the unfortunate French ice dancer whose costume popped open to reveal more than it should have on Monday, says his daughter won’t be defeated by her heartbreaking mishap.

Emmanuel Papadakis, a warm and upbeat entrepreneur who runs a food truck business in Austin, told USA TODAY Sports of his disappointment at the embarrassing malfunction that saw Gabriella’s breast briefly exposed as she competed with Guillaume Cizeron in the short dance.

But it won’t knock her down,” Papadakis said. “She is so tough and she has put in so much work. You wait and see what she goes out and does (on Tuesday). I am so proud of her, especially today.”

Gabriella Papadakis could have skated to the judges' table when her halter-top dress came loose at the beginning of her routine with Cizeron, and asked to be allowed to fix it. Doing so, however, would have led to a five-point deduction, and the French athletes are going for gold.

Struggling with the unclasped top during the performance led to some difficulties on the ice and plenty of frustrated tears afterward, but they still scored enough to land in second place going into the free dance.

“People see one thing,” Emmanuel Papadakis continued. “Yes, something happened. But I hope people can understand enough to think about what really matters. They don’t see that it took years of effort to get here and to try to be as good as you can be.”

Not only did television footage in the United States and Canada show Papadakis’ breast coming out of her dress, but it was repeated on slow-motion replay pictures sent out by the Olympic Broadcasting Service.

Yet what was lost amid the wave of internet activity surrounding the mishap was the reality that Papadakis and Cizeron are still firmly in contention to top the podium in this event. Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are legends in ice dance and lead the field, but the French pair is outstanding in the long program and fully capable of mounting what would now be an extraordinary revival.