The 2018 Olympics' Most Uncomfortable Moments

The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea had no shortage of thrills, triumph, and heartwarming redemption stories. Bright young stars such as snowboarders Chloe Kim and Red Gerard both clinched their first gold medals at just 17-years-old. Fan favorite Shaun White put in one of the all-time great comeback performances on his own board with a own nail-biting gold medal run, and figure skater Mirai Nagasu made history as the first American woman to land a triple axle in Olympic competition. But there's a flip side to that coin, and as with any live broadcast, there have been plenty of other, less epic performances at this year's games. These were the 2018 Olympic moments that had us cringing rather than cheering.

Weeks before the Olympics began, figure skater Adam Rippon told USA Today Sports that he had no interest in meeting with Vice President Pence over what he perceived were the politician's anti-gay sentiments. What followed was a war of words between Rippon and Pence's press secretary, Alyssa Farah, who issued a statement that outright refuted Rippon's remarks.  

Rippon then headed to Twitter with so-called "receipts" that allegedly quoted the vice president's controversial positions on legislation geared at LGBTQ rights. Pence then reached out directly to Rippon on Twitter, writing, in part, "I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don't let fake news distract you." Meanwhile, the veep's team was issuing somewhat conflicting statements to the press, according to People, about how or why Pence's office did or did not specifically request a meeting with Rippon.

Ultimately, the whole thing was becoming too much of a distraction, and Rippon eventually said that he would rather "focus on my training and the Olympics" and "revisit" the possibility of a meeting after the Games. While the Rippon-Pence rift stands as the kind of celebrity showdown tailor-made for Twitter and a giant bag of popcorn, it begs the question: Was this at all appropriate to happen during the Olympic Games?

Aside from getting injured and/or losing, what's the worst thing that could happen to an Olympian? If you answered "accidental nudity," congratulations! You don't win anything, but neither did South Korean ice dancers Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin, whose Olympic debut hit a snafu when the single hook holding Min's top together snapped five seconds into their first routine.

Though the pair gamely, ahem, held it together, their routine suffered due to the sudden need to improvise away from Min's choreographed arm gestures that would have surely had her pulling a Janet Jackson. 

I was like, 'Oh no!'" Min told the Detroit Free Press, adding, "If that comes undone, the whole thing could just pop off. I was terrified the entire program." 

Fortunately, the pair made it through without Min exposing herself. Unfortunately, they finished in 10th place. As for the problematic hook? That baby's getting sewn together before it sees Olympic ice again. Good call.

As The New York Times points out, Olympic athletes usually get to wear some cutting edge gear while competing, whether it's necessary equipment for the sport or just a branding opportunity for a sponsor to show of flashy new products. But in U.S. curler Tyler George's case, he's more concerned with athletic superstition than he is with style.

Enter his ragged, foul-looking, eight-year-old competition Skechers (above, third from left) that look like he spends his off time wearing them to play soccer with a paper shredder instead of a ball. Describing the crumbling kicks to The Times as "a dumpster fire," George is keenly aware of how grossed out his funky footwear makes the rest of his team, not to mention the international viewing audience. But he doesn't care. "It's like a baseball glove," he said. "The ball has to feel right when it hits the webbing. Curling shoes — same thing. You have to be able to point your knee out the right way, and put the right amount of your foot on the ice."

George also pointed out, "If you make enough shots, everyone quiets up pretty quick." Spoken like a true Olympic champ, even if his shoes look like The Mummy lost a fight with Edward Scissorhands.

White found himself on the receiving end of public outcry even before his "gossip" comment. In fact, it was just moments after his triumphant gold medal that White seriously fumbled his handling of a celebratory American flag. According to CBS Sports, he "proceeded to step on it and drag it behind him when he left the finish corral." Whoops.

The twittersphere did not hold back, with users accusing him of disrespect, calling him a punk, and literally saying his actions made them cringe. During the same press conference in which he uncomfortably skirted questions about the sexual harassment lawsuit, White also had to field questions about his treatment of the flag.

"I remember being handed the flag, but I was trying to put my gloves on and hold the flag and get the board," White said (via AOL). "So honestly, if there was anything, I definitely didn't mean any disrespect." He also said that he proudly displays the American flag at his house and that he's "very proud to be a part of Team USA and being American and to be representing for everyone back home."

Call it a hunch, but this was probably not how White envisioned the reception of his historic win to play out.

NBC's Olympic coverage co-anchor Katie Couric found herself "on thin ice" as she put it after an odd remark during the Opening Ceremony when she said that skating on frozen canals is "an important mode of transportation" for the Dutch.

Twitter user Jos Duijvestein uploaded the video of her remarks, which as of this writing, has been retweeted more than 23,000 times. The Netherlands' U.S. Embassy even got involved, tweeting a lighthearted invite to Couric to visit the country so she can learn "all the innovative ways the Dutch get around," and to also "break the ice." (Get it?) 

Couric's apology, also via Twitter, was just as lighthearted, containing the aforementioned "thin ice" pun as well as the explanation, "I was trying to salute your historical passion for the sport but it didn't come out that way!"

Oh, Katie. Maybe she should have tried dressing up like Katniss Everdeen?

French ice dancing duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron had only just started their short program set to Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" when the hook on Papadakis' costume came undone. It was the Yura Min incident all over again, only this time, the actual worst-case scenario happened when Papadakis' chest was accidentally exposed.

"It was kind of my worst nightmare happening at the Olympics," Papadakis later said during a press conference (via NBC). "I felt it right away and I prayed. That's about what I could do."

A higher power must have been listening, because the duo still managed to earn a score of 81.93, putting the pair in second place and still in medal contention going into the free skate. When the skaters returned to the ice for their long program, Papadakis and Cizeron rallied to clinch the silver medal with a performance that garnered "the highest ever free dance score." In the words of one commentator, their comeback skate  "redefined sublime."

As for Papadakis' costume on that second night? Not a hook in sight.

North Korean speed skater Jong Kwang Bom definitely made a name for himself at the 2018 Olympics — just not in a good way. During the admittedly accident-prone 500 meter short track event, the 17-year-old went down hard just a few strides into the race, which is not entirely out of the ordinary.

What is strange, however, according to USA Today Sports, is that Jong appeared to attempt to grab the razor-sharp skate of his Japanese competitor, Ryosuke Sakazume, which could have caused serious injury to both athletes. Amazingly, officials granted a restart, but Jong didn't fare much better, failing to make it out of the first turn before falling again, crashing into Team USA's Thomas Hong, then a side barrier. The disappointment on Jong's face was heartbreaking, and was only compounded by the dreadful thought of what repercussions he could face by the oppressive regime for which he competes.   

His competitors were gracious: Sakazume chalked up the perceived skate grab as "a reflex," and Hong took part of the blame for Jong's second fall, saying he was "just too close." Jong did not speak to reporters afterwards, instead turning his head and walking away. While his attitude is understandable, it wasn't very sportsmanlike.

Oh well, better luck in Beijing, Jong!

If you thought Jocelyne Larocque's unsportsmanlike loss was bad, wait until you get a load of how the South Korean women's speed skating team reacted when one of its own, Noh Seon-yeong, failed to keep the pace in the quarter-final team pursuit, eventually resulting in an eight place finish for the team in the final.  

"We were skating well, but the last skater couldn't keep up and we had a disappointing score," teammate Kim Bo-Reum said of Seon-yeong in a press conference after the race. "It wasn't that we didn't think this would happen with Seon-yeong," added Park Ji Woo, another teammate, who was referencing the fact that Seon-yeong was a last minute addition to the team. Seon-yeong, who'd previously expressed her hope to win gold in honor of her brother, Jin-kyu, who died of cancer in 2016, did not speak to the press, but was visibly distraught after the quarter-final race.

A petition to have Bo-Reum and Ji Woo removed from the team received more than 500,000 signatures, with petitioners citing their apparent poor sportsmanship and bullying, reported Reuters. Ultimately, both Bo-Reum and Ji Woo apologized, but the uncharacteristic display of team disunity left the Olympic community shocked and disappointed. Well, everyone except the French, who probably thought, "Nous comprenons complètement."

In one of the most perplexing performances of the 2018 Olympics, if not of all time, freestyle skier Elizabeth Swaney, of Team Hungary, underwhelmed the world with her conservative and arguably inadequate-for-Olympic-competition halfpipe run. Through a somewhat complicated quota system, which you can read about here, the American-born Swaney ended up on the Hungarian squad thanks to her family's roots in the European country.

This perceived low bar upon which she gained entry to the Games was made evident as she criss-crossed the halfpipe, grabbing no air and performing the most basic tricks. In fact, her biggest move was a 180-degree spin. During her run, the announcers barely knew what to say, and when she finished (without falling, to her credit), the crowd's tepid applause basically said it all.

But Swaney wasn't done creating uncomfortable Olympic moments. Away from the mountain cluster, she was interviewed by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on Today , where the co-anchors took great pains to ask her about her dismal display without actually saying, "You know you're not good enough to be here, right?"

Swaney, in her oddly confident way — It's worth noting here that in the past Swaney has also unsuccessfully run for governor of California and attempted to make Venezuela's Olympic team as a competitor in Skeleton —  pointed out that she did her best and hopes to work her way up to more complicated tricks.

Honestly? We're here for whatever Swaney has in store for us next. This woman is a mystery wrapped in an enigma and we couldn't love it more.

Apparently Bode Miller was missing his reputation as the "bad boy of U.S. skiing," since he revived his naughty persona via his commentary during the women's giant slalom event at the 2018 Olympics on February 14. The date, obviously Valentine's Day, is especially important here, since Miller decided to suggest that Austria's Anna Veith hadn't been performing well recently due to past injuries, as well as — wait for it — the fact that she's now married.

"And it's historically very challenging to race on the World Cup with a family or after being married," Miller joked, according to The Washington Post. "Not to blame the spouses, but I just want to toss that out there, that it could be her husband's fault." What a class act, huh?

It only took hours for Miller to backtrack on the air, saying it was "an ill-advised attempt at a joke." He added, "I was an athlete that competed after marriage, and I know how beneficial it is. I know the support team you need."  

Miller also headed over to Twitter, which you can imagine was already ablaze with indignation over his remarks, to smooth things over. "I had the love and support of my wife while I was racing and I know it can be a huge asset. #happyvalentineday," he tweeted.

We're guessing someone got an extra charm on her Pandora bracelet this year. Probably not a little pair of skis, though.