Russian gymnast expertly survives hair malfunction during floor routine at world championships
Russian Angelina Melnikova was in the middle of her qualifying floor routine on Saturday when the unthinkable happened: Her hair came loose.
Melnikova started out her routine at the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, with her hair up in a bun, like most gymnasts do. Yet after a tumbling pass early in her routine, her hair popped out of the bun — and could be seen repeatedly hitting her in the face and swirling around her head throughout the rest of her routine.
Mid-routine hair change is what we came to #Stuttgart2019 for. 👑 pic.twitter.com/J0HcKMhL2t
— Pamchenko Twist (@Pamchenkova) October 5, 2019
“Actually, when I was coming up to floor, I checked my bun and thought about whether I should re-do it, but I decided not to,” Melnikova said. “On the second pass, it came undone, and the rest of the floor routine I was just thinking about my hair, that it didn't get in my eye or anything because I know how much it can bother you.”
"If it was in training, I would have stopped and changed it, but here I couldn't stop..."
Angelina reacts to her hair coming undone mid flip! Champions keep going.🙌@_gelyamelnikova pic.twitter.com/jbP0Xyckbc— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) October 5, 2019
Somehow, it didn’t bother her one bit.
Melnikova still posted the top qualifying score at the time, receiving a 14.1 from the judges.
Her score, though, didn’t hold. American Sunisa Lee later posted a 14.2, and then Simone Biles came through and grabbed a dominant lead with a 14.833, sending Melnikova to third.
Still, surviving the routine after what could have been an extremely distracting hair malfunction is impressive nonetheless.
“Of course, if it was in training, I would have stopped and changed it,” Melnikova said, “But here I couldn't stop, so I was just thinking about it. I hoped it wouldn't get in my eye.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
