Entertainment
Mirai Nagasu Brought Her Medal To The Oscars & She Wasn’t The Only Olympian At The Awards
At the 90th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, several PyeongChang Olympic athletes attended the ceremony that celebrates the film industry's accomplishments over the past year. Indeed, three American Olympians attended the Oscars and made waves on the red carpet, with one athlete, figure skater Mirai Nagasu, even bringing her Olympic bronze medal to the event.
Figure skaters Nagasu and Adam Rippon attended the event together. The skaters were part of the bronze medal-winning Olympic figure skating team in PyeongChang. Nagasu also made history at the 2018 Winter Games after she became the first-ever American woman to successfully land a triple axel during the Olympics.
In fact, she actually brought her bronze medal from the team event with her to the Oscars, telling ABC News that she had the medal safely tucked in her clutch while walking the red carpet. Nagasu told the outlet that she wanted celebrities at the Oscars to touch the medal in order to add even further "greatness" to the symbol of athletic achievement.
In addition to Nagasu and Rippon, legendary skier and Olympian Lindsey Vonn also attended the ceremony, along with her sister, Karin Kildow. Vonn, who won a bronze medal in PyeongChang, implied during an interview on the PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly Red Carpet Live pre-show that she was more nervous to walk the Oscars' red carpet than she was to compete in the Olympic Games. “I’m out of my comfort zone,” she noted. “The Oscars are such a big deal. I’m trying to soak it all in and not mess it up.”
Here's a roundup of how each athlete totally owned the red carpet.
Mirai Nagasu
The accomplished figure skater wore a blue Tadashi Shoji gown to the awards ceremony. When interviewed after the event along with Rippon, Nagasu mentioned to the Los Angeles Times that she was glad some of her favorite entertainers and films had won awards. “I was really rooting for Coco and also Allison Janney,” she said. “We feel like we’ve been rooting for all the right people.”
Adam Rippon
Figure skater Rippon also attended the Oscars, wearing, according to E! News, a cropped black tuxedo jacket and a leather chest harness with metal studs designed by Jeremy Scott of Moschino. Maya Salam of the New York Times described Rippon's outfit as "breaking the Oscars mold," saying that the "S&M-inspired look" garnered a great deal of support from those on social media.
Indeed, one Twitter user, Brandon Strom, offered extensive praise for Rippon's outfit, saying, "So, basically Adam Rippon was amazing again. That harness. Pretty sure he is the most awesome person ever."
Lindsey Vonn
Skier Vonn wore a black Christian Siriano gown on the red carpet. PEOPLE reported that Vonn's stylist, Jeff Kim, actually had to cut off the sleeves of Vonn's gown just minutes before she was due to walk the red carpet, after he discovered a problem with one of the sleeves.
However, despite the wardrobe issue, Vonn seemed to be having a good time at the Oscars overall, telling PEOPLE TV during the red carpet event, “Pretty stressed out, high anxiety, but I made it down the red carpet so far without tripping and my outfit’s in one place so I’m happy."
Vonn, Rippon, and Nagasu can now all add their names to the list of acclaimed athletes who have been invited to attend the Academy Awards. Back in 2014 following the Sochi games, former Olympic figure skaters and now well-known skating commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski attended the Oscars — and even hosted a red carpet event with Access Hollywood.
Weir and Lipinski certainly made their mark at the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony and, now, Vonn, Nagasu, and Rippon have all made a strong impression at the 2018 award ceremony as well. The athletes' attendance at the Oscars goes to show that Olympians have influence well beyond the sporting arena — and that many people, including Hollywood entertainers, very much appreciate and admire their athletic achievements.
