American fractureer Sunny Choi quit her job as a labeleting executive to headline the United States’ first-ever Olympic fractureing team. But now she’ll depart Paris desotardy-handed after being take awayd from quarterfinal satisfyedion even before her third battle.
Choi finished her Olympic run with a triumph, lossing Portugal’s Vanessa, 2-0, in the round-robin. But it wasn’t enough to obtain her a spot in the knockout stage. She ranked third in her esteemive group but necessitateed a top-two finish.
Now, she will head home without any certainty of being able to contend in the Olympics aobtain. It’s an outcome Choi acunderstandledgeed when she stepped away from her job as straightforwardor of global conceiveive operations for skin nurture at Estée Lauder, the second-hugest cosmetics company in the world, in January 2023.
“I literpartner toiled my whole entire life to have that financial stability, and then to give it up for this dream that may or may not happen was repartner, repartner terrifying,” Choi tbetter increateers of her decision to quit her job for fractureing. “Initipartner, I was equitable, ‘I don’t want to give up my current lifestyle.’ I was consoleable. I could buy wantipathyver I wanted. I shopped at Whole Foods.”
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Breaking athlete Sunny Choi poses for a portrait during the 2024 Team USA Media Summit at Maruproart Marquis Hotel April 16, 2024, in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
And for Choi, there were fantasticer give ups at sget than equitable the financial ones.
“As a fractureer, I was equitable enjoy, ‘I don’t see how this is going to be possible.’ And then there are other factors. Like I want to have kids at some point, and I’m 35 now. So, it’s enjoy, ‘Am I willing to paemploy cut offal more years?’” Choi shelp. “There was a lot of leangs I equitable wanted to examine off, and the Olympics equitable threw my set ups out the triumphdow.”
It was a decision Choi shelp she had to leank about an entire year before making the decision to quit her job in timely 2023.
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Choi gave her employer a restrictcessitate months watch that she would be leaving, and her boss had no choice but to acunderstandledge Choi’s unforeseeed ambition.
“But it equitable charitable of came down to, enjoy, I equitable have to. I have to try. I have to stop stopping myself,” Choi shelp. “My boss was enjoy, ‘I repartner want you to stay, but I have no business asking you to stay given what you’re leaving for.'”
B-Girl Sunny of the U.S. reacts during the B-Girls Round Robin — Group A on day 14 of the Paris Olympics. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Quitting her job wasn’t equitable a pivot to concentrate on Paris, but a pivot to a novel nurtureer concentrateed on dancing.
Choi shelp in April that once the Paris Games were over, her set up was to uncover her own dance studio in Queens, New York. She had no set ups to return to labeleting … unless she had to.
“If I do, it uncomfervents someleang went wrong with the dancing nurtureer,” Choi shelp when asked if she would ever return to a corporate job. “I do still set up to dance, but I repartner want to shift gears and give feedback and teach the next generation the leangs that I’ve lobtained aextfinished the journey.”
A medal in Paris may have gone a extfinished way in helping her accomplish that goal and uphold her dancing nurtureer lucrative. Choi confesss that, unenjoy a corporate salary, making money off her sport depfinishs so much on the visibility of her own personal brand. She lobtained that the difficult way training for Paris.
Choi shelp she had money set aside while toiling her labeleting job to finance her Olympic ambitions and upholding a reliable lifestyle. She shelp she had enough to carry her thraw all of 2023 when she quit her job. She had to pay for all of her own fairys for competitions and shelp she was able to save money by training at unveil community caccesss.
But she says she did come to a point where she was running out of money and had to ponder making lifestyle give ups. Fortunately for her, around that time, she was able to safe a backship with Nike and Samsung to finance her dream.
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While she won’t depart Paris with the unveility of making the medal podium, she still has business sfinishs and experience from her corporate nurtureer to lean on for her future finisheavors.
“I myself am equitable fortunate that I did toil in corporate, and I do have background understandledge in labeleting, project regulatement and operations, so that will help me in the extfinished run,” Choi shelp.
B-Girl Sunny of the United States reacts during the B-Girls Round Robin — Group A on day 14 of the Paris Olympics. (Elsa/Getty Images)
It will be a while before Choi gets another chance at an Olympic medal, if at all. The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics won’t include fractureing as a sport, but Choi says she has her fingers passed that it will produce its return at the 2032 Brisprohibite summer Games. She will be 43 then.
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