Sports
US Olympian who quit six-figure marketing job to pursue breakdancing knocked out in round-robin; what's next?
American breaker Sunny Choi quit her job as a marketing executive to headline the United States’ first-ever Olympic breaking team. But now she’ll leave Paris empty-handed after being eliminated from quarterfinal contention even before her third battle.
Choi finished her Olympic run with a victory, defeating Portugal’s Vanessa, 2-0, in the round-robin. But it wasn’t enough to earn her a spot in the knockout stage. She ranked third in her respective group but needed a top-two finish.
Now, she will head home without any certainty of being able to compete in the Olympics again. It’s an outcome Choi accepted when she stepped away from her job as director of global creative operations for skin care at Estée Lauder, the second-largest cosmetics company in the world, in January 2023.
“I literally worked 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 really, really scary,” Choi told reporters of her decision to quit her job for breaking. “Initially, I was just, ‘I don’t want to give up my current lifestyle.’ I was comfortable. I could buy whatever I wanted. I shopped at Whole Foods.”
Breaking athlete Sunny Choi poses for a portrait during the 2024 Team USA Media Summit at Marriott Marquis Hotel April 16, 2024, in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
And for Choi, there were greater sacrifices at stake than just the financial ones.
“As a breaker, I was just like, ‘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 like, ‘Am I willing to wait several more years?’” Choi said. “There was a lot of things I just wanted to check off, and the Olympics just threw my plans out the window.”
It was a decision Choi said she had to think about an entire year before making the decision to quit her job in early 2023.
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Choi gave her employer a few months notice that she would be leaving, and her boss had no choice but to accept Choi’s unexpected ambition.
“But it just kind of came down to, like, I just have to. I have to try. I have to stop stopping myself,” Choi said. “My boss was like, ‘I really 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 just a pivot to focus on Paris, but a pivot to a new career focused on dancing.
Choi said in April that once the Paris Games were over, her plan was to open her own dance studio in Queens, New York. She had no plans to return to marketing … unless she had to.
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“If I do, it means something went wrong with the dancing career,” Choi said when asked if she would ever return to a corporate job. “I do still plan to dance, but I really want to shift gears and give feedback and teach the next generation the things that I’ve learned along the journey.”
A medal in Paris may have gone a long way in helping her achieve that goal and keep her dancing career lucrative. Choi admits that, unlike a corporate salary, making money off her sport depends so much on the visibility of her own personal brand. She learned that the hard way training for Paris.
Choi said she had money set aside while working her marketing job to finance her Olympic ambitions and maintaining a consistent lifestyle. She said she had enough to carry her through all of 2023 when she quit her job. She had to pay for all of her own flights for competitions and said she was able to save money by training at public community centers.
But she says she did come to a point where she was running out of money and had to consider making lifestyle sacrifices. Fortunately for her, around that time, she was able to secure a sponsorship with Nike and Samsung to finance her dream.
While she won’t leave Paris with the publicity of making the medal podium, she still has business skills and experience from her corporate career to lean on for her future endeavors.
“I myself am just lucky that I did work in corporate, and I do have background knowledge in marketing, project management and operations, so that will help me in the long run,” Choi said.
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 breaking as a sport, but Choi says she has her fingers crossed that it will make its return at the 2032 Brisbane summer Games. She will be 43 then.
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The United States men’s national team opened its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a commanding 4-1 rout of Paraguay behind two goals from Folarin Balogun, and after taking care of Australia, the team has one match left in the group stage against Turkey on Thursday night.
The Americans took care of Australia last week 2-0 to keep their strong start rolling. The victory clinched a knockout-round berth for Team USA. The USMNT will look to carry its momentum into their match against Turkey as the Stars and Stripes return to Los Angeles Stadium.
Players of the United States celebrate their first goal, an own goal by Cameron Burgess of Australia, during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match at Seattle Stadium in Seattle, Washington, on June 19, 2026. (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
WATCH USA VS TURKEY ON FOX ONE
Australia began its World Cup run with a win over Turkey before suffering a setback against the U.S. The Australians will meet Paraguay on Thursday in a match featuring two teams already beaten by the Americans during the group stage.
Late last month, the Americans defeated Senegal, 3-2, in a World Cup tuneup match.
Under head coach Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT entered the tournament as the No. 17 team in the FIFA World Rankings. FIFA determines its world rankings using the Elo rating system, which rewards teams for wins and penalizes them for losses while also factoring in the strength of the competition.
Alex Freeman of the United States celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between the U.S. and Australia at Seattle Stadium on June 19, 2026. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE
This year’s World Cup features an expanded field of 48 teams.
Here’s how to watch the game, including start time, TV information and streaming options.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy is displayed on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw on Dec. 3, 2025. (Michael Regan – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
How to Watch United States vs Turkey
When: Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 10 p.m. ET
Where: Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood, California.
TV: FOX
Stream: Watch on FOX One and FOX Sports.
Two misdemeanor drug charges against U.S. alpine skiing great Bode Miller are set to be dropped, according to his attorney.
“No drugs were found on Bode’s person,” attorney Jeromy Stafford said in a statement emailed to The Times on Thursday morning. “After speaking with the Prosecuting Attorney for Fremont County Idaho, Lindsey Blake, she has agreed to dismiss all charges against Bode Miller.”
Blake has not announced the move and did not immediately respond to a message from The Times.
Miller was arrested June 6 in Fremont County. According to a probable cause statement by Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Hurt, the six-time Olympic medalist was in possession of a white dispensary bag containing 4.1 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.
Hurt said in his statement that Miller “knew that the Psilocybin mushrooms were illegal.” The 48-year-old former athlete was taken into custody and released the same day after posting a $5,000 bond. On June 11, Miller pleaded not guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Miller gave a different account of what led to his arrest.
“I was pulled over for accelerating while passing another vehicle on a highway in Idaho,” Miller said. “My friend, who was traveling with me, had a small amount of cannabis and a cannabis pipe in his possession which I was unaware of. We fully cooperated with the officer. I am hopeful the misdemeanor charges will be dropped once the facts are reviewed.”
Online court records show the status of Miller’s case as “Active – Pending.” A pretrial hearing remains scheduled for July 29.
Sports
Terrion Arnold, Lions’ 2024 first-round pick, charged with kidnapping and armed robbery in Florida
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Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold was arrested in connection with an alleged kidnapping and robbery that investigators say occurred in February, the Tampa Police Department announced on Wednesday night.
Police previously arrested six other individuals accused of participating in what authorities described as a “targeted armed robbery” on Feb. 4.
Arnold turned himself in and was taken into custody at Orient Road Jail in Hillsborough County on Wednesday night. He is charged with four counts of kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery.
Terrion Arnold of the Detroit Lions looks on during the second half of an NFL game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Sept. 7, 2025. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
“We are aware of the matter and have been in contact with the club. We have no further comment at this time,” an NFL spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The Lions have not immediately responded to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
According to investigators, Arnold rented an Airbnb in Largo, Florida, where he periodically stayed with several co-defendants: Arianna Del Valle, 19; Jasmine Randazzo, 19; Lyndell Hudson II, 26; Christion Williams, 24; Boakai Hilton Jr., 23; and Freddie Hughes, 27. Authorities said other individuals also stayed at the property.
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Investigators said three male victims, all in their late teens, suffered visible injuries after they were allegedly battered, held at gunpoint and pistol-whipped before being robbed and ordered to leave a residence in the 14000 block of North 46th Street in Tampa.
According to investigators, multiple personal items belonging to Arnold and others were stolen from the Airbnb on Feb. 1. Authorities said Arnold suspected two of the three victims were responsible, though Tampa police later determined they were not involved in the theft.
On Feb. 3, Arnold, Hilton, Hughes and another individual reported more than $250,000 in stolen property to the Largo Police Department.
Investigators allege that later that day Arnold and Hilton coordinated with Del Valle and Randazzo to contact one of the victims and lure him to an apartment.
Terrion Arnold of the Detroit Lions lines up before a play during an NFL game against the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., on Nov. 27, 2025. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Police said the three victims arrived at the apartment on Feb. 4 to meet the women, where Williams and Hudson were allegedly hiding inside a bedroom closet. According to investigators, Williams and Hudson grabbed the victims, held them at gunpoint and assaulted them.
Authorities said Del Valle streamed the incident to Arnold, Hilton and Hughes as they traveled to the apartment. Investigators also said they recovered a group chat involving the defendants in which Arnold and Hilton allegedly gave directions to Del Valle, Williams and Hudson during the assault.
According to investigators, Arnold, Hilton, Hughes and another individual arrived at the apartment around 1 a.m. Police allege Arnold directed the group inside, and that Hughes, Hudson and Williams stole the victims’ personal property while the assault was ongoing.
Authorities said the victims were escorted from the apartment about 40 minutes later, forced into their vehicle and left the scene. They later reported the incident to Tampa police and identified the suspects.
Investigators said they believe Arnold was the primary organizer of the alleged scheme based on evidence gathered during the investigation.
Terrion Arnold of the Detroit Lions runs onto the field before an NFL game against the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 27, 2025. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Arnold, an Alabama product, was selected by Detroit with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The 23-year-old recorded his first career interception this past season in Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings, though he was only able to play eight games due to a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery.
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Arnold played 16 games during his rookie season in 2024, tallying 10 passes defended and 60 combined tackles.
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