Sportswoman makes a very graceful exit, remembers to thank voting fans

Nov 16, 2011 13:07 GMT  ·  By

The people have spoken again: with just weeks before the grand final, another pair is sent packing. This time, it's sportswoman Hope Solo and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who made a very grateful exit from the show, as the video below will confirm.

With Hope going against J.R. Martinez in the bottom two, it was a relief for the latter to learn he was safe for the time being.

As we also reported yesterday, Monday night was a very difficult night for the war veteran, as an ankle injury cost him major points with the jury and landed him at the bottom of the leaderboard.

However, it was Solo who went home. Smiling, she thanked the producers for the wonderful opportunity they gave her when they asked her to be on the show, but she also remembered to thank the fans.

“This competition is one of the toughest competitions I've ever been a part of,” she said, without crying.

“There's so many people to thank. My friends, my dear family, we have the most wonderful fanbase,” Solo added as the cameras zoomed in on her supporters in the audience.

“Instead of trying to win a mirrorball trophy, I'm going to try to win a gold medal this summer at the Olympics,” she also declared.

Maks, who got his fair share of criticism earlier in the season for the comments he made about judge Len Goodman, apologized to Hope for not trying hard enough and for not getting her in the finals.

She remarked that he was nice for trying to take the blame on him, but added that he'd done more than plenty with her, given how much she was criticized for the lack of grace.

The celebrities now left in the competition are J.R. Martinez, Ricki Lake and Rob Kardashian so it's safe to say the competition is fierce.