FIGURE SKATER Mirai Nagasu fell trying to land her signature triple axle, which she pulled off in the team event – but is so hard that nobody else in the competition attempts it.
Nagasu wound up ninth, with her USA team-mates right behind after, after Karen Chan and Bradie Tennell both had bumps of their own.
It’s easy to give up when you train your entire life for 2 minutes, 45 seconds on the Olympic ice, only for things to go awry before you finish the opening element.
Nagasu’s challenge was to land the forward-starting, 3½-revolution jump that causes plenty of men trouble.
She nailed the triple axle during her early practice, though she also stepped out trying it two other times, and again during her warm-up in front of her coach, Tom Zakrajsek.
When the music to “Nocturne” started, Nagasu took a deep breath and began building up speed.
MOST READ IN SPORT
She then unleashed a spin with so much energy she actually over-rotated, sending her to the ice.
The 24-year-old said: “Sometimes, I just let my nerves push me a little too far.”
ROUGH LANDING Skier fractures pelvis after brutal 30-metre fall in ski cross heats
Like her team-mate Tennell, Nagasu picked herself up and pressed on.
She nailed a triple flip-triple toe combination along with a triple loop, and her strong spins and step sequence finished out the program, finishing on a score of 66.93.
Olympic athletes from Russia Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medevedeva – who are not in their nation’s colours – currently occupy the top two spots on 82.92 and 81.61 points respectively with the free routine to come.
Nagasu added: “I think about last year when I wasn’t going for triple axel and how much easier the program was, but you still have to rack up the points somehow. You have to play the game.
“This isn’t what I wanted, but at the same time, you can’t always have what you want.”
Elsewhere in the figure skating there has been the infamous case of ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis, who accidentally revealed her nipple to the world after her dress slipped.
Then the Frenchwoman, 22, and her partner Guillaume Cizeron went on to take silver in their second routine, as her backside was on show the second time around.
Leave a comment