The Ladies of Skating Are Actually Kids

Mirai Nagasu, a feathery 14-year-old from Arcadia, Calif., survived a fall on her opening double axel and gathered herself to land six triple jumps, including a gutsy triple lutz-triple toe combination that she landed immediately after her fall, to become the second youngest U.S. champion, 34 days older than was Tara Lipinski when she won in 1997.

Second place went to another Californian, 15-year-old Rachael Flatt, who landed seven clean triples, including a flawless triple lutz-triple toe combo, to amass 125.82 points in the long program, the most of any skater on this night of surprises. Sixteen-year-old Ashley Wagner from Alexandria, Va., another first-year senior, placed third, just .17 behind Flatt. Wagner, too, did a triple-triple -- a rare thing in these championships in years past. Fourth place went to yet another 14-year-old appearing in her first senior nationals competition, Caroline Zhang, a 4-foot-11 tot from Irvine, Calif. Of these top four finishers, only Wagner is old enough to compete at the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, in March.


Keep Reading...

Source: SI

14 Year Old Nagasu Second Youngest To Win U.S. Title

Now this is what figure skating has been looking for. Mirai Nagasu delighted the crowd — and herself — with a refreshing and entertaining show at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday night. Oh yeah, the 14-year-old became the second-youngest woman to win the U.S. title, too.

That other mighty mite, Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, ended up doing pretty well for herself.

When her scores flashed, Nagasu looked at the screen with curiosity. When she heard she'd won, she said, "What?" then clapped her hands to her face and broke into a grin.

"I am very excited and speechless for words," Nagasu said.

Keep Reading

Source: Associated Press