Mirai Nagasu USA
2018 Olympics team free skate
It may have been one of the most thrilling programs I’ve ever witnessed in figure skating - and it was probably because of the anticipation that the skating world has had all season for a squeaky clean triple axel from Mirai Nagasu.
And she delivered like never before.
Looking back at it now, there was a moment in the setup to that axel where Nagasu almost clipped the boards and had a complete disaster. And perhaps like Kaetlyn Osmond a few weeks later when she made the mistake on the lutz, that little blip took Nagasu’s mind off of it a bit. And after she became the third woman to land a triple axel in Olympic competition, the rest of her program was free and easy.
Who would’ve thought that, at 24, ten years removed from her first (and only) US title and eight years after her first Olympic appearance, Nagasu would make history at the competition that matters most? It was the skate of three lifetimes.
Mirai Nagasu's rollercoaster career prepared her for this moment, a historic free skate that helped Team USA to the Olympic bronze