All 3 of Team USA's Figure Skaters Fell
American figure skaters Mirai Nagasu, Karen Chen, and Bradie Tennell and all fell during their short program skates last night, putting them in ninth, tenth, and eleventh place respectively. They'll all perform again during Friday's four-minute free skate.
Though their current scores leave them unlikely to medal, each of the women finished their performances strong, having fallen in the first half of their programs.
Tennell went down during her a triple toe loop after landing a triple lutz. She and commentators were shocked: "It was definitely unexpected. I don't remember the last time I made a mistake in my short program, especially on the jumps," she told the Associated Press after her skate. "But things happen. We're all human. We all make mistakes. You just have to get up a keep going. I'm definitely a fighter. I do not give up."
Nagasu actually propelled herself too far on a three-and-a-half revolution jump, falling because she over-rotated. The fall came just about a week after Nagasu made figure skating history by landing the first triple axel on Olympic ice. She knew the fall would be reflected in her score, telling reporters "Sometimes I just let my nerves push me a little too far."
Chen added she'd been "nailing [her opening jumps] every day in practice and I expected myself to, and to not be able to do that was a huge disappointed." She ended up having to abandon ship on her second jump to regain her footing: "For sure, I was a little flustered after that. But I sold my program the best I could, got the most points I could and I'm proud of that."
More likely to medal are the women's Russian competitors Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva, both of whom landed all four of their jumps in the second halves of their programs.
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