Everything You Need to Know About Olympic Figure Skater Bradie Tennell

Char Adams
Updated

Since the start of her career, 20-year-old Bradie Tennell has flown under the radar in the figure skating scene. But with a trail of high-scoring programs that most never predicted, Tennell has snagged a spot on the Winter Olympics figure skating team.

Officials with the U.S. Figure Skating international committee announced last month that Tennell has been placed on the 2018 Olympic team to compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea, alongside female American skaters Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen.

Although she is an Olympics newbie, Tennell’s placement was no surprise after she dominated the women’s short program 2018 U.S. figure skating national championships, coming in first place with 73.79 points.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Illinois native:

She’s Been Winning Big for Months

In November, Tennell won a bronze medal in her grand prix debut at the 2017 Bridgestone Skate America competition, becoming the first U.S. woman since Caroline Zhang 2007 to accomplish such a feat. She was the only U.S. woman to medal at the event.

Tennell says she was just as “surprised” by her win as everyone else.

“It was kind of crazy. It was a lot of fun,” she tells PEOPLE of the experience. “It was definitely unexpected, but I just had a good time.”

I don’t even know where to begin. My first Grand Prix was such an unforgettable experience, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of so many amazing people. A huge thank you to my mom, for being the person I can always turn to, my coaches, for always pushing me to new heights, and all the amazing fans that came out to show their love of the sport. It wouldn’t be the same without you guys. I can’t wait to see you all at nationals!! ?????? • • • • • #skateamerica #skateamerica2017 #grandprixdebut #cinderella #figureskating

A post shared by Bradie Tennell (@bradietennell) on Nov 28, 2017 at 6:27pm PST

She’s Already Getting Kudos from the Greats

After Tennell’s display, 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski predicted that she would make the Olympic team.

She Has No Clue How She Got Into Figure Skating

Tennell tells PEOPLE that she’s loved to skate since she was about 2 years old growing up in Carpentersville, Illinois, but has no idea what sparked the interest.

“I don’t even know how I figured out what skating was,” she says. “My parents were in between houses at the time and I just kept begging my mom to go ice skating. She looked it up in the yellow pages, for the closest rink. And she took me to go skating.”

#tbt to 2004 when I competed for the 2nd time in my life ???? #earlydays #thatwasadancecostume #ithadacowboyhat #istillhaveit

A post shared by Bradie Tennell (@bradietennell) on Jul 6, 2017 at 2:31pm PDT

She Likes to Live for Now

Although she’s been skating for most of her life, Tennell says she doesn’t focus much on making career plans for the future.

“I like to live in the moment and take things one thing at a time,” she tells PEOPLE.

The Winter Olympics will take place from Feb. 9 through Feb. 25 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and coverage will air in the U.S. on NBC.