The future of ice skating
While a finish off the podium might bring most Olympic athletes to tears, Arcadia's Mirai Nagasu seemed overjoyed Thursday with her fourth-place finish in the women's free skate. After all, this was the first of what is likely to be many brushes with world-class competitors for the 16-year-old.
By Jana Monji 02/26/2010
"I'm just happy I was able to be right behind those top competitors because it's my first really big international competition," Nagasu told reporters.
Though Nagasu wasn't expected to medal in Vancouver, she hopes to win an O.C. Tanner Inspiration Award, according to a recent USA Today interview.
The US Olympic Team ring licensee O.C. Tanner encourages US Olympic and Paralympic athletes to submit stories about those who inspired them the most. Four athletes will be awarded a gold commemorative ring, which they can present to their mentor.
Nagasu has chosen her mother, Ikuko, who is, according to one of the skater's Facebook posts, "a super-mom, with no extraordinary powers except her willingness to serve and love others entirely. She's given herself and her life to supporting the dreams of her family - for my father, owning and running a successful Japanese restaurant, and for me pursuing a professional ice skating career."
With her recent diagnosis of thyroid cancer this last fall, Ikuko hasn't slowed down, insisting on driving Nagasu to the rink the day after her surgery. Ikuko will receive radiation treatment after the Olympics.
Mirai's father, Kiyoto, and mother were only able to close their Arcadia restaurant and travel to Vancouver to watch Mirai skate thanks to corporate sponsors and friends. The beautiful costume she wore for the short program reportedly was made with a little help from some friends and, with most of the money going toward her skating, Ikuko does without little luxuries, Mirai reports.
If that story about a SoCal restaurant family and an ice skating daughter sounds familiar, remember Torrance's Michelle Kwan, who ruled the worlds five times and dominated the nationals nine times, but won silver in Nagano in 1998 and bronze four years later in Salt Lake City.
Nagasu's finish signals the re-emergence of American women in figure skating. With the first Americans, Meryl David and Charlie White, making the Olympic podium in ice dancing for a silver, and Evan Lysacek winning the Olympic gold medal in men's figure skating (the first reigning world champion since Scott Hamilton in 1984 to do so), there's an even brighter future for Americans on the ice than ever before.
That sort of makes sense because Mirai means "the future" in Japanese.
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