Mirai Nagasu is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in figure skating.
Though her name translates to "the future," Mirai Nagasu struggled through 2009. She refused to rest an ankle injury during the 2008-09 season, resulting in a disastrous short program at the 2009 Nationals. She won the 2008 U.S. title as a tiny, 78 lb, 14 year old. Her parents own a small sushi restaurant in Arcadia, California.
Career Highlights
2008 U.S. Champion, 2-time World Junior Medalist
2009-10 Music
Short Program: "Pirates of the Caribbean," by Hans Zimmer
Free Skate: selections from Bizet's "Carmen"
Mirai let her "stubborn, independent" streak trump the advice of her coaches and doctors, competing through the season despite an injured ankle. "I pushed hardest when my foot was bothering me the most," Mirai says now, looking back. "I thought that the pain was something I could overcome." She also dealt with, in her words, "teenage adolescence," a growth spurt (she's now 5'3") and increased academic demands as—"some nights I had to go sleepless so I didn't have energy to skate." All of these challenges culminated into a disappointing season for Mirai, just a year removed from her improbable win at the 2008 Nationals.
Mirai declined to compete at the 2008 World Junior Championships and spent a month completely off the ice. She still tapes her ankle before practice, uses arch supports in her skates and ices it frequently afterwards. She's also resumed daily ballet class, which she feels enhances her strength and balance. "Now my ankle doesn't turn in every time I jump," Mirai says.
Until May 2009, Mirai had a seven-member coaching staff, with Canadian Olympian Charlene Wong leading the troupe. She's since switched coaches to Frank Carroll, coach of 2009 world champion Evan Lysacek. Carroll also currently coaches Italy's Carolina Kostner, a former European champion and coached Michelle Kwan to four of her five world titles (Kwan and Carroll parted ways in 2001).
"I think that she has great talent. I think discipline right now is a little bit of a problem...I think she's a lovely, lovely skater. I'd like to get her a little tougher," Carroll told NBC, adding that he "demands in practice that she do exactly what I say and do her programs all the way through. No pouting, no whining, no excuses and it is what it is. You work hard and you accept what you've done, but you don't cry over it."
In her first senior nationals Mirai portrayed the story of a doll coming to life set to music from Léo Delibes' Coppelia, a fitting program for the then 78 lb., 4'11" 14 year old. The performance was marred only by a fall on her opening double Axel. "Honestly, I had no idea what she was going to do," then-coach Wong said. "But I knew that whatever she went for was going to be a defining moment in her career. Either she was going to be a fighter or she was going to buckle." Mirai nailed her second jumping pass, a triple-triple combination and executed the rest of her program without any major mistakes to become the second youngest U.S. champion (Tara Lipinski remains the youngest).
Mirai began skating at age five because her parents took her ice skating on a rainy day when she couldn't play golf. The Nagasus own a small sushi restaurant in Arcadia, Calif., ("The food is just as good as the Beverly Hills restaurants," says Mirai) and her family has struggled financially. When asked in 2007 what size clothes she wore, Mirai said she didn't know because most of her clothes were secondhand. Three-time U.S. Michael Weiss and his foundation, which Weiss developed to assist promising skaters with financial need, supported Mirai with a scholarship before she was a well-known skater. The Nagasus are Japanese nationals (Mirai has dual citizenship until she turns 22) and is working on her Japanese. "Hopefully by the time I'm 18 I'll be fluent and can read and write it too," she says.
Though her name translates to "the future," Mirai Nagasu struggled through 2009. She refused to rest an ankle injury during the 2008-09 season, resulting in a disastrous short program at the 2009 Nationals. She won the 2008 U.S. title as a tiny, 78 lb, 14 year old. Her parents own a small sushi restaurant in Arcadia, California.
Career Highlights
2008 U.S. Champion, 2-time World Junior Medalist
2009-10 Music
Short Program: "Pirates of the Caribbean," by Hans Zimmer
Free Skate: selections from Bizet's "Carmen"
Mirai let her "stubborn, independent" streak trump the advice of her coaches and doctors, competing through the season despite an injured ankle. "I pushed hardest when my foot was bothering me the most," Mirai says now, looking back. "I thought that the pain was something I could overcome." She also dealt with, in her words, "teenage adolescence," a growth spurt (she's now 5'3") and increased academic demands as—"some nights I had to go sleepless so I didn't have energy to skate." All of these challenges culminated into a disappointing season for Mirai, just a year removed from her improbable win at the 2008 Nationals.
Mirai declined to compete at the 2008 World Junior Championships and spent a month completely off the ice. She still tapes her ankle before practice, uses arch supports in her skates and ices it frequently afterwards. She's also resumed daily ballet class, which she feels enhances her strength and balance. "Now my ankle doesn't turn in every time I jump," Mirai says.
Until May 2009, Mirai had a seven-member coaching staff, with Canadian Olympian Charlene Wong leading the troupe. She's since switched coaches to Frank Carroll, coach of 2009 world champion Evan Lysacek. Carroll also currently coaches Italy's Carolina Kostner, a former European champion and coached Michelle Kwan to four of her five world titles (Kwan and Carroll parted ways in 2001).
"I think that she has great talent. I think discipline right now is a little bit of a problem...I think she's a lovely, lovely skater. I'd like to get her a little tougher," Carroll told NBC, adding that he "demands in practice that she do exactly what I say and do her programs all the way through. No pouting, no whining, no excuses and it is what it is. You work hard and you accept what you've done, but you don't cry over it."
In her first senior nationals Mirai portrayed the story of a doll coming to life set to music from Léo Delibes' Coppelia, a fitting program for the then 78 lb., 4'11" 14 year old. The performance was marred only by a fall on her opening double Axel. "Honestly, I had no idea what she was going to do," then-coach Wong said. "But I knew that whatever she went for was going to be a defining moment in her career. Either she was going to be a fighter or she was going to buckle." Mirai nailed her second jumping pass, a triple-triple combination and executed the rest of her program without any major mistakes to become the second youngest U.S. champion (Tara Lipinski remains the youngest).
Mirai began skating at age five because her parents took her ice skating on a rainy day when she couldn't play golf. The Nagasus own a small sushi restaurant in Arcadia, Calif., ("The food is just as good as the Beverly Hills restaurants," says Mirai) and her family has struggled financially. When asked in 2007 what size clothes she wore, Mirai said she didn't know because most of her clothes were secondhand. Three-time U.S. Michael Weiss and his foundation, which Weiss developed to assist promising skaters with financial need, supported Mirai with a scholarship before she was a well-known skater. The Nagasus are Japanese nationals (Mirai has dual citizenship until she turns 22) and is working on her Japanese. "Hopefully by the time I'm 18 I'll be fluent and can read and write it too," she says.
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