Arcadia’s Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu won the bronze medal against some of the top skaters in the world at the Four Continents competition in Taipei, Taiwan Saturday, Feb. 19.
The only two skaters who scored higher were the two top skaters from Japan, world champion Miki Ando and Mao Asada. The Four Continents is a lead-up to the World Championships in Tokyo next month, but Nagasu did not qualify for the Worlds since she finished third at last month’s U.S. National championship.
Nagasu had a strong short program but was still only in fourth until she skated her perfect free skate to “Memoirs of a Geisha” to move up and finish third.
Following her free skate the arena announcer inadvertantly announced Nagasu as representing Japan (see videos below, at 3:45 mark of free skate video). Mirai’s parents are Japanese and they run the Japanese sushi restaurant Kiyosuzu on Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia.
Video for medal ceremony:
Video for Short skate program:
Video for free skate: