Source: USAToday.com
Mirai broke a record today. Twitter and social media went wild following Nagasu’s completion of a triple axel, a technique never finished by an American during the free skate portion of the Olympics. Reportedly, the trick is incredibly hard to pull off, which is why she experienced widespread adulation after successfully landing it.
During the free skate portion of the event on Sunday night at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Mirai landed the triple axel, and a video can be seen below showing her ecstatic reaction afterward.
According to a report from E! Online, the triple axel involves three-and-a-half rotations which occur in the air. During the American championship in 1991, Tonya Harding completed the move followed by Kimmie Meissner in 2005.
Wow @mirai_nagasu !!! Congratulations…tears of joy for you again! #1stAmerican3axel #hero ?
— Kristi Yamaguchi (@kristiyamaguchi) February 12, 2018
However, neither athlete managed to do it during the international Olympics. Nagau said to Andrea Joyce from NBC that to “nail that Triple Axel…that was really special for me.”
Following the announcement of the news, in addition to the plethora of social media commenters to congratulate her, several prolific Olympic skaters took to Twitter to tell her she did a good job.
.@mirai_nagasu is HYPE. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/OOGZjlDjzU
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 12, 2018
Scott Hamilton was one of them. In a tweet, he said he was “so thrilled” to see Mirai pull off the trick. He said, “also for her perfect skate on Olympic Ice!”
Additionally, Kristi Yamaguchi said she had “tears of joy” for her again as she was the 1st American athlete to pull it off during the Olympics. Meryl Davis congratulated her as well. Mirai isn’t the only one to make history at this year’s international competition.
Celebrity Insider reported today that the 17-year-old snowboarder, Red Gerard, was the first American to take home a gold medal this year. The young athlete admitted he saw his family at home shotgunning beers at 8:30 am in celebration of him making it to the Olympics.
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