Menu
Olympics

U.S. Women's Figure Skating Has Worst Performance Since '48 Games

Tennell, who was the U.S. Champion, finished ninth overall at the Pyeongchang GamesGetty Images

American female figure skaters on Thursday concluded their "worst Olympic performance" since the '48 St. Moritz Games, with Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen finishing ninth, tenth and eleventh, respectively, according to Elliott Almond of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS (2/23). In Boston, John Powers writes U.S. figure skating has an "exceptional amount of catching up to do over the next quadrennium if it expects better results" at the '22 Beijing Games. The two Bronze Medals that the U.S. collected in Pyeongchang were the "fewest since Nancy Kerrigan's sole silver" at the '94 Lillehammer Games. The women "not only missed the award stand, they also submitted by far the worst group effort in their history." The U.S. "began falling behind three decades ago" when compulsory figures were dropped. It is "no coincidence that the U.S. women have earned only one world medal over the past decade and haven't won a world junior title" since '08. The talent pipeline "has dried up" -- the top five U.S. women skaters at last month's nationals "averaged over 22 years old," while the Russian top five "averaged 16" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/23). In San Diego, Mark Zeigler noted it "doesn't help that figure skating's popularity" in the U.S. has "plummeted with its international results, which inevitably leads to fewer girls begging mommy to take them to the rink, which leads to fewer competitive skaters in what already is a prohibitively expensive sport" (SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE, 2/22).

DIFFERENT TAKE ON EVENTS: USA TODAY's Martin Rogers notes Nagasu following her 10th place finish "claimed credit for 'saving'" the U.S.' team bronze and "revealed her main focus for her final performance was that she was 'auditioning for Dancing With the Stars.'" Nagasu said, "I would like to be on 'Dancing With the Stars' because I am a star. I made history here by landing the first triple axel for a U.S. lady at the Olympics so I think that is a big deal." Rogers notes while the U.S. was always "considered likely to clinch bronze in the team competition," Nagasu's "outstanding effort in the women's free skate section helped pushed the Americans over the line." Nagasu: "I saved the team event ... We were about to lose our medals so today I put my medal in my pocket and said 'Mirai you have done your job already and this is all just icing'" (USA TODAY, 2/23). SI.com's Michael Rosenberg writes Nagasu "fluttered through the interview like a butterfly at a funeral, oblivious to everything happening around her." Rosenberg: "Bizarre only begins to describe it" (SI.com, 2/23). In L.A., Dylan Hernandez writes Nagasu "piled up the excuses" the way Gold Medal-winning Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova "did combination jumps." Nagasu "could have become a star if she didn't mentally check out of this competition" (L.A. TIMES, 2/23).

ALL THE NEWS FIT TO PRINT: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Ben Cohen profiled Jackie Wong, the "blogger, podcaster and prolific tweeter who has become the most authoritative figure in skating among its die-hard fans." Wong is a "management consultant by day" for McKinsey & Co. and a "skating guru by night." Wong fell in love with the sport "around the 1992 world championships" and "became the source of real-time news, detailed notes and accurate information for skating obsessives who desperately craved it" after he started a Twitter account in '10. His website is "such an invaluable resource in figure skating that he could probably charge for a monthly subscription" to fund his "trips to skating competitions around the world" (WSJ.com, 2/22).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/02/23/Olympics/Figure-Skating.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/02/23/Olympics/Figure-Skating.aspx

CLOSE