Olympic figure skating: Russian women dazzle in short program

Bradie Tennell came out to an early lead in the women’s short program, but could she hold onto it? Here are the results from the first night of women’s figure skating.

Sometimes it pays to go first in competition. But when there’s a field of 30 competitors, it can make for an agonizing wait, and such was the case for Team USA’s Bradie Tennell, who skated first in the short program at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The big question, though, was could she hold on to the lead?

Tennell started her short program with a triple Lutz triple toe combination that she fell on. The rest of her skate was clean enough to earn a 64.01, and that sent her to the top of the scoreboard for the majority of the short program competition.

The first sign of trouble for Tennell came with Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who loaded all of her big jumps in to the back end of her program so as to gain the 10 percent bonus. It worked well after she skated a flawless program that put her in the lead with 73.18.

Mirai Nagasu came into the short program with the highest base value in her program thanks to the triple Axel the she had planned. Nagasu famously landed the elusive element in the team free skate, and she hoped to land it once again in the individual program as well. Though she was set up perfectly, Nagasu fell on the attempt and earned a one point deduction. Thanks to the difficulty of her program, she ended up with a 66.93 for a new season’s best that knocked Tennell into third place.

Karen Chen had a wonderful Olympics debut with her short program set to “On Golden Pond.” All eyes were on her as she skated a beautiful, artistic program full of grace and elegance. She was rewarded with a 65.90, which put her ahead of Tennell.

The battle for the top of the scoreboard came in the final group of skaters, starting with Russia’s Yevgenia Medvedeva, who had a brilliant routine that gave her an 81.61 to claim the lead and set a new short program record. Shortly thereafter, teammate Alina Zagitova beat Medvedeva with a 82.92.

In the end, it was Alina Zagitova in first place, Yevgenia Medvedeva in second place and Kaetlyn Osmond in third place, with Team USA in the nine,10 and 11 spots going into the free skate.

Only the top 24 skaters of the original field of 30 skaters advance to the free skate.

Here are the final results of the skaters who will advance to the free skate:

1. Olympic Athletes from Russia – Alina Zagitova – 82.92
2. Olympic Athletes from Russia -Yevgenia Medvedeva – 81.61
3. Canada – Kaetlyn Osmond – 78.87
4. Japan – Satoko Miyahara – 75.94
5. Japan – Kaori Sakamoto – 73.18
6. Italy – Carolina Kostner – 73.15
7. Canada – Gabrielle Daleman – 68.90
8. South Korea – Choi Dabin – 67.77
9. United States – Mirai Nagasu – 66.93
10. United States – Karen Chen – 65.90
11. United States – Bradie Tennell – 64.01
12. Olympic Athletes from Russia – Maria Sotskova – 63.86
13. Slovakia – Nicole Rajicova – 60.59
14. Germany – Nicole Schott – 59.20
15. Kazakhstan – Elizabet Tursynbaeva – 57.95
16. Australia – Kailani Craine – 56.77
17. Brazil – Isadora Williams – 55.74
18. Finland – Emmi Peltonen – 55.28
19. Switzerland – Alexia Paganini – 55.26
20. Belgium – Loena Hendrickx – 55.16
21. South Korea – Kim Hanul – 54.33
22. France – Mae Berenice Meite – 53.67
23. Hungary – Ivett Toth – 53.22
24. China – Xiangning Li – 52.46

Next: Best Olympian from each state

The women’s figure skating competition comes to a thrilling conclusion on Wednesday as the remaining women compete in the free skate to determine the medalists.