Mirai Nagasu is an ice skater on the U.S. olympic team. Yesterday during the team competition, Nagasu did something no other American woman has ever done at the olympics; she landed the triple axel. This may not seem like a big achievement, but there are many reasons why this is actually very impressive. It wasn't until 1991 that the first American woman landed a triple axel, and that was Tonya Harding. At the Olympic level, Mirai Nagasu is only the third woman, and the first American, to successfully land the triple axel. This jump is so technically hard because you have all this momentum as you skate across the ice, and then you jump and the skate goes perpendicular. While in the air, you have to rotate 3 1/2 times in less than one second. Finally, when you land you are hitting the ground with the opposite foot that you took off with, and you land with a pressure four times your weight - so a 125 pound skater is feeling more than 500 pounds of pressure on a 1/4 inch blade.
This is an amazing achievement for Nagasu; being one of the first Americans to accomplish something is an honor. I was watching the olympics when she conquered the triple axel and the excitement coming from the crowd and from her was immense. This jump could have gone very differently for her, but I am glad that things ended up the way they did. I look forward to watching the rest of the Olympics, and know that these ice skaters and other athletes will be working hard to continue to achieve great things.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/12/sport/winter-olympics-triple-axel-mirai-nagasu/index.html
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