Stunning performance puts Tennell in Olympic picture
JOSE, Calif. — These U.S. Figure Skating Championships were supposed to be the moment Ashley Wagner solidified her status as the best hope to win the United States’ first Olympic medal in ladies’ figure skating since 2006. These championships were supposed to be a showcase for Mirai Nagasu’s historic triple axel. Perhaps they still will be.
But the women’s short program became an unexpected coronation as 19-year-old Bradie Tennell announced herself as a legitimate contender for one of three spots on the Olympic team with a stunning short program that earned the highest score in women’s nationals history.
Ahead of the field
That program left her leading the field heading into Friday night’s decisive and more highly weighted free skate.
Wagner’s program included an under-rotated triple-toe loop among other small mistakes, and her usual energetic artistry was not enough to overcome them. She stands in fifth after the short program, a familiar position for the most experienced skater in the ladies’ field.
Nagasu finished second despite missing that triple axel. Last year’s U.S. bronze medalist, Mariah Bell, missed one of her three jumps but kept herself in the Olympic conversation with an otherwise technically sound and energetic showing.
Last year’s U.S. champion, Karen Chen, finished third with her best short program of an up-anddown season. But in a season defined by inconsistency across the women’s board, one that left the sport begging for someone to separate herself ahead of the Olympics, Tennell made the loudest argument Wednesday night.
“My mind-set about the Olympics has never changed,” Tennell said after her impressive skate. “It’s always been in the back of my mind, but I don’t focus on it, because that can be overwhelming.”
She might soon have to focus on it anyway. Tennell was not considered a contender before she bested Wagner and Chen by winning bronze at Skate America this season. A remarkably consistent jumper, Tennell compiled the highest score of any American woman in this season’s Grand Prix series at that competition, peaking just in time to enter the U.S. championships as a sudden contender for a trip to PyeongChang.
Skating to a song from a popular Korean film written by a Korean composer, Tennell earned a standing ovation with masterfully executed jumps and aggressive, tight spins. Tennell’s aggressive step sequences — less polished than those of Wagner and others but effective nonetheless — seemed to link her less heralded past with her suddenly prominent immediate future. Tennell entered this week as a skater to watch. She left Wednesday’s short program as a promising bet.
Tennell had been considered a future star since she won the junior title at the 2015 U.S. championships, but her rise was slowed by injuries and the inconsistency that so often follows them.
Future at stake
She has, it seems, resumed that rise. Tennell’s short program earned a score of 73.79, the highest of her career, higher than Wagner, Nagasu, Chen, Bell and others have ever compiled.
Tennell’s Olympic future depends on Friday’s free skate, too. The short program is one component of several that enters the selection process. The free skate is a more significant component. But if this week’s championships amounted to a search for a favorite this season, U.S. Figure Skating may have just found one.