Mirai Nagasu left off Olympic Team #MiraiEarnedIt
Mirai Nagasu was left off the women’s figure skating team for Sochi on Sunday, leapfrogged by Ashley Wagner despite finishing third at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Through U.S. Figure Skating she released a statement Sunday night: “I’m disappointed in the decision,” she said. “Though I may not agree with it, I have to respect the decision the federation made. And I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me and look forward to what comes next in my skating career.”
On Sunday night, she skated at the exhibition gala and was greeted by cheers from the crowd.
Earlier Sunday, federation president Pat St. Peter explained the decision.
“This competition is not the only event that U.S. Figure Skating considers in selecting the team,” St. Peter said. “It’s the results and participation in events over the course of the past year-plus … and (Wagner) has the top credentials of any of our female athletes.”
Nagasu was the only one of the top four women who didn’t make a major error Saturday, and she said afterward that she hoped her Olympic experience would work in her favor. Just 16 in 2010, she finished fourth in Vancouver and, with her bubbly personality, bright smile and stunning natural talent, appeared poised to be the next big U.S. star.
“The only thing I can brag about now is that I ‘m the only person with Olympic experience. So I know how hard it can get,” Nagasu said Saturday night.
The three women representing #Sochi2014 in Women’s Figure Skating are Gracie Gold, Polina Edmunds and Ashley Wagner.
So sad for Mirai! So close! That has to be the worst! #MiraiEarnedIt
See our interview with Mirai when she was headed to the Vancouver Olympics!
Source USAToday
This article says nothing about racism. Racism is a not corruption either. It’s someone’s personal belief.
I would have used “poor choice” rather than racism to describe the selection. She was accepted by viewers watching the events. Racism implies corruption in the Organization and is a serious accusation.
You are correct. My reference was regarding a #racism hash tag I read on your Twitter feed where I first noticed the article.
Did Mirai Nagasu Lose Out on the Olympics Because of Her Race?
There are a lot of possible reasons why Mirai Nagasu lost a spot on 2014’s US Olympic squad to Ashley Wagner, despite finishing ahead of her on Sunday’s Nationals. A thought-provoking Wall Street Journal op-ed is one of the few articles to make it explicitly about the race of both women involved:
Wagner’s flowing blond hair, bellflower-blue eyes and sculpted features mark her as a sporting archetype: She’s the embodiment of the “golden girl” the media has extolled when they’ve waxed poetic about idealized ice queens of the past, from Norway’s Sonja Henie to East Germany’s Katarina Witt, a marketer’s dream who’s already signed up tent-pole sponsors like Nike, Pandora Jewelry and CoverGirl, which assessed her Teutonic beauty as being worthy of serving as one of their global “faces.”
This a strong claim from op-ed writer Tao Jones indeed, but a persuasive one when he puts it in the context of news outlets reporting on Tara Lipinski taking home the 1998 Gold with headlines like, “American beats Kwan,” or questioning Kristi Yamaguchi’s 1992 Olympic win when American xenophobia against Japanese people was at a high. Despite the dearth of headlines explicitly expressing this sentiment, one could see Nagasu fitting less well into a marketable all-American image as playing a role here, especially when the three lady figure skaters who are competing at Sochi, while talented, do fit that mold.
http://jezebel.com/did-mirai-nagasu-lose-out-on-the-olympics-because-of-he-1501317196
I’m thinking it’s a matter of relativity…..ie: figure skating is the female sport of today in terms of business draw and revenue generation. In the ’92 genre, the Japanese were making inroads into the US auto market and I’m sure there was a heavy UAW influence on the backlash that occurred .
The US (and most of the civilized world) accept Yuja Wong for her piano perfection, but it is pointless to compare a competitive sport with an intellectual talent.
I find Mirai attractive and she could do wonders for any sponsor who wanted to pick her up. Look at the Michelle Wie phenomenon.