Mirai Nagasu wins at Cup of China

She’s going to be the greatest ice skater of all time. I can just feel it!

Mirai Nagasu won the women’s short program Friday at the Cup of China in her return from a fractured foot.

Nagasu started the performance with a solid triple lutz and double toe loop before following with a wobbly triple flip. She quickly recovered with a smoothly executed layback spin and change foot combination spin to earn 58.76 points.

“Today wasn’t my best performance, but I feel I good about it, because I did the best I could under the circumstances,” said Nagasu, referring to the stress fracture in her foot that kept her off the ice for about a month.

Nagasu said she spent much of her recovery time hanging out with her cousins at the beach.

“I’m not going to lie. I had a really good time off the ice for two months. I got to go to the beach—even though I live in California, I never get to go— so I didn’t really think about my injury and before I knew it, I had to go back on the ice,” the 17-year-old Nagasu said.

Akiko Suzuki of Japan, last year’s Cup of China winner, was second with 57.97 points, while 2007 world champion Miki Ando placed third with 56.11 points.

Takahiko Kozuka of Japan surprised 2007 world champion Brian Joubert, dominating the men’s short program with an upbeat performance to “Soul Man Medley,” scoring 77.40 points.

The evening ended with world pairs champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian jumping into the lead with 60.62 points in the short program, offering a sensual performance to Chopin’s “Nocturne in C Sharp.” Though Tong’s triple toe loop looked shaky, there was no denying the power of the throw triple loop that followed.

via ap