15 Things to Know About Figure Skater Mirai Nagasu

From Cosmopolitan

No big deal, but figure skater Mirai Nagasu won her first U.S. Championship title at 14 years old and competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics two years later. Despite continuing to perform on the international skating circuit, she suffered a major setback when she didn't get a spot on the 2014 U.S. Winter Olympics team due to a controversial decision made by U.S. Figure Skating (more on that below). Now, the 24-year-old is determined to make it to the 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, to represent Team USA.

1. Mirai is the daughter of immigrants. While Mirai was born and raised in California, her parents are Japanese immigrants. Mirai was both a Japanese and American citizen, but was required to choose between the two countries at 22, because Japan does not allow dual citizenship after that point. She is solely a U.S. citizen now.

2. Her parents own a sushi restaurant. Located in Arcadia, California, restaurant Kiyosuzu specializes in traditional Japanese cuisine, including sushi and sashimi. According to The Chicago Tribune, Mirai would often sleep on a cot in the storage room of her parents' restaurant after school to save them money on childcare.

3. She started skating because it rained one day - simple as that. Thank the weather! Mirai used to play golf every day, because, according to her website, that's the career her parents wanted her to have. One day, due to rain, her parents took her to the skating rink instead. Soon after, she asked that they enroll her into a skating class. "My parents always tell me that they never would have let me start if they had known how expensive and difficult figure skating is," she wrote on her website.

4. But she continues to golf to blow off steam. While speaking at the U.S. Olympic Committee's media summit in 2009, she called figure skating "a burden I like," but she plays golf when she needs to "an excuse to hit something" to relieve her stress.

5. She sets very high standards for herself - on and off the ice. "I’ve always been an A or B student," Mirai told Cosmopolitan.com. "When I get a B, I freak out a little bit! That’s the kind of person I am - always striving for better, [but] skating is not really a cumulative process. [There's] one short program and one long program and that’s your result. So sometimes, I have an off day, and I think people think I’m inconsistent, like 'you don’t know what kind of skater you’re going to get today [with her]' and that’s true, but I think it’s hard to be perfect all the time! The only thing I can expect from myself is to learn from each competition and improve."

6. And she owns her competitive streak. "I’m super competitive," Mirai explains. "I may like [my fellow Team USA skaters] outside of the rink as a person, but on the ice, I full-heartedly believe that I am the best skater and I want to beat everybody. I want to beat Ashley, I want to beat Gracie, I want to beat Karen, I want to beat everybody. I want to beat myself! I want to be on that team and I’m not afraid to say, 'Yeah, I may like you off the ice, but on the ice, you’re my competition.'"

7. Aged 14, Mirai became the second-youngest skater to win the U.S. Senior Ladies title. She was only 34 days older than Tara Lipinski, who was 14 years and 250 days old when she won the title in 1997. Mirai fell early in her performance, but that didn't stop her from taking the title. “That fall was like a kick in the butt,” Nagasu said during a press conference. “After that, I was like, 'attack.'”

8. This year, Mirai became the second U.S. woman to land a triple axel during an international competition. She successfully executed the elusive move during her free skate performance at the 2017 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. The performance earned her second place. Before her, U.S. skater Kimmie Meissner landed a triple axel during her 2005 U.S. Nationals performance. The first U.S. woman to land it was Tonya Harding at the U.S. Championship in 1997.

9. Despite winning bronze at the U.S. Championship in 2014, Mirai did not make the Team USA lineup for the Sochi Olympics. Ashley Wagner, who fell twice at the U.S. Championship and came in fourth, was picked for the team over Mirai. Though Mirai earned the bronze in that particular event, U.S. Figuring Skating's bylaws require skaters' overall performance be considered. "You look at Ashley Wagner’s record and performance, she’s got the top credentials of any of our female athletes," U.S. Figuring Skating President Patricia St. Peter said during a press conference. “It’s an objective analysis.”

Mirai decided not to challenge the decision. "I’m disappointed,” she said in a statement. "Though I may not agree with it, I have to respect the decision the federation made." In an interview with icenetwork.com in January of this year, Mirai has said she's moved past that loss. "I don't think there was a moment when I can say I was over that," Nagasu explained. "I think it's like breaking up with someone: You eventually just move on and realize there is no point in lamenting the past."

"I think I would be bored if I were winning all the time, even though it would be nice," she continued. "And I would love to be medaling all the time, but then I wouldn't be who I am today. I think I have learned to take losses like a champion, and I'm proud of that."

10. But she's still considered quitting skating before. While speaking at the U.S. Olympic Committee's media summit in 2009, Mirai admitted that she's almost succumbed to self-doubt, which has led to her thinking about quitting. "There are always moments when I think about leaving skating, but [then] I think... 'There's nothing else that stands out about me besides my skating,'" she said. "So it's like the love of my life. It's like loving someone. You want to break up sometimes but if you get past those hardships everything will come together."

11. She has three rescue dogs who frequent her Instagram. Her pups are Lincoln, a Pugalier; Liberty, an Australian Shepherd mix; and Lexi, a Siberian husky. (They all have names beginning with an L because, "We're like the Kardashians," Mirai told U.S. Figure Skating of her canine fam.) They're her "emotional support animals," Mirai told NBC, because they don't know nor care about her skating - they're always happy to see her regardless.

12. She's a big fan of RuPaul's Drag Race. “Today, before I competed, I watched season five, episode one of RuPaul‘s Drag Race, so that I could channel my inner queen,” she said during a press conference after coming in second at the 2017 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.

"I love that these queens [on RPDR] are willing to put out their personality in front of everyone," Mirai told Cosmopolitan.com "I feel like I’m actually an introverted person and that I have become an extrovert, so I think watching them has been really inspirational to me and I’ve taken their advice to be who you want to be, and to be yourself."

13. And she's a big fan of board games. Rummikub and Settlers of Catan are particular favorites, Mirai told U.S. Figure Skating.

14. Aaand she's really into the minions from Despicable Me. She got a minion-themed birthday cake one time. And dressed as one for Halloween: