Another woman goes down in history for landing a complicated jump at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Mirai Nagasu is the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics and the third to do it in the history of the Winter Games—Midori Ito in 1992 and Mao Asada in 2012.
The triple Axel requires a forward takeoff and three-and-a-half rotations, and as Mirai said in an interview the more you spin, the harder it is to breathe—not to mention you still have to land in clean and not on your face. She is also one of the three American women to land the jump in a competition, the others being Tonya Harding (yes, she has a biographical film called I, Tonya) and Kimmie Meissner, but only Mirai was able to perform it at the Olympics.
Congratulations, Mirai!
[Time and Slate]
Photo courtesy of Robert Schmidt/Slate
Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Viber
Related stories:
Apple Adds Female Athlete Emojis Just in Time for the Olympics
Feel Like an Olympian with Nike’s Vibrant Shoes
The Sexism in the Olympics as Seen on News Headlines
Would You Cop These Roller Skate Stilettos?