Nagasu stands out from U.S. crowd
CHICAGO -- Five young female figure skaters -- still unknown to American fans who tune in to the sport once every four years -- faced the press at last week's Olympic media summit. None of them is named Sasha Cohen. Naturally, her return was a hot topic. There are just two precious slots available on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team and the would-be stars were asked how they felt about having a recently unretired celebrity in the mix.
Each skater delivered a polite and predictable answer except for the last one, the one whose body language implied just a slight remove. "I don't know about you guys, but I think it's intimidating that the Olympic silver medalist is coming back," Mirai Nagasu said.
To paraphrase the old "Sesame Street" song, one of these sprites is not like the others. When the diminutive 16-year-old Japanese-American descended from the stage, she was surrounded by a towering ring of reporters who wanted to quiz her about her lost 2008-09 season. Nagasu balanced on the sides of her sneakers, occasionally dipping her knees in a soft, unconscious plie movement, and spoke softly and with excruciating directness.
Last year, the surprise 2008 national champion struggled with injury, feuded with her then-coach Charlene Wong and did not come close to recapturing the title, which was won by Alissa Czisny, 22, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Nagasu said Wong reacted negatively to her performances, describing that as "a stab in the back," but also blamed herself for being too rebellious to take direction at times.
"The whole year, I felt like I was running away from something, and running away from something never solves anything," Nagasu said, her voice quavering slightly.
But the same pursuit of excellence that weighs her down can also be a beacon for a self-admittedly moody teenager.
"There are moments where I think I'm not very smart and not very pretty, and skating is the only thing that stands out about me," Nagasu said. "It's like the love of my life. When you love someone, sometimes you want to break up.
"Last year was just a time when there was a stumble on my mountain. Now I'll be able to keep climbing again."
Nagasu has switched coaches and training facilities, migrating to the tutelage of the venerable Frank Carroll at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, Calif., near Los Angeles. A renowned taskmaster and manager of fragile egos, Carroll told Nagasu that if she didn't skate her program all the way through in practice, he would have security escort her from the arena. She has left training at least once (apparently not under guard), but said she is taking Carroll very seriously.
"If I fall, I'm going to get up and keep going," she said.
Nagasu will skate her new short program to a selection from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and her free program to a skating standard, "Carmen."
"A lot of people say I'm not mature enough to do ["Carmen"], and it's unoriginal, but I'm going to make it original and make it my own 'Carmen,'" Nagasu said.
Reigning men's world champion Evan Lysacek, who trains on the same ice, said Nagasu is a good practice partner. "I think she's going to be a huge, very dangerous little wrench in the [ladies'] competition," Lysacek said.
Of her national title, Nagasu said, "I did deserve it, but I wasn't ready for all the pressure and attention that comes with it. I'm glad I passed that torch on, and we'll see how [Czisny] deals with it."
Aside from Nagasu, Cohen and Czisny, other top contenders for the Olympic team are Rachael Flatt, 17, of Del Mar, Calif.; Ashley Wagner, 18, of Alexandria, Va.; and Caroline Zhang, 16, of Brea, Calif.
Bonnie D. Ford covers tennis and Olympic sports for ESPN.com. She can be reached at bonniedford@aol.com.
