Olympics 2022: US figure skaters do their best but fail to medal

US figure skaters, from left, Karen Chen, Mariah Bell and Alysa Liu.

Updated Feb. 18.

American figure skaters Alysa Liu and Mariah Bell had impressive performances on Thursday (Feb. 17) evening but wound up in 7th and 10th place respectively.

The American figure skaters each put out performances to remember at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 but it was not enough to overtake the leaders. 

Alysa, from Richmond, Calif., was even in the lead for a while after 19 skaters had performed. However, after the final group performed their routines, she ended up in seventh place.

“I’m just really glad that all my training paid off because I’m here competing,” Liu told NBC. “And the goal of my whole life and my skating career was to compete at the Olympics. So now I can officially say I’m an Olympian.”

The women's competition was eventually won by Russian skater and World Champion Anna Shcherbakova. Another Russian, Alexandra Trusova won the silver and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took bronze.

The skater expected to win it all, and the most controversial, 15-year old Kamila Valieva, fell during her free skate routine dropping Russia's top skater to fourth place and off the medal podium.

Kamila is at the center of controversy after test results showed that she had taken a banned drug before the Olympics. Her performance in the team competition vaulted the Russian team to first place but since the drug test results were discovered, the final results of the team competition remains up in the air.

Despite the controversial drug test results, the Russian teenager was allowed to compete in the individual skating competition. After the short program Tuesday, she was in first place.

Alysa Liu led the U.S. figure skaters finishin in 7th place.

Sixteen-year-old, Alysa was the US champion in 2019 and 2020 - her first title making her the youngest American ever to win a national title - at age 13. At age 16 years, she is the youngest member (in any sport) sent to Beijing by Team USA.

The California teen opened her "Violin Concerto in D" free skate with a triple Axel attempt, landing the jump but having it downgraded as she finished her rotation on the ice. She would score a 139.45 in the segment. Added to the score from her short program, her final score totaled 208.95.

Gone are the difficult quads that gave Alysa the US championships. She was the only US woman to perform the judge-pleasing four-revolution jumps.

“It was a lot easier when I was smaller, and a lot shorter,” said Liu, who stands approximately 5 feet, 2 inches. “It’s just been harder. Especially when COVID hit, I couldn’t train it as much. I stopped training it for a period. So, there was a lot of other factors, but definitely puberty (was one factor).”

“I’m so happy with two clean programs,” Liu said. “It’s better than I ever thought I would do at the Olympics, and I’m really happy about it.”

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Prior to Liu's skate, Bell, 25, performed her routine to "Hallelujah" earning her a 136.92 total. Her combined score of 202.30 left her in tenth place.

Liu was in eighth place after the women's short program, while Bell sat  at 11th.

Karen Chen, 22, finished her routine after falling during her routine.

Earlier, their American teammate Karen Chen, from Fremont, Calif., struggled in her free skate, her total score registering a 179.93 that gave her the 16th spot.

“It’s incredible to just know that I’ve made it here,” Chen said. “It did not go the way I wanted to, but I also had my moment in the team event, too. So, there are a lot of positive things to look at.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Olympics 2022: Mixed emotions as US figure skating team wins silver; Zhou contracts COVID-19

US figure skaters celebrate their silver medal for the team competition.

American figure skaters gathered on the podium to celebrate their silver medal accomplishment, the highest finish since the figure skating team event was introduced in the 2014 Olympics 

"Where's Vincent?" asked Karen Chen, who came back from a stumble Sunday to help the team zoom up to the second-place finish behind the Russians.

The dance pair of Madison Chock and Evan Bates told the rest of the skaters that Vincent Zhou had tested positive on a COVID-19 test deflating the medal ceremony for the Americans. 

Zhou failed his second COVID-19 test Monday and had to withdraw from the men's figure-skating competition.

In an emotional five-minute video, Zhou said, “It’s pretty unreal that of all the people, it would happen to myself. And that’s not just because I’m still processing this turn of events, but also because I have been doing everything in my power to stay free of covid since the start of the pandemic.”

After a spectacular start on the first day, mostly because of Nathan Chen's spectacular skate, the US was about to drop to third after the second day stumbles of Zhou and Karen Chen.

“I definitely felt a little more pressure because I felt like I needed to redeem myself,” said Chen on Monday. “I think definitely just coming back from yesterday is a huge thing for me.”

Chen's performance plus the Chock and Evan's near flawless dance earned them the No. 1 spot over the favorite team from Russia. “I think it was hard to be completely oblivious to the nature of the scores,” Bates said. “At the end of the day, we just focused on what we could do to contribute in a significant way. We knew we could win the free dance.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Olympics 2022: 20 Asian Americans/Canadians to watch in Beijing

Opening ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Olympics were held Feb. 3.

Updated: Feb. 6, adding Josh Ho-Sang of the Canadian hockey team.

With competition underway, at least 19 Asian Americans, Pacific Islander Americans and Canadian Americans will be competing in the Winter Olympics in Beijing beginning on February 4 but not all of them will be representing the United States.

Although the spotlight will shine bright on American snowboarder Chloe Kim and the Asian American figure skaters, which includes reigning U.S. champion Nathan Chen, a lot of media attention will focus on Eileen Gu, who was born and raised in California, but will ski for China. 

The Peoples Republic of China, in fact, will have seven Asian Americans or Asian Canadians, competing for China.

Following are the Asian Americans,  Pacific Islander and Asian Canadians at the Olympic Games. Unless otherwise stated, the athletes are from the USA. 

Figure Skating

Nathan Chen

For most athletes, winning an Olympic bronze medal would be a crowning achievement, but for Nathan Chen was disappointed with his performance four years ago in Seoul, South Korea. He was expected to win a gold but he couldn't overcome a couple of stumbles in his short routine.He is the only figure skater to complete four quad jumps in a single routine. After winning all but one international competition in the ensuing four years, the 22-year old Yale student is determined to redeem himself in Beijing. He's off to a great start with a "perfect" short program today. Watch below:

Vincent Zhou

Vincent Zhou made his Olympic debut in 2018 at PyeongChang, where he finished sixth. He made history at those Games, becoming the first skater to land a quadruple Lutz jump in the short program. The 21-year old won his first Grand Prix title in 2021 at Skate America, beating perennial favorite Nathan Chen for the first time.

Alysia Liu

At 16-years old, Allysia Liu is the youngest of Team USA's three women's singles skaters. Liu is also the youngest woman to win the U.S. national senior title at age 13 in 2019 and successfully defended her title in 2020 with a national scoring record of 235.52, becoming the youngest ever two-time champion. She had to withdraw from the national championships in January because of COVID-19 but made the team because of her past performances. The Richmond, California teen was the first woman in history to successfully complete a triple axel and a quadruple jump in the same program.

Karen Chen

In 2018, Karen Chen was the favorite to win a medal but ended a disappointing 11th. She left South Korea vowing to try again in 2022. Injuries and her studies at Cornell made her reconsider her options  by the end of 2019. Chen discussed options with her family at their Fremont, California home and they decided to take a year off at Cornell so she could train in Colorado. “That fire just relit inside me, and I knew that it’s only going to get harder as you get older, so now is the time to chase those dreams,” she said.

Madison Chock

Beijing is the third Olympics for ice dancer Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates. Her full name is "Madison La'akea Te-Lan Hall Chock;" La-akea means "sacred light from heaven," and Te-Lan translates to "special or unique orchid." Chock is of Chinese-Hawaiian descent. At age 29, this is probably the last Olympics for Chock. The couple is the U.S's best chance for a medal in ice dancing, which unlike "pairs' has no jumps and graded on the couple's fast, coordinated movements and lefts.

Keegan Messing (Canada)

Canada's best hope for a medal in men's figure skating is Japanese Canadian Keegan Messing. Born and raised in Alaska, Canada's current No. 1 men's figure skater competed for the U.S. until 2014 when he switched to Canada. The 30-year old is the great, great grandson of Canada's first immigrant from Japan. He was awaiting to be released from COVID-19 restrictions and missed the opening team competition of figure skating.

Zhu Yi (China)

It's been a long journey for Zhu Yi to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The 19-year-old will be the sole representative for the People's Republic of China, in the women single figure skating competition. China have not won a medal in the event since Nagano 1998 when Chen Lu won a bronze medal. While Zhu, who was born in Los Angeles, is unlikely to be in medal contention, she admits "the pressure is huge" but insists she will "use the nervousness to perform better" during the Games.

Snowboard

Chloe Kim

Chloe Kim, a gold medal winner in the women’s snowboard halfpipe in PyeongChang in 2018. With her outgoing personality, she became a media favorite in the U.S.  The 21-year old Californian made a name for herself in 2018 when she became the youngest to win a gold medal. Right after the Olympics, she made Times’ 100 most influential people’s list and 25 most influential teens list. She took time off to be a first-year student at Princeton and then took a year off from her studies to concentrate on her training. She says this could be her last Olympics, according to Business Insider and she intends to go out on top. She promises more "tricks." and is a favorite to repeat with a gold medal in the halfpipe.

Hailey Langland

The other snowboarder to watch beside Chloe Kim is Hailey Langland  who willl compete in the slopstyle and big air events. The 21-year old is ready for her second Olympic Games and hopes it will go a bit differently than the first one. During her first Olympics in 2018 at the PyeongChang Games, when she was just 17 years old, she placed 6th in slopestyle and 14th in the big-air categories—not quite the result the San Clemente, California, native was hoping for. She's struggled with consistency. The Filipina American finished fourth at the VISA Big Air in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Dec. 4, 2021 but she was the top American finisher. She finished 12th in the next competition but already had enough points to qualify for the team.

Speed Skating

Eunice Lee

If everything went as planned in Salt Lake City — a big if in the sport of short track — then four women looked like pretty good bets for the Olympic team. The fifth spot, the last spot on the speedskating team, however, was anyone’s guess. Lee, a 17-year-old from Bellevue, Washington, grabbed it. In fact, the teenager is so little known that she doesn't even have a bio on the US Speedskating website yet. After all, she’s not even on the national team. Lee was eyeing the 2026 Olympics but beat all expectations by becoming the youngest member of the U.S. team since 1998 and could compete in a relay.

Andrew Heo

Andrew Heo qualified for Team USA’s men short track team was a surprise. Favorite Brandon Kim fell short of expectation at the trials in Salt Lake City and Heo took advantage and finished second at the 1500 and third in the other two distances. He is from Warrington, PA. The 20-year old is currently ranked just outside the top-50 skaters in the world and has already been a part of three U.S. world cup teams. He says short track – a sport historically dominated by South Korea – has brought him closer to his own Korean heritage as he studies to become fluent in the language.

Alpine Skiing

Kai Owens

Moguls skier Kai Owens has made her first Olympic team, giving the 17-year-old a chance to return to the country where she was born to compete for a gold medal. She was born in China where her parents abandoned her. She was adopted at 16-months old by a Colorado couple. She has already started her qualifying rounds. She failed to appear in the first qualifying round after she fell in practice.

Asa Miller, (Philippines)

Asa Miller, who was born in Portland, Oregon, is the Philippines' sole athlete at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The alpine skier will be competing at his second Games after a debut appearance at PyeongChang 2018 when he was just 17. Representing the Philippines, a tropical country where most of its citizenry has never seen snow, is no joke. In qualifying to compete, Miller has incurred several injuries in international competitions in order to represent the Philippines. In Beijing, Miller wants to improve on his results in Korea, and inspire a new generation of skiers. "Ever since I began four years ago at my last Olympics, the (Philippines) ski team has grown like five or six times larger than it was. So I hope to keep on doing that and keep inspiring the next generation of Filipino skiers and snowboarders."

Freestyle Skiing

Eileen Gu (China) 

China -- never a powerhouse in winter sports -- has touted Eileen Gu as their golden girl. Her face is plastered on billboards and magazines and fashion and sport sponsors line up for her endorsement. The photogenic Gu, a first-year student at Stanford, has modeled in California, New York and France. Born and raised in San Francisco, she has won three gold medals in her skiing events -- halfpipe, slopestyle and big air -- at the just completed X Games.  She is the first athlete to win gold in all three events, noted for its acrobatic twists and turns. Her popularity, Gu, who is fluent in Mandarin, has helped generate interest in skiing in that country.

Hockey

Peter Zhong, Brandon Yip, Tyler Wong, Spencer Foo, Parker Foo (China)

Eileen Gu is not the only foreigner representing China. Eighteen of China's men's hockey team are North Americans. Asian Americans Peter Zhong and Brandon Yip have been playing on China's club teams for several years. They are joined by Asian Canadians Tyler Wong, Spencer Foo and Parker Foo. The players became dual citizens in order to qualify for China's team. Although China is ranked 32nd in the world, as the host country, China earned a spot in the Olympics.

Josh Ho-Sang

Josh Ho-Sang is the lone Chinese Canadian on his country's hockey team. He currently plays for Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Check local listings to watch the 2022 Beijing Olympics on Peacock and NBC affiliates and streaming platforms. 

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NBC puts Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim in the spotlight to promote their coverage

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EDITOR'S NOTE: For Olympic updates, additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Chen wins men's skating title; five AAPI skaters named to the U.S. Olympic team

U.S. SKATING

Nathan Chen captured his record-setting sixth national  skating championship Sunday.

For the first time in 70 years, a U.S. man has won six consecutive national titles.

Three-time and reigning world champion Nathan Chen will head into next month's Olympic Games Beijing 2022 one title shy of two-time Olympic champ Dick Button's record, Button winning seven straight from 1946-52.

Chen, 22, captured his sixth title Sunday (Jan. 9) at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville: Using his 2020 routine, he earned a free skate score of 212.62 added to his score for the short program to total 328.01.

He registered a 26-point win over the surprise of the weekend in 17-year-old Ilia Malinin, who was spectacular in both the short and free programs to claim the silver medal in his senior debut with a score of 302.48.

Vincent Zhou placed third and Jason Brown fourth.

The three-member U.S. men's team for Beijing 2022 was announced Sunday evening, with Chen, Zhou and Brown getting the nod. The selection committee bases its choices off of a skater's "body of work" from the recent past, including these national championships.

Earlier on Sunday, U.S. Figure Skating announced the two teams for pair skating and the three duos headed to Beijing for ice dance. With Chen and Zhou, there will be a total of five Asian Americans on the skating team. 

The other members of the team are:

Pair skating: Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier; Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc

Ice dance: Madison Chock and Evan Bates; Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue; Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker. Chock is of Chinese and Hawaiian descent.

Mariah Bell, Karen Chen and Alysa Liu were named to the figure skating team on Saturday.

Alysa Liu and Karen Chen named to U.S. Olympic figure skating team, more AAPI athletes in contention

Madison Chock and Evan Bates won gold at the U.S. championships held in Nashville, Tenn.

Nathan Chen is back. After his short program Saturday, he's leading the men' figure skaters before the long program later today (Jan. 9, 2022) when the men's Olympic competitors will be named. 

Chen narrowly leads fellow 2018 Olympian Vincent Zhou and if all goes as expected, Zhou will join Chen when they compete in the Beijing Games next month. Zhou set a new personal best with his 112.78 score.

Asian Americans will once again be well represented in the figure skating team. As expected, Alysa Liu, who had to withdraw from competition Friday because she tested negative for COVID-19, was named to the women's Olympics figure skating team, joining new U.S. champion Mariah Bell and silver medalist Karen Chen.

Hawaii's Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates won the dance team competition over Madison Hubbel and Zachary Donohue. The two teams, who train under the same coaches, have finished either first or second in the national championships for almost a decade and will most likely be named to the Olympic team.

Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson will wait to hear if they make the U.S. Olympic team.

Who will represent the U.S. in the pairs competition is less certain. Filipino American Jessica Calalang teamed with Brian Johnson to win the silver in the pairs competition at the figure skating championships. They were edged by the pairs team of Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, the champions in 2019. COVID-19 forced the withdrawal of the No. 1 ranked pair of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier. While Knerim and Frazier are expected to be named as Olympians, there is only one pairs spot left for the Olympics.

The remainder of the U.S. figure skating team will be named later Sunday after the men's final.

Favorite Alysa Liu withdraws from U.S. figure skating championship due to COVID-19

Two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu might still make the Olympic team despite having COVID-19.

Sixteen-year old Alysa Liu had to pull out of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships after testing positive for COVID-19 Friday.

Liu, a two-time national champion for women's figure skating, is considered one of the favorites to make the U.S. team for the Beijing Winter Olympics. 

After the short program, Liu was in third place behind Mariah Bell and Karen Chen. Liu was expected to move up with the final event, the free skate, or long program. There are three slots for the women's figure skating team.

Liu wasn't the only skater to come down with the virus. The 101` pairs champions, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, withdrew Wednesday night after Frazier tested positive. Another women's skater, Amber Glenn, also withdrew later Friday after testing positive.

US Skating will select the team members Saturday afternoon and base their decisions on skaters' performance over the last two years, not just this year's national championship.

Any skater who tests positive for COVID-19 this week can still petition to be on the 2022 Olympic team.

The fact that Liu was the U.S. champion the last two years will help her case.  Liu's agent, Yuki Saegusa said that Liu will petition to be added to the team. 

Liu, a resident of Richmond, CA, is the only American female skater to perform a quad in her routines and if she performs at her best, is considered the U.S.  best chance of getting a medal in a sport dominated in recent years by Russian skaters.

In Friday's final competition, Mariah Bell came out on top, followed by the Karen Chen, who is from Fremont, CA. and 14-year old Isabeau Levito.

Earlier Friday, Hawaii resident Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates came from behind by edging rivals Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donahu to win the rhythm dance competition with the free form dance competition still to go later Saturday.

The men's long form featuring favorite Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou is slated to start for on NBC Saturday to help determine who will be going to the Olympics. The men's finals will be held on Sunday.

In the pairs' competition, Sacramento's Jessica Calalang with partner Brian Johnson are likely to make the Olympic team after winning silver at the U.S. championship the last two years.

Right behind them, the team of Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov could find their way to the medal podium after the withdrawal of Knierim and Frazier.

Nathan Chen wins his third straight men's World's Figure Skating Championship

Nathan Chen lands one of his five quads at the Worlds Figure Skating Championship.

American Nathan Chen won his third straight men's title at the World Figure Skating Championship in Stockholm, Sweden.

Chen was favored to win and he didn't disappoint demonstrating why he earned the title, Quad King, executing five quads in the freestyle portion of the figure skating competition.

The 21-year old Chen's victory makes him the man to beat in the 2022 Olympics in chenzu, China. He has not lost a competition since the 2018 Olympics, when he earned a Bronze medal after a performing a short program short of his expectations.

His next goal is to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing, China next year. "I am looking forward to next season and what everyone else brings to the table," Chen said, "and challenging myself to be as good as I can be."

"I wouldn't say this is my best free program ever," Chen said. "But it's one I will definitely remember forever and cherish, being able to skate like that and skate this piece here at worlds."

In the women's competition, Russia dominated, sweeping all three medals on the podium. American Karen Chen fourth place finish was a surprise after U.S. champion Bradie Tennell finished a disappointing ninth. 

America's Karen Chen feels she is as getting better heading towards the Olympic year 2022.

Karen Chen and men's champion Nathan Chen are not related.

Since Chen was crowned as the 2017 U.S. champion, before finishing 11th in the 2018 Olympics. In 2019, she had an injury followed by break caused by Covid-19. In the U.S. chmpionship, she placed third.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

Chas had a very bumpy path the past three seasons, losing one to a foot injury, beginning the next in college at Cornell before taking a leave, dealing with the pandemic. She finished third at January’s U.S. Championships but earned the second world team spot in a selection procedure that weighs more than one season’s results.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

In the figure skating dance category, the American team of Hawaii-born Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates finished fourth but feel their routines will get stronger as the Olympics draw closer. Their practices were placed off-track after Chock suffered a concussion last summer in an off-ice fall.

“We are in the best possible shape of our lives, honestly,” Chock said. “We feel really strong and really confident in the work we’ve done leading up to this event.”

Their pair's performance bodes well for the U.S. skating team in 2022. The other American team featuring Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the Silver medal.

“We came here for a gold medal, and there is definitely disappointment around that … We also know that we are progressing, that we are building, we are gaining the qualities we want as a team,” Donohue said. “We look at this as momentum, creating a hunger.”

Nathan Chen skates to 5th straight U.S. championship; 7 aapi skaters will represent the U.S.

Silver medalist Vincent Zhou, left, and gold medalist Nathan Chen will skate for the U.S.

Asian American figure skaters continue to perform well in the sport with seven qualifying five athletes out of 15 for the 2021 U.S. Figure Skating team following competing in the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Las Vegas last weekend.

Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, Madison Chock and Jessica Calalang will skate for the U.S. at the World's Championships in March.

Reigning U.S. champion Nathan Chen (Salt Lake Figure Skating) won his fifth straight U.S. title Sunday , becoming the first man to accomplish the feat since Dick Button won his fifth title in 1950.

Chen earned 208.36 points in Sunday’s free skate to total 322.28 points at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

“[Winning my fifth straight title] means the world to me,” he said. “[Dick Button] is a true skating icon. It feels incredible to be trying to chase something that someone like that has done. I’m nowhere near the level that he was at, but it’s cool to be mentioned in his realm.”

Right behind Chen, Vincent Zhou (SC of San Francisco) medaled at his fifth consecutive U.S. Championships, earning the silver medal with 291.38 total points. Zhou scored 183.59 points for Sunday afternoon’s free skate.

Bradie Tennell reclaimed the title for Women's Figure Skating after three years, beating out two time champion, 15-year old Alysa Liu, who wound up in fourth place.

Joining Tennell on the team for the world's championship is Karen Chen, the 2017 U.S. Champion and 2018 Olympian. It will be Chen's second appearance at World's.

Hawaii's Madison Chock and her longtime partner Evan Bates will compete in Ice Dancing.

Filipino American Jessica Calalang will team up with Brian Johnson to compete in Pairs.

2018 Winter Olympics: Final thoughts on the Asian American athletes

INSTAGRAM / TINA CHEN

Figure skater Karen Chen, center, poses with Alex and Maia Shibutani.

THE SIGHT of so many Asian/American athletes representing the United States at the Olympics should have an impact for years to come.

Hopefully, Americans and mainstream media learned some lessons along the way to PyongChang, South Korea where the Olympics were held this last two weeks.

The view of what an "American" looks like took a hit but not without creating a few "opps" moments by those reporting on the Olympics. 

The winter sports athletes are still overwhelmingly white but this year, there are signs that  Team USA is inching towards diversity. Nonwhite athletes (11 black Olympians and 12 Asian/American Olympians) account for just under 9 percent of the American team, There are also 108 women, about 45 percent of the team and two openly gay malle athletes, according to team data. That might not sound like much but it's a great improvement from four years ago.

That might not wound like much, but it is still an improvement over past teams and should be noted as a step forward, no matter how small.

Winter sports have been dominated by European countries where most of the sports originated. That tradition and the fact that the cost and isolated locations of the venues have further separated the sports from much of America. 

“I think it sends out a strong message when there is a team that has a good cross-section of ethnicities,” Elana Meyers Taylor, a 2014 Olympic silver medalist in bobsled, told USA TODAY. “If there is a child watching and they don’t see anyone that looks like them, it creates a little mental barrier.”

Seeing the Asian/American skaters and snowboarders during the Winter Olympics will inspire some young people to compete in those sports.

Mirai Nagasu right after she did her history-making triple axel.

When figure skater Mirai Nagasu did her historic triple axel, something no other American female skater has ever done, New York Times writer Bari Weiss couldn't help but celebrate on Twitter. Retweeting a video of Nagasu’s jump, Weiss wrote in a now-deleted tweet: “Immigrants: They get the job done.”

People were quick to point out that the 18-year old was born and raised in California, a child of immigrants. Critics said that Weiss  was falling into the trap of most Americans by "othering" Nagasu because Asian/Americans are seen as perpetual foreigners, no matter how many generations they are removed from their immigrant ancestors.

Nagasu was also central to mini-controversy when she finished her long program in figure skating, an even where she finished a disappointing 10th. She gave a press conference in which she said some comments that were interpreted as belittling her teammates when competing in skating's team competition.

“I would like to be on Dancing With the Stars because I want to be a star,” Nagasu, who stuck her triple axel in the team event, said. “I made history here by landing the first triple axel for a U.S. lady at the Olympics so I think that is a big deal. I hope I get more opportunities to let my personality just shine.

“It’s been a long three weeks, and we got here and got to walk in the opening ceremonies and then I saved the team event, with Adam (Rippon) and the Shibutanis,” Nagasu said. “We were about to lose our medals so today I put my medal in my pocket and said ‘Mirai you have done your job already and this is all just icing.’

Later, she apologized profusely in a People magazine interview.

“I feel really, really awful about the things I said,” she said though tears, according to People. “I feel bad that people think that I was throwing my teammates under the bus because I never wanted to come off that way.

Apparent free spirits Filipino/American snowboarder Hailey Langland and Korean/American gold medal winner Chloe Kim, both 17, reminded everyone what it is like to be an American teenager enjoyed good press for their back stories and accomplishments.

Although Langland failed to qualify for a medal, the experience prepared her for the upcoming World Championships and she's young enough to get ready for the 2012 Olympics in Beijing, China as she noted in her Twitter account"

haileylanglandMy 2018 #Olympics journey is officially over. So happy to have come out to Pyeongchang and competed with the best girls in the biz. Another huge thanks to all my friends, family, and sponsors who supported me. Maybe I will be lucky enough to return in 4 years for some redemption. 

Hailey's pal Chloe Kim has exploded onto the American consciousness with her gold medal run in the halfpipe snowboarding competition. She's on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was interviewed on the Jimmy KImmel show.

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Except for speedskater JR Celski and ice dancer Madison Chock, both of whom are in their mid-20s, all the other Asian/American athletes are all so young including, ice dance bronze medalists Alex and Maia Shibutani, figure skater Karen Chen, 18, 17 men's figure skaters Nathan Chen, 18, and Vincent Zhou, 17 should be contending for a medal, speedskaters Aaron Tran, 17 and Thomas Hong, 20. They all could possibly return along with Kim, Langland and Nagasu four years from now in Beijing.

Tran posted on Instagram:

• aarontran96My first Winter Olympic Games, Pyeongchang 2018, has been a life-changing experience for me in such an enormous number of ways. It has opened many doors for me and I will use this opportunity to propel myself forward and to best set myself up to become the best I can be, mentally and physically, in the next Games to come! #pyeongchang2018#TeamUSA #beijing2022

Team USA's efforts to get the best athletes to compete in the winter sports means the sports federations will have to reach out to the rest of America. America in turn, may have to change their definition of what an "American" looks like.

Representation does matter. Many of the Asian/American skaters on today's team say they were inspired by seeing Tai Babilonia, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan and Apolo Ono compete on the ice.

"Seeing someone like you who's accomplishing things that you aspire to, means a lot," says Yaamaguchi, whose own role model was Tiffany Chin, who skated in the 1984 Olympics.

Somewhere in the U.S., there may be a young girl or boy who watched the 12 Asian/American Olympians, who said to himself, "Hey, that could be me."

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this post confused a lutz with an axel.
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TGIF Feature:: 2018 Winter Olympics - 12 Asian Americans on Team USA

Hailey Langland will compete in Snowboard Big-Air at the Winter Olympics.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT!

AT MY AGE, I think it's OK for me to descibel the young Asian/American olympians as kids.

That's not meant to be an insult or to denigrate the hours upon hours of training they put into their sport, that's just a reminder, no matter the outcome of their efforts, they are among the best the United States has to offer, they're just teenagers or young adults who grew up listening to the same music, watching the same TV shows, reading the same news stories, getting basically the same classroom education as all of America's children.

But ... they are special! They'll be competing at the Winter Games being held in PyeongCheng, South Koreah which starts Fridiay, Feb. 9.

In order to reach the level of athleticism that they will be competing at, they've had to be disciplined, dedicated and willing to sacrifice their time that they might have used to do what us ordinary mortals do: make friends, go on dates, party all night, overindulge in junk food.

For the next couple of weeks, they will put everkything on the line as they compete against the best-of-the-best athletes from other countries - other kids. They will soar, twirl, race to represent their country - our country.

NBC broadcast these commercials featuring Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim - both of whom are expected to medal - to promote their coverage of the Games:

Since most people of color come from warmer climes, it is not surprising that the winter sports are dominated by people who grew up in snow country. Scandinavian countries, Germany, France, Italy, Canada traditionally do well in the Winter Games. Throw in the U.S.A,, too, because we pour in a lot of money into those developing athletes.

And let's face it: You won't find whole lot of bobsled runs, ice rinks or ski jumps in most big city neighborhoods. Accessibility to those venues is limited and the cost to go skiing is beyond a lot of people. Therefore, the winter sports don't have a whole lot of diversity.

RELATED: Filipino/American skier represents the Philippines

Team USA numbers 243 athletes, which is the largest team any nation has sent to a Winter Olympics. Of that group,  only 10 are African/American — 4 percent —  12 are Asian/American.

“We’re not quite where we want to be,” said Jason Thompson, the USOC’s director of diversity and inclusion. “. . . I think full-on inclusion has always been a priority of Team USA. I think everybody’s always felt it should represent every American.”

That's an understatement. The Summer Olympic team the USA sent to Brazil two years ago, of the 550 athletes, 23 percent (or 125) of the athletes were African/American. 

Asian/Americans on Team USA

Men's Figure Skating:

• Nathan Chen
• Vincent Zhou

Women's Figure Skating

• Karen Chen
• Mirai Nagasu

Ice Dance Pairs

• Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani
• Madison Chock with partner Evan Bates

Speed Skaters

• JR Celski
• Thomas Hong
• Aaron Tran

Snowboarding Half-pipe

• Chloe Kim

Snowboarding Big Air

• Hailey Langland

The opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, takes place 6-8 a.m. EST on Friday. (Feb. 9)  Don't worry, the channels will undoubtedly replay the ceremonies later in the day.
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Nagasu, Chen picked to represent US in women's figure skating

Presenting the USA's women's figure-skating team:Mirai Nagasu. from left, Bradie Tennell and Karen Chen.

ASAM NEWS

IT'S OFFICIAL this morning: Mirai Nagasu is one big bad-ass.
Four years after being denied a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team despite placing third at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Nagasu was not going to be denied this time.

The U.S. Olympic Committee named her to the team this morning after her second place finish Friday (Jan. 5) night in San Jose at the 2018 Championship.

She’ll be joined by first place finisher Bradie Tennell and last year’s U.S. Women’s Figure Skating champ, Karen Chen.

The three team members spoke exclusively this morning on Today.

“I really took time to remodel myself because I didn’t want to feel that regret. This has been about my journey , my goal to get here and last night was my dream come true, ” said Nagasu.

Chen who is mentored by skating legend Kristi Yamaguchi says the two have exchanged huge hugs and admitted both were in tears. Both are from Fremont near San Francisco.

All three teammates said they are ready to soak in the culture in South Korea at Pyeongchang

Chen was the most outspoken, simply saying “I think we got a great shot. We’re all very strong and we got this.”

In 2014, Nagasu was passed over for Ashley Wagner who was the fourth place finisher. At the time, Wagner was chosen based on her overall skating record and greater experience in international competition.

Last night, Wagner, 26, was “furious” at the judging and results.

“I know when I go and I lay it down — and I absolutely left one jump on the table — but for me to put out two programs that I did at this competition as solid as I skated, to get those scores, I am furious,” reported the Mercury News. “And I think deservedly so. I am a performer, and that second mark [for program components] is just not there.

“I am absolutely OK with them being strict on my rotations,” she added. “That’s what I think U.S. Figure Skating should demand from their judges. But you know, it has to be across the board, and I don’t necessarily feel like it’s been that way at this event. So we’ll see how things pan out.” “I feel like I need to stick up for myself, and I think I delivered when I needed to. But I want to be on that Olympic team, and I’m really mad that I’m in this position again.”

Nagasu last night had a different take on the results.

“I’m usually not one to be at a loss for words, but I am super happy with how things have gone,” Nagasu said to Team USA.org. “With mistakes, I scored the highest I’ve scored at a U.S. championships and right now I am super proud of myself… I think I really, really put in my vote for the Olympic team.”

Chen herself had quite a journey. She followed her championship in 2017 with a dud of a season. She finished no better than seventh at the Grand Prix assignments last year. On top of that, she came to this year’s championships with a virus. Despite feeling the aches and pains that comes with being sick, she persevered and put in her best performances of the season.

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AAPI figure skaters shine at World's championships

Maia and Alex Shibutani won a bronze medal at the World Figure Skating Championship

BROTHER AND SISTER, Maia and Alex Shibutani, won the bronze medal in ice dance at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland last weekend.

They led a figure-skating team loaded with Asian American and Pacific Islander athletes.

Nathan Chen fell twice but four quaduple jumps impressed the judges enough to give him fourth in the men's competition. Combined with Xxxxx seventh-place finish, the U.S. men scored enough to give the U.S. three entries in the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Sixteen-year old Karen Chen faltered in the short program but came through the free-skate phase to place fourth, out of the medal competition but good enough to qualify the U.S. three spots in next year's Olympics.

Madison La'akea Te-Lan Hall Chock and her partner Evan Bates made some mistakes in their final dance routine but still managed a seventh place finish, again assuring the U.S. three positions for the Olympics.

The World's competition determined the number of spots for each nation. The final Olympic figure skating team will be named after the U.S. Championships that will be held in San Jose, Calif. this December and next January. Watch their free-skate, below:

The Shibutani siblings pick up their third World medal after winning the silver medal in 2016 and another bronze medal in 2011. “We’re so proud with how we skated at this World Championships,” Maia Shibutani said. “Our programs have grown so much over the course of the season. The audience for both of the performances was fantastic and as athletes and people who are trying to put our creative souls into these programs, that means so much.”

The dance team of Chock and Bates had to overcome a loss of balance by Bates on Saturday during a twizzle. Despite that, Chock and Bates were proud of their accomplishments this season, which included five international medals.

“Every year that we compete together, we get stronger,” Chock said. “We’re now at the five-year mark and we still have a long way to go. We haven’t reached our potential yet. Things are going to be good for us this summer. We’re going to train really hard.”

The third dance team of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue garnered a ninth-place finish and likely be one of the teams to compete for the three spots for the Olympics. 

In the men’s competition, the United States notched two top-10 finishes. Nathan Chen finished sixth while teammate Jason Brown finish seventh.

High-flying Nathan Chen (No relation to Karen Chen), who has taken the sport of figure skating by storm over the past four months with his daring athleticism that includes including a never-before attempted six quads in his routine, was disappointed in falling on two of his attempts.

“It’s a good step for me,” Nathan said. “It’s a good experience for me. I feel sorry for some (of the mistakes that I had), but it’s a good step. Whatever happened, happened, and I just have to put it behind me.”

Teenager Karen Chen came from behind to finish fourth, the best result among the American women skaters.

The pressure was intense for Karen Chen, who is competing in her first senior World Championships.

She saw that teammate three-time U.S. champion Ashley Wagner had faltered in her free program in Helsinki finishing seventh.

“So I knew I needed to skate pretty close to clean,” Chen, from Fremont, Calif. told reporters afterward.

“At first, it was overwhelming,” Chen said. “Right when that thought came into my head my body felt tense all of a sudden. Because I wanted to prove to myself I can do it — I could skate very well under pressure.”

The poised teenager came through - she landed five triple jumps - by finishing fourth thereby giving the United States’ Olympic team a third slot for the Olympics Only a few minor miscues towards the end of her routine prevented her from medaling.

The U.S. Championships will be Dec. 29, 2017-Jan. 7, 2018 in San Jose, California to determine who will represent the United States in South Korea in February.

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