Mirai Nagasu remains upset after being left off the U.S. Olympic Team in January, but she still enjoys skating as she sets out on the Stars on Ice Tour beginning in Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday.
The 2010 Olympian Nagasu finished third at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston in January but was passed over for the three-woman Olympic Team selected by a U.S. Figure Skating committee.
The committee chooses the Olympic Team not only based on U.S. Championships results but also finishes from recent senior and junior national and international competitions.
The group that went to Sochi was made up of U.S. champion Gracie Gold, second-place Polina Edmunds and fourth-place Ashley Wagner. Wagner won the 2012 and 2013 U.S. Championships.
“I don’t think I’ll ever agree with the decision that they made,” Nagasu told icenetwork.com. “But as I said in my statement at nationals, I can only respect the decision made by the federation.”
Nagasu admirably skated in an exhibition at the U.S. Championships hours after learning she did not make the Olympic Team, attended a send-off party for the Olympic Team and texted Wagner support.
Nagasu was boosted by words from 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano.
“He only talked to me for a moment, but he came by and told me that he knew things were hard at the moment, but he also knew I would be stronger because of it,” Nagasu said, according to the website. “He might not even remember what he said, but it really meant a lot. I don’t know if he’ll ever really know how much that meant.”
Nagasu, 20, got sick after the U.S. Championships but competed anyway at the Four Continents Championships later in January, finishing 10th. She has said she will continue skating with a goal of making another Olympic Team.
She’ll likely go up against Gold, Edmunds and Wagner again, as all three are expected to keep skating, too. The 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships are in Greensboro, N.C., in January.