Watch Mirai Nagasu become the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Winter Olympics

(Image credit: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 12 February 2018

Mirai Nagasu made history at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on Monday morning, becoming the first American female figure skater to land a triple axel during Olympic competition.

The 24-year-old stunned the audience during her free skate by even attempting the difficult move, which involves a forward takeoff and three and a half rotations in the air. Only two other American women have successfully completed a triple axel in competition: Tonya Harding in 1991 and Kimmie Meissner in 2005. This wasn't Nagasu's first competitive triple axel, though — she landed one at the 2017 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.