Call to mom helps Nagasu rebound from disappointment

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Sometimes, all a skater needs is a good kick in the pants from mom.

2010 Olympian Mirai Nagasu struggled in her short program at Skate America on Saturday afternoon. She ended up 10th out of 11 skaters going into Sunday's long program. On Saturday night, she struggled with her performance. She didn't sleep well, and was stressed.

Still, she had to get up and skate her long program on Sunday, and put Saturday's disappointment behind her.

And she had to make a call.

"I called my mom, and she yelled at me. I haven't seen her in a really long time, so it makes me really emotional. I think she snapped me back to reality. I was really dreading my long today," Nagasu said.

Yet Nagasu landed every jump and used outstanding spins, her trademark, in a powerful skate to Madame Butterfly. She scored a 108.92 in the long program and finished sixth overall in the first stop on the Grand Prix of figure skating. Russia's Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva finished 1-2 while U.S. skater Gracie Gold was third.

Heading into the final, Nagasu had little chance of winning the event, so she said it was about enjoying the skate.

"I skated really well, and it wasn't about anything but skating for myself today," she said. "I'm really glad that the audience enjoyed my performance."

Nagasu is Japanese-American, and found a connection to the tragic story of the Puccini opera that tells the story of a Japanese woman who committed suicide after losing her husband.

"Madame Butterfly is really close to hitting home," Nagasu said. "It's kinda perfect with the ethnicities and everything, and I really love the music. The tragedy of her story is so beautiful."

The Japanese connection isn't the only one she sees with Madame Butterfly. Nagasu made the Olympic team in 2010, and took fourth. But after inconsistent skating last season, she finished third at the U.S. Nationals. In the past, she would have qualified for the Olympics. A new selection process, however, allowed U.S. Figure Skating to choose Ashley Wagner, who finished fourth at nationals, over Nagasu.

It was a tough blow to the skater, and Nagasu had a hard time getting over the snub. This is her first international competition since last season, and she recognized something of herself in the tragedy of the opera.

"I feel like the worst has happened to me," she said, "so who better to skate to Madame Butterfly than me?"

Nagasu is scheduled to skate again in Moscow in mid-November.

If she needs motivation, it will be on the other end of a call home.