After four years of competing regionally, 14-year-old Japanese American figure skater Mirai Nagasu in 2007 propelled herself to first place finishes in numerous national competitions, as well as placing second in the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. The season’s climax was the 2007 Junior Grand Prix Final, where Nagasu placed first over projected favorite Caroline Zhang, who won the gold medal in 2006. Standing at 4 feet 11 inches, Nagasu’s composure and confidence stood in bold relief to her slight stature, which lent an added layer of appeal to her skillfully executed moves that won her the top spot in the tournament, her first national title.
This season Nagasu competes at the senior level. She will skate against 20 others for the senior ladies’ title at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships held from Jan. 20-27 in St. Paul, Minn.
Nagasu fell in love with ice skating at the age of 5: inclement weather prevented her parents from taking her to play golf, so they brought her to an ice rink. It was a life-defining moment for her. “I liked skating so much I wanted to take skating lessons — that was nine years ago,” Nagasu recalled. Even at this level of competition, Nagasu describes her work ethos as “work hard, and while at it, have fun.”
Nagasu, now a freshman in high school, maintains a routine precious few of her peers would consider fun. She wakes at six in the morning, practices for two hours, attends school, has dinner at the restaurant her parents run, attends ballet class, returns to the restaurant to do homework, and heads home for bed.
Yet Nagasu is able to maintain a decent social life. “I have time for my friends when I am at school,” said Nagasu, adding that she also enjoys the company of her skating friends.
Anyone who saw Nagasu perform at the 2007 Junior Grand Prix Final could easily make out the fun factor. Underneath her mien of intense concentration (and makeup), an unadulterated smile of joy would sporadically blossom forth. Nagasu’s movements are woven seamlessly into the music she performs to (for this season: “I Got Rhythm,” variations for piano and orchestra by George Gershwin by Fazil Say, and “Coppelia” by Delibes). Indeed, she says that “music is very important” to her, adding, “It sets the themes of the skating — it tells the story.”
Contributing to her recent success is her primary coach Charlene Wong, along with coaches Sashi Kuchiki, Sondra Holmes, Bob Paul and Jim Yorke, who all recently set Nagasu on a new training regimen. Yet Nagasu sees no magic bullet when it comes to competitive success, saying, “It is all about the process [of] going from one level to another and learning at each level.”
Nagasu’s parents emigrated from Japan; at home she speaks a mix of English and Japanese. Nagasu has a popular fan base in Japan, where she has appeared on Japanese television, and there is speculation that the Japanese Skating Federation is courting her to switch countries.
But for now, the 14-year-old figure skating sensation — whose given name, Mirai, means “future” in Japanese — will go on with her life with no grand expectations in particular. “I love to live life day-by-day,” Nagasu says, “in both my skating and outside of skating. We will see what the future holds.”