Mirai Nagasu Doesn't Medal in Ladies' Figure Skating at 2018 Olympics

After helping the United States earn bronze in the team figure skating event, Mirai Nagasu was unable to make the medal podium in the ladies' individual event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Nagasu posted a 119.61 in the free skate after judges gave her a 66.93 in the short program, which had her in ninth place entering Thursday (Eastern Time). Her 186.54 overall score was 10th-best for the competition.

2014 Olympic bronze medalist Jeremy Abbott thought Nagasu could still walk away with plenty of positives despite failing to medal:

Nagasu made history in the team event, becoming the first American woman and only the third woman in Olympics history to land a triple axel. NBC Olympics shared a replay of the jump:

Nagasu's 137.53 overall score was second-best in the ladies' portion of the team event, and the nine points she delivered proved pivotal toward the Americans' third-place finish.

In addition to everything she had achieved, Nagasu's coach, Tom Zakrajsek, believed the 24-year-old was focused on adding an individual gold to her collection.

"Mirai is ready to lay everything down and send some awesome shots in the singles events, and we'll see how the chips fall," Zakrajsek said, per the Associated Press (via NBCOlympics.com). "Ice is slippery, you know, and anything can happen. There's a whole history of Americans not being expected to be on the podium, like Paul Wylie, Sarah Hughes. We are working for the podium and she will put it all out there."

Nagasu entered the event as a bit of an underdog, though.

She finished 10th, fourth and fourth at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships before her runner-up showing in January. And after finishing fourth at the 2010 Winter Olympics, she had yet to have a breakthrough at the international level. In her last appearance at the World Figure Skating Championships in 2016, Nagasu ended up in 10th place. 

Nagasu defied the odds when she landed a triple axel, but winning individual gold presented a much different challenge. Falling short of that goal doesn't change the fact she already earned her own place in Olympic lore.