US Women's Olympic Figure Skating 2018: How America Performed on Tuesday

Three American figure skaters came through with artistic performances in the short program Tuesday night, but it may be difficult for any of them to challenge for a medal in the free skate portion of the event Thursday night (dates/times ET).

Bradie Tennell, skating very early in the night, put on a memorable performance in the short program, but a key fall cost her on the scoreboard. Tennell earned a grade of 64.01 for her routine.

Teammate Karen Chen was slightly better, scoring a 65.90, while fellow American Mirai Nagasu was able to move to the lead among her countrywomen with a mark of 66.93. Chen and Nagasu also hit the ice in their performances.

While the Americans skated well after their initial problems, the gold and silver medals appear to be out of reach for any skaters behind Russians Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva. Both skated to near perfection, but Zagitova was able to take a slight lead with a mark of 82.92.

That gave her an edge over Medvedeva, who earned a score of 81.61. That's the highest mark she has ever reached in the short program during her stellar career.

The 15-year-old phenom Zagitova showed the same confidence and nearly as much athleticism as Medvedeva in reaching the top of the scoreboard, and she had a slight edge in technical proficiency.

Nagasu, Chen and Tennell will have much work to do if they want to find the podium. Those three are in ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively in the competition.

They will have to overcome Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman of Canada, Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, Carolina Kostner of Italy and Cho Dabin of South Korea.

"

Divine.

There are very few words to describe Alina Zagitova's short program, so let's just watch it. #WinterOlympics https://t.co/KZ4MBNvQzp pic.twitter.com/1QgRsNMdnM

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 21, 2018"

Ladies' short program (courtesy of PyeongChang2018.com)

1. Alina Zagitova OAR - 82.92 (45.30, 37.62)
2. Evgenia Medvedeva OAR - 81.61 (43.19, 38.42)
3. Kaetlyn Osmond CAN - 78.87 (41.83, 37.04)
4. Satoko Miyahara JPN - 75.94 (40.25, 35.69)
5. Kaori Sakamoto JPN - 73.18 (40.36, 32.82)
6. Carolina Kostner ITA - 73.15 (35.06, 38.09)
7. Gabrielle Daleman CAN - 68.90 (35.90, 33.00)
8. Choi Dabin KOR - 67.77 (37.54, 30.23)
9. Mirai Nagasu USA - 66.93 (37.24, 30.69, -1.00)
10. Karen Chen USA - 65.90 (33.53, 32.37)
11. Bradie Tennell USA - 64.01 (35.50, 29.51, -1.00)
12. Maria Sotskova OAR - 63.86 (31.47, 33.39, -1.00)
13. Nicole Rajicova SVK - 60.59 (32.36, 28.23)
14. Nicole Schott GER - 59.20 (31.62, 27.58)
15. Elizabet Tursynbaeva KAZ - 58.82 (29.14, 29.68)

Tennell's fall on the ice was something of a shocker because she has been so strong in recent months. The 20-year-old U.S. champion from Illinois said she couldn't remember the last time she had hit the ice in competition.

"My timing was just a little off and my left arm got a little away from me so I wasn't able to get the snap for the second triple," she said, per Christine Brennan of USA Today. "I could tell that something was just a little off. Things happen. We're all human. We make mistakes so you just have to get up and keep going."

Tennell tried to put a good face on her position because she still has another night to go in the ladies' figure skating event. "It's a setback, but it's important to not dwell on things like that, and I'm just looking forward to the free skate."

All three American skaters were quite good, but the two athletes from Russia appear to be at another level, and they will almost certainly put on a taut battle for the gold medal.