GANGNEUNG, South Korea -- America's hopes of even contending for a women's figure skating medal ended early Wednesday amid a flurry of falls and mistakes.
The top two entries -- national champ Bradie Tennell and 2010 Olympian Mirai Nagasu -- both went down just moments into their short programs at the Pyeongchang Games. And 18-year-old Karen Chen needed to put her hand on the ice to keep from falling.
Nagasu, fourth in Vancouver, fell on her triple axel and earned a score of 66.93 for ninth place. Last week, she became the first American woman to complete a triple axel in Olympic history when she did it during the team competition.