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Highlights of the 2018 Olympic Ladies' Short Program

The OAR's Alina Zagitova has the lead after the ladies' short program in figure skating at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. 

Charlotte Carroll

Highlights of the 2018 Olympic Ladies' Short Program
Highlights of the 2018 Olympic Ladies' Short Program /

One of the marquee events of the 2018 Winter Games, the ladies' short program in figure skating, took place Wednesday in PyeongChang (Tuesday night ET). 

Team USA's trio of Mirai Nagasu, Bradie Tennell and Karen Chen faced tough competition from Evgenia Medvedeva and AlinaZagitova of the Olympic Athletes of Russia.

Nagasu, 24, is still Team USA's biggest hope for a medal. The two-time Olympian drew acclaim for her team free skate program, where she became the first American woman in history to land a triple axel at the Olympics, helping the United States win bronze in that event. While she failed to land one in the short program Tuesday, she still has the free program Thursday to try to land on the podium.

Take a look back at all our updates and analysis from Tuesday night during the ladies' short program. 

Leader Standings 

1st Place: OAR's AlinaZagitova (82.92)

2nd Place: OAR's Evgenia Medvedeva​ (81.06​)

3rd Place: Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond (78.87)

12:28 a.m. ET

The skating is over, and the final 24 are set for the free skate which will be Thursday night in the United States. The top three are the OAR's AlinaZagitova in first, the OAR's Evgenia Medvedeva​ in second and Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond in third. 

The Americans ended up in ninth (Mirai Nagasu), 10th (Karen Chen) and 11th (Bradie Tennell). 

12:23 a.m. ET

The final skater of the night was the OAR's Maria Sotskova. The 17-year-old scored a 63.86 after a disappointing skate. 

12:18 a.m. ET

Italy's Carolina Kostner skated a beautiful program, but lacked the technical elements at the top of the leaderboard. She performed to Celine Dion's "Ne me quitte pas," and scored a 73.15.  

12:12 a.m. ET

OAR's Alina Zagitova completed an almost technically perfect program. Like rival Evgenia Medvedeva, Zagitova saved all her jumps for the second half to maximize the scores. At 15 years old, she scored a 82.92, taking Medvedeva's first place position and new world record. 

12:04 a.m.

Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond performed to Edith Piaf, giving a lively and fantastic performance. The audience loved it, giving her loud cheers. She scored a 78.87, taking second. 

12:01 a.m. ET

Japan's Satoko Miyahara performed to music from "Memoirs of a Geisha." She jam packed her program with elements and scored a 75.94, taking second place. 

11:56 p.m. ET

The OAR's Evgenia Medvedeva started off the final group strong with a beautiful performance. She performed to Nocturne No. 20 by Frederic Chopin and set the tone of her rivalry with fellow OAR skater AlinaZagitova. She scored a 81.06 to take the lead and a world recrod, while beginning to stake her claim at figure skating dominance. 

11:29 p.m.

South Korea's Dabin Choi skated to the soundtrack of "Papa Can You Hear Me?" She received a huge round of applause from the home crowd after her clean program. She scored a 67.77, moving her to third place.

That's the end of Group 4 and we're on to the final six skaters of the night — Group 5 — which features the top-ranked skaters in the world. We'll be on to them after a quick resurface of the ice. 

11:18 p.m. ET

Kazakhstan​'s ​Elizabet Tursynbaeva's skated mostly clean despite her first element. She scored a 57.95.

11:11 p.m. ET

The United States' Karen Chen made her Olympic debut in a beautiful skate. She performed to "On Golden Pond," by Dave Grusin. She choreographed the piece herself and scored a 65.90, moving into fourth place. 

11:05 p.m. ET

Cana da's Gabrielle Daleman scored a 68.90, moving her to second place. It's her second Olympics.

11:03 p.m.

Serena Williams is loving the figure skating.

10:59 p.m. ET

The United State's Mirai Nagasu started strong, but she missed the triple axel, which helped Team USA earn bronze in the team event. She still kept it together, finishing strong. Despite missing it, the attempt still sets her apart and she scored a 66.93, which is a new season's best. The "USA" on her leg is not a tattoo but actually muscle tape, according to commentators. 

10:50 p.m. ET

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto started off Group 5 by skating to "Moonlight Sonata." Her program was clean and so smooth between the jumps. She scored a 73.18, which sent her to first place. 

10:36 p.m. ET

Slovakia's Nicole Rajicova skated a clean program. She was born in the U.S. but switched to compete with Slovakia. She scored a 60.59, moving to second place. 

That's the end of Group 3, and we're on to Group 4, which includes Americans Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen.

10:31 p.m. ET 

Germany's Nicole Schott skated a clean 59.20, moving into second place after her calming skate. 

10:25 p.m. ET

Belgium's Loena Hendrickx skated to "Frozen" performed by Madonna, and after was upset with her performance. She scored a 55.16, which puts her in sixth position.  

10:17 p.m. ET

Italy's Giada Russo performed selections from Stanley Kubrick's film "Eyes Wide Shut." It was quiet in the arena as she performed to the ... interesting music. She was rewarded and scored a 50.88, which is a new season's best for her. 

10:10 p.m. ET

Hungary's Ivett Toth gave everyone a surprise, performing to ACDC's "Thunderstruck" and "Back in Black." She went with a biker-eque outfit to compliment the music. Toth scored a 53.22, which is a season's best for her.

10:01 p.m. ET

Australia's Kailani Carine started off Group 3 and performed to "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Ella Fitzgerald. The 19-year-old skated a clean program and scored a 56.77, which fell short of her personal best of 58.02 but moved her to second place. 

9:31 p.m. ET

France's Mae Berenice Meite​ performed to "Halo" and "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyonce, which was clearly enjoyed by the crowd and reporters alike. She scored a 53.65 to earn sixth place.

That's the end of Group 2, and we're on to Group 3. 

9:29 p.m. ET

Canada's Larkyn Austman had a shaky double axel landing, but skated to an upbeat piece from Cabaret. She scored a 51.42, which is a new season's best for her. Austman is currently in seventh place and has not yet qualified. 

9:20 p.m. ET

Finland's Emmi Peltonen had an impressive performance with high, fast jumps. The 19-year-old seemed happy following her skate, and she earned a 55.28 for her score, moving into third place. 

9:16 p.m. ET

Kazakhstan's Aiza Mambekova skated an upbeat performance but still had some jump problems. She scored a 44.40, which is a new season's best. Switzerland's Alexia Paganini​ qualified with Mambekova's score. 

9:09 p.m. ET

Switzerland's Alexia Paganini performed to "Forbidden Love" form Romeo and Juliet. At 16 years old, she was born in the U.S. and her father is Swiss. She scored a 55.26, which surpassed her season's best of 54.95. She moves into third place with the score and Williams also qualified for the free skate. 

9:00 p.m. ET

China's Xiangning Li started off Group 2, scoring a 52.46 that put her in fourth place. Her season's best is a 59.2.

With Xiangning Li's score, Bradie Tennell has qualified for the free program. Thirty skaters perform the short program with 24 advancing to the free skate. 

8:51 p.m. ET

Bradie Tennell thanked her No. 1 fans in a tweet.

8:48 p.m. ET

Sweden's Anita Ostlund performed to "Carmen Fantasy." The 17-year-old scored a 49.14, which is below her season's best of 56.04. She had a big mistake as she started off with a single element which wasn't counted. As she finished, she was upset and crying in the Kiss and Cry zone where skaters receive scores. 

The first group of skaters have gone and we're on to Group 2. 

8:40 p.m. ET

South Korea's Kim Ha-nul took the ice to loud cheers. She performed to "The Piano" soundtrack. The 17-year-old, 4-foot-11 scored a 54.33, putting her in third place behind the United States' Bradie Tennell and Brazil's Isadora Williams.​

8:30 p.m. ET

Latvia's Diana Nikitina performed to "Soldier of Love." The 17-year-old scored a 51.12, which is a season's best. She moved into third place behind Bradie Tennell and Brazil's Isadora Williams.

8:27 p.m. ET

The Ukraine's Anna Khnychenkova​ looked disappointed and shook her head after her performance after two major errors. She received a 47.59. 

8:21 p.m. ET

Brazil's Isadora Williams performed in her second Olympics after coming in 30th at Sochi. She performed to "Hallelujah," by K.D. Lang and scored a 55.74, which is a season's best for her. 

8:12 p.m. ET

Bradie Tennell, the 2018 U.S. national champion, opened the night. She missed her opening jump and her triple lutz, triple toe scored a 8.20 technical score. She performed to the "Taegukgi" soundtrack. She scored a total 64.01 for the short program after one deduction. 

7:54 p.m. ET

Bradie Tennell will open the ladies short program, so don't miss the first member of Team USA take the ice in just over five minutes. 

6:47 p.m. ET

A look at Johnny Weir's outfit for the night. 

4:59 p.m. ET

Commentator Johnny Weir shared the skating order and the explanation behind it. Thirty skaters perform the short program with 24 advancing to the free skate. 

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Charlotte Carroll
CHARLOTTE CARROLL

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