Women's free | 2010 U.S. Nationals | Flatt 🥇 Nagasu 🥈 Wagner 🥉 Cohen 4️⃣

Edited American coverage (commentators: Sandra Bezic, Scott Hamilton)
2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Nationals) held in Spokane, Washington | Women's free skate. Free skate performances of the final top 10:
Final Rank / Name / Total points / SP / FS
1 Rachael Flatt 200.11 3 69.35 1 130.76
2 Mirai Nagasu 188.78 1 70.06 3 118.72
3 Ashley Wagner 184.70 4 62.55 2 122.15
4 Sasha Cohen 174.28 2 69.63 4 104.65
5 Christina Gao 156.53 5 56.26 5 100.27
6 Amanda Dobbs 150.72 6 56.11 7 94.61
7 Beatrisa Liang 147.71 10 51.98 6 95.73
8 Alexe Gilles 143.31 9 53.54 8 89.77
9 Emily Hughes 140.60 8 53.75 10 86.85
10 Alissa Czisny 140.37 7 54.18 11 86.19
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[NY Times extract] Flatt Outskates Nagasu for Title
Jan. 24, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. On a night when figure skating fans had waited for the performance of Sasha Cohen, the skating star of old who was trying to make her third Games team, they ended up seeing two younger skaters sparkle even brighter.
Rachael Flatt, the two-time runner-up at the United States Figure Skating Championships, had finally taken what she patiently has waited for: the national title. At 17, she won the competition Saturday with a strong free skate that included seven triple jumps.
In second was the 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 national champion, whose beauty and grace was dazzling. She gave the crowd a sly smile when she was done.
Both their performances were good enough for them to make the team headed for the 2010 Vancouver Games. A committee from United States Figure Skating confirmed them after the event, naming them to the two-woman team.
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Rachael scored 200.11 points, finishing more than 10 points ahead of the entertaining and energetic Mirai Nagasu.
Flatt scored 200.11 points. Nagasu had 188.78. Ashley Wagner, 18, was third, with 184.70.
Cohen, 25 and the 2006 Winter Games silver medalist, finished fourth, with 174.28 points, but still managed to command some of the spotlight. She was second after the short program, which funneled excitement into the free skate.
The crowd erupted when Cohen took the ice in a black and gray dress with rhinestone-rimmed cutouts along its high neckline. The spectators sat silent as she skated to “Moonlight Sonata,” by Beethoven, and moved gracefully across the ice. Her goal had been to skate a clean program, particularly after she had such difficulty putting two clean programs together at big events.
Once again, she failed to do so.
“I still really appreciate the challenge that I embraced,” Cohen said. “It was just so special to be back after four years.”
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When it counted the most, Flatt delivered, as usual. She won the free skate, performing to “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” by Rachmaninov, hitting each of her jumps with ease. At the end, she stood on the ice and looked shocked, as fans showered the ice with stuffed toys.
The crowd was just as thrilled for Nagasu, who had finished fifth last year after crying as she took the ice for her long program. Her coach, Frank Carroll, had instituted a “no crying rule,” which Nagasu said had made her tougher.
On Saturday, she landed all her jumps and made a difficult program look easy.
“You can tell that she’s skating with joy again,” said Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Sarajevo champion. “I think those demons are behind her. I think she’s going to be great from now on.”
Nagasu said Thursday that she expected to be the future of skating in the United States. But now she is the star of the present.
The United States has had six national champions in women’s singles the past six years. At the past three worlds, they have failed to win a medal, which is a streak last matched in 1962-64. “The U.S. is not on top of figure skating right now,” Nagasu said. “I think that’s an embarrassment because of the rich history the U.S. has.”
But Nagasu said she is sure of one thing: the American women are on an upswing.
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