Bradie Tennell

Bradie Tennell (born January 31, 1998) is an American competitive figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic team event bronze medalist, the 2020 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2018 CS Autumn Classic champion, the 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, and the 2018 U.S national champion.

Bradie Tennell
Tennell at the 2018 Internationaux de France
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	(1998-01-31) January 31, 1998 Winfield, Illinois, United States
Residence	Cary, Illinois, United States
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Coach	Denise Myers, Jeremy Allen
Former coach	Yevgeny Martynov
Choreographer	Scott Brown, Benoit Richaud
Former choreographer	Shanetta Folle, Cindy Stuart
Skating club	Skokie Valley FSC
Former skating club	Wagon Wheel FSC
Training locations	Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Began skating	2000
World standing	2 (As of April 20, 2020) (2019-20)[1] 10 (2018–19) 26 (2017–18) 80 (2016–17) 139 (2015–16) 210 (2014–15)
Season's bests	4 (2018–19)[2] 14 (2017–18)[3] 49 (2016–17)[4] 79 (2015–16)[5] 70 (2014–15)[6]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	225.64 2019 World Team Trophy
Short program	75.93 2020 Four Continents
Free skate	150.83 2019 World Team Trophy
Medal record Figure skating: Ladies' singles Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2018 Pyeongchang Team Four Continents Championships 2020 Seoul Ladies' singles World Team Trophy 2019 Fukuoka Team

As at 20 April 2020, Tennell is currently the second highest ranked ladies' singles skater in world by the International Skating Union.

Personal life

Tennell was born on January 31, 1998 in Winfield, Illinois.[7] Her mother, Jean, is a registered nurse and a single mother.[8][9] She has two younger brothers, Austin and Shane, both of whom are ice hockey players.[8] Tennell takes classes at a local community college.[10]

Career

Early career

Tennell began learning to skate as a two-year-old after begging her mother to let her try the sport.[11] Denise Myers became her coach c. 2007.[12] Around the same time, Tennell began training at Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.[13]

Tennell won the novice bronze medal at the 2013 U.S Championships. The next year, she moved up to the junior ranks and placed fourth on that level at the 2014 U.S Championships.

2014–2015 season

In September 2014, Tennell debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series, placing 8th in Nagoya, Japan. At the 2015 U.S Championships, she won the junior gold medal by over 16 points. In May 2015, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in both wings of a lumbar vertebrae.[14][12] She wore a back brace the entire summer.[12]

2015–2016 season

Tennell began her season by placing 11th at her JGP event in Linz, Austria. She finished 6th on the senior level at the 2016 U.S. Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 23, 2016, and was assigned to the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen. Ranked fourth in the short program and 14th in the free skate, she finished 11th overall in Hungary. In June 2016, a stress fracture was found in a different lumbar vertebra.[12] She was again in a back brace and off the ice for three months while undergoing intense physical therapy before returning to the ice in early September 2016.[12]

2016–2017 season

Making her senior international debut, Tennell won the bronze medal at the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy in late November. In January, she finished 9th on the senior level at the 2017 U.S. Championships. In March, she placed 7th at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.[15]

2017–2018 season

In November 2017, Tennell won the bronze medal at her sole Grand Prix assignment, Skate America, after placing fourth in the short program and third in the free skate.[16] Tennell finished the competition with a score of 204.10.[16] At the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Tennell placed first in the short program,[17] and she won the competition with a combined score of 219.51.[18] She was then one of three named to the U.S. women's Olympic figure skating team to represent the United States in Pyeongchang, along with 2017 national champion Karen Chen and Vancouver Olympian Mirai Nagasu.[19]

Tennell made her Olympic debut in the women's short program of the team event where she earned her best score of the season with 68.94.[20] She placed fifth in the event, 0.01 points behind fourth place.[20] The United States team, including Tennell, won bronze in the team event.[21][22] In the individual event, she fell in both of her programs and finished in 9th place. She then placed 6th overall at the 2018 World Championships.[23][24]

2018–2019 season

Tennell added a triple Lutz-triple loop combination to her short program and free skate. She started off the 2018-2019 season by competing in the 2018 CS Autumn Classic International, where she placed first, notably defeating Evgenia Medvedeva.[25][26] At 2018 Skate America, she singled the triple loop in her planned short program combination and received an unclear edge call to place fifth in the short program. She placed fourth in the free program, and placed fourth overall.[15][27] She placed fourth in the short program, second in the free skating, and overall placed third at the 2018 Internationaux de France, winning her second Grand Prix medal.[28] She won the gold medal at 2018 CS Golden Spin in early December after setting a new season's best in the short program.[29][30]

At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Tennell entered as the defending champion, and removed the triple loop from her short program due to earlier inconsistent results. She placed first in the short program after skating cleanly, slightly less than three points ahead of Alysa Liu.[31] In the free skate, she made errors on both of her triple Lutz combination attempts, placing fourth, and second overall, behind Liu. She was assigned to the Four Continents and World Championships.[32]

Competing at Four Continents, she placed first in the short program, 0.55 points ahead of Kaori Sakamoto, and winning a gold small medal.[33] She placed fifth in the free skate and overall after having several jumps called as underrotated and missing her opening Lutz-loop combination, which she expressed frustration with, as "the only place I've been missing it is in competition."[34]

At the World Championships in Saitama, Tennell underrotated the second part of her jump combination in the short program, placing tenth.[35] She rose to seventh place in the free skate.[36] Tennell concluded the season as part of the gold medal-winning Team USA at the 2019 World Team Trophy, also in Japan.[37]

2019–2020 season

In the summer, Tennell trained at a camp in Courchevel, France, run by Russian coach Alexei Mishin. She aimed to master the triple Axel, reportedly with some success, but this was temporarily put aside after developing a stress fracture in her foot. Tennell planned to start her season at the 2019 Autumn Classic International, but she withdrew as a result of her foot injury.[38] In early October, Tennell participated in the 2019 Japan Open competition as a part of North America Team, where she placed fifth with a score of 124.91. As a result, the North America team took the bronze.

Tennell's first major competition of the season was 2019 Skate America, where she won the short program with a new personal best score of 75.10.[39] In the free skate Tennell had a mistake on her second triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, placing second in the free skate. She placed second overall behind Anna Shcherbakova and took the silver medal with a score of 216.14. Later, it was discovered that her second triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination was incorrectly marked as a triple-double. However, because the error was caught after the event had concluded, the scores could not be corrected.[40][41] Tennell competed at the 2019 Skate Canada International a week later, placing fourth.[42] With her high scores and placements at both events, Tennell earned the sixth spot at the Grand Prix Final in Torino where she skated clean in the short program placing fourth, and completed a clean free program. The total score placed her fifth overall ahead of Alina Zagitova.[43][44]

Competing at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Tennell placed first in the short program, ahead of Alysa Liu and Mariah Bell.[45] Falling on a triple loop attempt and underrotating a triple flip, she dropped to third place after the free skate. With gold medalist Liu again ineligible for senior international competition, Tennell was assigned to the American team for the Four Continents and World Championships.[46]

Tennell placed second in the short program at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, behind defending champion Rika Kihira and just ahead of You Young, who had stepped out on the landing of her attempted triple Axel.[47] In the free skate, Tennell had a turnout between the jumps in her opening combination attempt, but skated cleanly otherwise, winning the bronze medal behind Kihira and You. This was Tennell's first ISU championship medal, and the first for a senior American lady since Mirai Nagasu's bronze medal three years earlier.[48]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2019–2020 [49]	Mechanisms Chronos by Kirill Richter choreo. by Benoît Richaud	Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone choreo. by Benoît Richaud	You Need to Calm Down by Taylor Swift
2018–2019 [8]	Rebirth by Hi-Finesse feat. Natacha Atlas	Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet by Nino Rota, Henry Mancini O Verona by Nellee Hooper, Craig Armstrong, Marius de Vries choreo. by Benoît Richaud	Stay by Rihanna Diamonds by Rihanna
2017–2018 [50][51]	Taegukgi by Lee Dong-jun choreo. by Scott Brown	Cinderella by Patrick Doyle choreo. by Benoît Richaud	Cinderella[52] by Patrick Doyle choreo. by Benoît Richaud This Is Me[53][52] by Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble Unstoppable[54] by Sia Roots[55] by Grace Davies
2016–2017 [56]	Remember Me by Thomas Bergersen	The Mission by Ennio Morricone
2015–2016 [7]	The Storm by Balázs Havasi choreo. by Scott Brown	Tango in Ebony performed by Maksim Mrvica choreo. by Cindy Stuart
2014–2015 [8][57]	Infinity by Balázs Havasi	Far and Away by John Williams The Chieftains by John Williams Durango Suite by Mark McKenzie We're Getting Married by Mark McKenzie
2013–2014 [8]	Sozo by Kitarō	Act 2, Pas de deux-Intrada (from The Nutcracker) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

2013–2014 to present

International[15]
Event	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20
Olympics					9th
Worlds					6th	7th	C
Four Continents						5th	3rd
GP Final							5th
GP France						3rd
GP Skate America					3rd	4th	2nd
GP Skate Canada							4th
CS Autumn Classic						1st	WD
CS Golden Spin						1st	WD
CS Lombardia					4th
CS Tallinn Trophy				3rd
CS Warsaw Cup							2nd
Philadelphia					1st
International: Junior[15]
Junior Worlds			11th	7th
JGP Austria			11th
JGP Japan		8th
Gardena Trophy	3rd
National[8]
U.S. Champ.	4th J	1st J	6th	9th	1st	2nd	3rd
Midwestern Sect.	2nd J	2nd J	1st
UGL Regionals	1st J
Team events
Olympics					3rd T 5th P
World Team Trophy						1st T 2nd P
Japan Open							3rd T 5th P
J = Junior level; TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result; C =event cancelled. Medals awarded for team result only.

2009–2010 to 2012–2013

National[8]
Event	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13
U.S. Championships	10th V	15th I	10th N	3rd N
Midwestern Sectionals			3rd N	2nd N
Upper Great Lakes Regionals	1st V	3rd I	3rd N	3rd N
Levels: V = Juvenile; I = Intermediate; N = Novice

Detailed results

Senior level

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

Tennell at the 2018 Internationaux de France

2019–20 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 4–9, 2020	2020 Four Continents Championships	2 75.93	3 147.04	3 222.97
January 20–26, 2020	2020 U.S. Championships	1 78.96	3 141.90	3 220.86
December 5–8, 2019	2019–20 Grand Prix Final	4 72.20	5 139.98	5 212.18
November 14–17, 2019	2019 CS Warsaw Cup	1 70.10	5 118.91	2 189.01
October 25–27, 2019	2019 Skate Canada International	4 72.92	5 138.39	4 211.31
October 18–20, 2019	2019 Skate America	1 75.10	2 141.04	2 216.14
October 5, 2019	2019 Japan Open	–	5 124.91	3T
2018–19 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
April 11–14, 2019	2019 World Team Trophy	4 74.81	2 150.83	1T/2P 225.64
March 18–24, 2019	2019 World Championships	10 69.50	7 143.97	7 213.47
February 7–10, 2019	2019 Four Continents Championships	1 73.91	5 128.16	5 202.07
January 18–27, 2019	2019 U.S. Championships	1 76.60	4 136.99	2 213.59
December 5–8, 2018	2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	1 71.50	1 130.91	1 202.41
November 23–25, 2018	2018 Internationaux de France	6 61.34	2 136.44	3 197.78
October 19–21, 2018	2018 Skate America	5 61.72	4 131.17	4 192.89
September 20–22, 2018	2018 CS Autumn Classic	2 69.26	1 137.15	1 206.41
2017–18 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 21–23, 2018	2018 World Championships	7 68.76	4 131.13	6 199.89
February 15–23, 2018	2018 Winter Olympics (ladies' singles)	11 64.01	9 128.34	9 192.35
February 9–12, 2018	2018 Winter Olympics (team event)	5 68.94	–	3
January 1–9, 2018	2018 U.S. Championships	1 73.79	1 145.72	1 219.51
November 24–26, 2017	2017 Skate America	4 67.01	3 137.09	3 204.10
September 14–17, 2017	2017 CS Lombardia Trophy	5 64.34	3 132.36	4 196.70
August 3–6, 2017	2017 Philadelphia Summer International	2 64.92	2 120.06	1 184.98
2016–17 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 14–22, 2017	2017 U.S. Championships	9 59.77	11 110.21	9 169.98
November 20–27, 2016	2016 CS Tallinn Trophy	8 54.44	3 114.54	3 168.98

Junior level

Tennell at the 2017 Junior Worlds.

2016–17 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
March 15–19, 2017	2017 World Junior Championships	Junior	7 57.47	7 103.89	7 161.36
2015–16 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
March 14–20, 2016	2016 World Junior Championships	Junior	4 58.56	14 88.96	11 147.52
January 15–24, 2016	2016 U.S. Championships	Senior	7 58.26	6 123.07	6 181.33
November 17–21, 2015	2016 Midwestern Sectional	Senior	1 57.71	1 97.97	1 155.68
September 8–12, 2015	2015 JGP Austria	Junior	9 46.35	13 78.19	11 124.54
2014–15 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
January 18–25, 2015	2015 U.S. Championships	Junior	1 59.38	1 116.98	1 176.36
November 18–22, 2014	2015 Midwestern Sectional	Junior	3 51.27	2 93.17	2 144.44
September 10–14, 2014	2014 JGP Japan	Junior	4 54.92	8 89.97	8 144.89
2013–14 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
March 28–30, 2014	2014 Gardena Spring Trophy	Junior	3 49.06	2 91.50	3 140.56
January 5–12, 2014	2014 U.S. Championships	Junior	4 55.34	6 86.65	4 141.99
November 19–23, 2013	2014 Midwestern Sectional	Novice	1 46.05	4 72.95	2 119.00
2012–13 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
January 19–27, 2013	2013 U.S. Championships	Novice	3 43.22	4 73.69	3 116.91
November 9–13, 2012	2013 Midwestern Sectional	Novice	6 33.61	3 71.84	3 105.45
2011–12 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
January 22–29, 2012	2012 U.S. Championships	Novice	10 32.60	9 68.78	10 101.38

• ISU personal bests highlighted in bold.

References

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External links

• Bradie TENNELL at the International Skating Union
• Bradie Tennell on Instagram