U.S. Olympian Bradie Tennell may have surprised the world when she qualified for Team USA at the upcoming Winter Olympics, but it wasn’t a shock to those closest to her.
“When she was young, I called her ‘Scrapper’ because she loved a challenge,” Tennell’s coach Denise Myers said. “I could throw anything at her and she would just go out there and fight for everything she wanted.”
The Olympic stage is what Tennell desperately wanted, and that’s exactly what she got after winning the U.S. Figure Skating Championship in early January.
“I can remember dreaming about it and being like ‘mom I wonder what it would be like to march in the Opening Ceremony with all those athletes and the cameras,’” she said. “And now I get to go live it. It’s crazy.”
A Look Back at Bradie Tennell Before She Became an Olympian
Tennell is one of three U.S. women who will be competing for gold in Pyeongchang this winter, a dream she has pursued since she began skating when she was just two and a half years old.
For Tennell’s mom Jean, years of sacrifice paid off when her daughter won the U.S. Championship and punched her ticket to the Winter Olympics.
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“I just wanted to go down there and hug her,” she said. “Words cannot say how proud I am.”
7 Fast Facts About Olympic Figure Skater Bradie Tennell
Tennell’s dream will become a reality when she competes in February, but for now, it all still seems like a wonderful dream.
“I wake up sometimes and I pinch myself,” she said. “I’m an Olympian now. It’s crazy. It’s everything I dreamed about.”
