Mirai Nagasu used Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn as inspiration after Olympic snub

U.S. figure skater Mirai Nagasu was left off the 2014 Olympic team, but she didn’t let that keep her down.

In a press conference, Nagasu admitted that it was “heartbreaking” to be left off the 2014 team after competing as a 16-year-old at Vancouver in 2010, but that she looked to other American Olympians for inspiration to get back.

“I am not a fade-away person,” Nagasu said, via NBC Olympics. “Most athletes are not that way. In the history of sport in general, people stick around. Look at Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn just continue on, Olympic cycle after Olympic cycle, that is why they are famous. I think I am one of those athletes and I stand to show that people should not give up, they should keep going.”

Not only did Nagasu persevere and make an Olympic comeback, but she made a little bit of history as well.