Mirai Nagasu is coming back to St. Paul.
For the first time since 2008, when the dazzling figure skater won the senior ladies title at the U.S. Championships, Nagasu will return to the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday — this time featured in the 2014 Stars on Ice tour .
"I'm hoping to get some of that same energy back," Nagasu said.
The youngest woman since Tara Lipinski to win the senior ladies title, Nagasu brings her skills as a two-time World Junior champion, a four-time U.S. National medalist, and a 2010 Olympian (where she placed fourth in Vancouver) to the ice of the Twin Cities.
"Performing every day in front of an audience," she said, "I feel like I try that much harder."
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Stars on Ice is a 20-city, East to West Coast tour, and it's the ninth year Xcel Energy Center has been one of its stops. That's great news for audiences, who get to see a stable of professional skaters of the highest caliber.
In addition to Nagasu, the crowd can expect 2014 Olympic gold medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White, two-time U.S. champion Ashley Wagner, 2014 U.S. champion Gracie Gold, four-time and reigning U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott, 2014 U.S. silver medalist Jason Brown, and two-time reigning U.S. pair champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, as well as two-time U.S. ice dancing silver medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and 2011 U.S. champion Ryan Bradley.
With some amazing group-number choreography by Olympian Jeffrey Buttle, Nagasu said the skaters are allowed to perform without the constraints of competition rules.
"These programs are difficult to learn," she said, "but they're really stand-outs."
One of the other major differences between competition skating and a professional tour like Stars on Ice, she said, is that the performers aren't skating under pressure.
"We're really skating from the heart," Nagasu said.
What: Stars on Ice
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When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul
Tickets: $27 to $147. Order through ticketmaster.com or xcelenergycenter.com .
