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Redding's Brooklee Han Advances To Free Skate At Winter Olympics

REDDING, Conn. – Redding skater Brooklee Han, competing for Australia, qualified for the free skate after finishing in 22nd place during Wednesday’s short program at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Brooklee Han, right, and her coach, Serhii Vaypan, wait for scores in the kiss and cry after Wednesday's short program at the Olympics in Sochi.

Brooklee Han, right, and her coach, Serhii Vaypan, wait for scores in the kiss and cry after Wednesday's short program at the Olympics in Sochi.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Brooklee Han

Han’s total of 49.32 was more than three points short of personal best, which she accomplished on at the Four Continents Championships last month. She posted a technical elements score of 26.37 and a program components score of 22.95.

“I wasn't really all that nervous,” Han said in a story on the Australian Olympic Team website. “I was confident in my training and I had trust in myself. I kind of took it in my stride. The cameras following me everywhere, I have never really had that before. I kind of expected that but I had never experienced it before so that was a bit different.”

The top 24 skaters out of 30 who competed in the short program advanced to the long program, which will be held Thursday.

Han said she is looking forward to the free skate on Thursday. “The free skate has been going really well in training,” she said on the Australian site. “It's a program that I really enjoy performing and I was really hoping I would get a chance to perform it here so I am excited to go out and skate it tomorrow for everyone and hope that I can skate it like I have been in practice the last few months.”

Gracie Gold of the United States stands fourth after the short program, with teammates Ashley Wagner in sixth and Polina Edmunds in seventh. Gold’s short program score is 68.63.

Yuna Kim of South Korea leads after the short program with a score 74.92. Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova stands in second with 74.64 points and Carolina Kostner of Italy is in third with 74.12 points.

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