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Mirai Nagasu, one of the Olympic figure skaters representing the U.S. team in PyeongChang, has a boyfriend named Darian Weiss, and her skating club in Pasadena, California started a major fundraising effort so he could accompany her to South Korea for the Olympics. Weiss is an actor and ice dancer who once starred as the Carnation baby in a television commercial.
Mirai has America cheering her on now that she has achieved a berth on the Olympic team after missing a chance to compete in Sochi in 2004. She is expected to attempt a rare triple axel in competition, which would be a remarkable feat considering that Tonya Harding and Kimmie Meissner are the only American women to land one in competition, but neither landed one during an Olympics. She and her boyfriend frequently post photos together on Instagram.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. A YouCaring Campaign Was Started to Help Get Mirai’s Boyfriend & Family to PyeongChang
Mirai’s Pasadena Figure Skating Club wanted to show its pride and support by making sure the skater’s support system, including her boyfriend, could make it to the Olympics to watch and cheer her on. Organizers of the YouCaring page organized to help Nagasu’s boyfriend and family wrote: “Pasadena Figure Skating Club member Mirai Nagasu has been named to the 2018 U.S. Olympic team! U.S. Figure Skating chose her to represent our country in PyeongChang based on her silver medal placement at 2018 Nationals in San Jose, combined with her strong body of work in recent seasons.” The club set up the YouCaring page.
The effort raised more than $14,000. Mirai’s boyfriend’s name is not mentioned on the page or in news coverage about the effort; However, the Pasadena Figure Skating Club has confirmed that his name is Darian Weiss.
“Now that Mirai’s made the team, we need to help her have a solid support system in place in PyeongChang,” the page says. “The venue for the Winter Olympics is an expensive place to travel to, and lodging will be costly as well. (U.S. Figure Skating estimates that it will cost about $11,000 for one attendee.) We want to make sure that anybody Mirai needs to be there with her, including her family and her boyfriend, is able to afford the trip and be there for her!”
The page concluded, “We are grateful for any and all amounts that you can contribute. We are all so fortunate to have enjoyed Mirai’s performances over the years, so let’s make sure she has what she needs to deliver stellar performances one more time at the Olympic Winter Games. Thank you everyone!”
2. Nagasu Frequently Posts Photos of Her Boyfriend, Who Is an Actor & Ice Dancer, on Social Media
Darian Weiss has forged a long television career despite his young age. According to his IMDB page, Darian Weiss is an actor and an ice dancer. “Darian Weiss was born on November 17, 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA as Thomas Darian Weiss. He is an actor, known for Ditch Party (2016), Days of Our Lives…and Without a Trace…,” the page reads.
Like Nagasu, he ice skates. The IMDB page says that he “got his start in show business by appearing in a Carnation Good Start commercial when he was 6 months old” and “is an avid ice skater. He has skated with Olympics legends such as Scott Hamilton in ‘Stars on Ice’ at the Staples Center, Tai Babilonia (Fox-TV`s ‘Good Day L.A.’), Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Ekatarina Gordaeeva and Tara Lipinski.”
“Weiss grew up mastering many talents. He won his first World Competition Ice Skating trophy at age three and followed one year later with his second in Boston,” reports Metacritic. According to Metacritic, Weiss “since has shot numerous feature films including ‘Better Luck Tomorrow’ for MTV/Paramount and Lifeline Entertainment’s ‘Return to Innocence’ directed by Rocky Costanzo.”
Photos show Mirai Nagasu and her boyfriend on trips to the beach and theme parks and out to dinner. “White for the lady and red for the gentleman. (I’m always in my skating clothes) ?” she captioned one photo on Instagram, adding the hashtags “#datenight #justcompeted #lululemon #alwaystraining.”
Mirai also posted about the campaign on Twitter.
In the post, she included a heart emoji to indicate her feelings for her boyfriend. Darian Weiss returns the favor with shout outs to his girlfriend on Instagram. With one photo of the pair, he wrote, “Flashback to the time we wandered about Moscow for a day #travelingwithmylady #russia.”
On Instagram, Weiss posted a photo of the couple with his brother, whom he said has Down Syndrome. “My brother’s Down syndrome has always made my parents afraid to travel,” he wrote. “Alex is very easy-going and (almost) always with a smile on his face. He’s my best friend and I want him to experience another country and, of course, business class on @airserbia! Maybe @thepointsguy will make it possible and send us to Belgrade with the #TPGtoBelgrade promotion!”
3. Mirai & Her Boyfriend Live in Colorado Springs, Where She Attends College
Mirai Nagasu moved to Colorado from her birth state of California to train, and she is enrolled in college there. The lifestyle is more laid back than California, where she was raised, “giving her time for a life outside skating, which now includes college, a boyfriend and three dogs,” reports IceNetwork.com.
According to IceNetwork.com, Nagasu “is in her sophomore year at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs…Last semester, she took calculus, accounting, statistics and business law…Next semester, she will tackle chemistry.”
Mirai Nagasu was born April 16, 1993 in Montebello, California.
4. Mirai Nagasu Began Skating When She Was Only 5 & Weiss Is Also From California
Like most Olympic figure skaters, Mirai Nagasu took to the ice at a very young age. “I started skating when I was five years old in Pasadena, California,” she says on her website.
“My parents used to take me golfing every day because that was the career they wanted me to have. They took me ice skating one day because we couldn’t go golfing due to the rain, and after that I kept asking to be taken to the skating rink. My parents always tell me that they never would have let me start if they had known how expensive and difficult figure skating is.”
Besides figure skating, Mirai lists her interests as “skateboarding, reading, art, dancing, going to garage sales, shopping, music.” Mirai’s parents are Japanese immigrants who opened a restaurant in Arcadia, California.
According to his Facebook page, Darian Weiss studied Biomedical sciences at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs: Class of 2016, lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is from Woodland Hills, California.
5. Darian Weiss Refers to Mirai Nagasu as His ‘Queen’
Darian Weiss is not shy about expressing pride over Mirai’s skating career on social media. “Well, my queen is 3 weeks away from going to her 2nd Winter Olympic Games and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” he wrote on Instagram. “She’s been working her ass off over the past few years to achieve her dream again. It truly has been an honor and a privilege to be by her side through this journey and I’m really excited for what is to come. Long live the queen.”
Mirai’s boyfriend, family, other supporters and the world, will be treated to quite a show in PyeongChang as Mirai attempts to land the triple axel. According to The Washington Post, she will attempt the maneuver two times during the Olympic games.
“Midori Ito and Mao Asada, both from Japan, have landed triple axels at the Olympics,” The Post reports.
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