Bradie Tennell will lead U.S. women skaters competing at Four Continents championships

Bradie Tennell, the 2018 U.S. women’s figure skating champion and a member of the Pyeongchang Olympic team, will lead the three-woman U.S. delegation to the Four Continents figure skating championships, which will be held Feb. 5-10 at Honda Center in Anaheim.

Tennell, who finished ninth at the Olympics but contributed toward a bronze medal in the team event, finished second Friday at this year’s U.S. championships in Detroit. She set an American record of 76.60 in her short program but was passed in the long program by 13-year-old jumping sensation Alysa Liu, who despite being U.S. champion is too young to compete at Four Continents.

Mariah Bell, who finished third in the U.S. championships, also was selected to compete in the Four Continents event. Bell trains in Lakewood with coach Rafael Arutunian. Bell and Tennell also are scheduled to compete in the world championships in Saitama, Japan, in March.

They will be joined in Anaheim by 16-year-old Ting Cui, whose strong performance in her long program at the U.S. championships lifted her to fifth place after ranking 12th with her short program.

The Four Continents competition is open to skaters from the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The U.S. skaters will also compete in the pairs and ice dance. The men’s events will be announced Sunday.

Japan’s Shoma Uno, who won the Olympic silver medal at Pyeongchang, will lead a strong Japanese women’s delegation that includes current Grand Prix Final champion Rika Kihira and the last two Four Continents champions, Mai Mihara and Kaori Sakamoto.