What helped Bradie ascend so quickly was the vacuum at the top: Gracie's descent into depression, Ashley's downward trend after 2016W, Karen's endless boot problems. Bradie's only serious rival in 2017-2018 was 24 yo Mirai Nagasu, determined to get to the Olympics on the strength of her 3a. 26 yo Ashley Wagner had withdrawn from SA with a foot injury, then went into 2018 Nationals with a new untested FS. Karen Chen had had a grim GP season where she kept changing programs to try to turn it around, without success.