Figure skaters Tonya Harding and Adam Rippon make up two-thirds of next week’s “Dancing with the Stars” final after three other Olympians were eliminated in Monday’s semifinals.
Figure skater Mirai Nagasu, luger Chris Mazdzer and softball pitcher Jennie Finch were eliminated. Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman joins Harding and Rippon in next week’s one-hour finale.
“It’s a mixture of I’m so excited to go to the finals, I’m so sad that Mirai won’t be there with me,” Rippon told “Entertainment Tonight.”
“I hope I get more opportunities like this,” Nagasu said.
Harding and Rippon were both in tears on Monday’s episode where athletes dedicated dances to loved ones. Harding dedicated hers to her dad, who died nine years ago.
“Whether I win doesn’t matter,” Harding said before scoring 33 out of a possible 40 points. “I don’t want to leave. … Thank you, America, from the bottom of my heart.”
DANCE VIDEOS: Finch | Harding | Mazdzer | Nagasu | Rippon | Nagasu vs. Rippon | Finch vs. Harding
Eliminations were made combining judges scores with viewer voting.
Rippon was the only athlete to score a 10 in Monday’s individual dance.
He scored three of them shirtless, dressed in white pants with feathers draped across his upper back and shoulders and dancing in a birdcage to Coldplay’s “O (Fly On),” music he used in free skates the last two seasons.
Next week, Rippon and Harding look to become the third figure skater to win “Dancing with the Stars” after Kristi Yamaguchi and Meryl Davis.
Harding has now advanced further than Nancy Kerrigan did on the show one year ago.
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MORE: Full list of Olympians to appear on ‘Dancing with the Stars’
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