PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — A long time ago, in a storage room far away, Mirai Nagasu was supposed to be asleep.

Her parents owned a sushi restaurant in suburban Los Angeles, and they couldn’t afford a babysitter for Mirai, their only child. So while they worked, Nagasu would nap on a yoga mat in a storage room until closing time. But instead of snoozing she often would read, relying on the light that peeked from beneath the door.

Harry Potter was her favorite character. He was the kid who faced great obstacles and sometimes stumbled, but he succeeded in the end.

Nagasu liked the way that sounded. Now she can relate.

At 24 — older than all but one of her competitors here — Nagasu is competing in her second Olympic women’s singles competition this week, eight roller coaster years after her first one. She is not here for sentimentality, though. She is here to win a medal.