When U.S. figure skater Mirai Nagasu took the ice in the women’s short program on Tuesday night, the cameras moved to capture her parents. This is normal for figure skaters.

So, according to my oldest son, is the story that follows.

Nagasu’s parents, who run a small family restaurant in Southern California, had their tickets paid for to the Olympics by Panasonic. The Nagasus would not have made it otherwise. Their income was too limited, their circumstances too difficult. Mrs. Nagasu, you see, has thyroid cancer. And while Mom’s prognosis is reported as “good,” the treatments she began last fall and will continue after the Olympics add a certain weight to Mirai’s competitive efforts.