Dancing with the Stars: Athletes eliminated three couples, narrowing down the season's cast to only three finale contenders, during Monday night's two-hour performance show on ABC.
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The three couples who were ousted from the Season 26 competition were Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer and his professional partner Witney Carson, Olympic softball player Jennie Finch and partner Keo Motsepe, and Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu and partner Alan Bersten.
Chris, Jennie and Mirai became the fifth, sixth and seventh celebrities ousted from Dancing with the Stars' mini, four-week season based on the combination of judges' scores they had received on Monday night and the home viewer votes cast following last week's performance show.
RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)
Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron revealed last week's vote was one of the closest votes in show history, as two couples were separated by less than one percent.
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The Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli were joined this week by guest judge and former Dancing with the Stars finalist Davis Ross, a retired professional baseball player.
Monday night's broadcast featured each of the six remaining couples taking the stage with an individual dance honoring the celebrities' "MVPs" as well as a "Ballroom Battle" in which two pairs had to face-off in a certain style of dance -- the cha cha, jive or salsa.
For the Ballroom Battles, the contestants were mentored by former Dancing with the Stars favorites Meryl Davis, Nastia Liukin and Von Miller. America voted live and served as a fifth judge, and the winner of each battle received two bonus judges' points.
Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and partner Jenna Johnson topped the leaderboard in first place after receiving a total of 41 out of 42 points from the judges.
Adam and Jenna first danced a contemporary routine as a tribute to the athlete's mother that earned 39 out of 40 points from the judges. They later won their jive ballroom battle against Mirai and Alan, adding two extra points to their total score.
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The judges were split right down the middle on whether Adam or Mirai should win the battle, so America was the tiebreaker and scored Adam and Jenna the majority of the vote with 64 percent.
NFL star Josh Norman and partner Sharna Burgess claimed second place on the judges' leaderboard with a total of 38 points.
After performing a contemporary dance in honor of Josh's four brothers, Josh and Sharna won their salsa ballroom battle against Chris and Witney.
Carrie Ann was the only judge to vote for Chris and Witney as the winners, but America agreed with Carrie Ann, as home viewers gave Chris and Witney 55 percent of the vote.
Two couples tied for third place on the judges' leaderboard with 35 points: Mirai and Alan as well as disgraced former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding and partner Sasha Farber.
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Tonya and Sasha initially took the stage with a rumba routine honoring the athlete's father whom she lost nine years ago. The pair received 33 points for their first dance and later won their respective faceoff against Jennie and Keo.
Tonya and Sasha walked away from their battle with two bonus points because all of the judges -- except for Ross -- voted for them to be the winners. However, Jennie and Keo had won America's vote by 60 percent.
Mirai and Alan first performed a 35-point worthy quickstep routine that paid tribute to her mother before her Ballroom Battle.
Chris and Witney landed in fifth place on the leaderboard with a total of 33 points from the judges. They performed a foxtrot routine in honor of Chris' mother before moving on to the second round.
RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)
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And finally, Jennie and Keo finished the night in sixth -- and last -- place on the judges' leaderboard with a total of 29 points.
The couple earned 29 points for their individual dance, a Viennese waltz that paid tribute to Jennie's beloved husband Casey Daigle.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski