Ashley's weakness has never been a lack of attack -- earlier this season notwithstanding -- it's always been that she wanted it too much that she psyched herself out. That was the case in 2012.
Yup. Precisely. And she wanted the Olympics so bad at 2014 Nationals that it got into her head and messed her up.
Actually I don't think Wagner has proven to be a good "pressure" skater either. To her credit, she avoids completely falling apart (unlike Gold), but she gets tentative and makes silly errors that she shouldn't be making.
I feel like Gracie has the opposite problem. For some reason, the prospect of being a top contender seems to play with her mind a bit. I remember an interview where she said that after winning pewter as a Novice in 2010, she felt a lot of pressure to be at the top, which resulted (along with major growth spurt) in her not qualifying for Nationals the following year.
We saw that again at Skate Canada 2012, when she was totally taken aback by the amount of media attention she received.
And her interviews of late seem to indicate that she's feeling a little bit of that now that she's U.S. Champion. I think Frank has helped her greatly with her mindset, but it's clearly a journey and process at play here.
Gold's real test is now. Until Nationals she was still very much in Wagner's shadow trying to break through to the top. Gold has been gaining some consistency (which is what enabled her to pass Wagner in the first place), but we saw her revert to her former self once a World medal was within reach. We'll have to see how she handles the GP season, but I think it will be a similar story at '15 Nationals and the pressure will prove to be too much for her.