Currently in the hot seat is 2009 Grand Prix Final competitor Ashley Wagner, who won the silver medal at the Rostelecom Cup and bronze at the NHK Trophy to become the only American lady to qualify for the event. She finished fourth at the Final in Tokyo, Japan.
Wagner will compete next at the 2010 U.S. Championships in Spokane, Wash., where she is a favorite to claim one of the two spots on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team. Wagner won the free skate at the national championships last season but was only fourth overall. She finished third at the 2008 U.S. Championships.
A student at Northern Virginia Community College, Wagner trains at Skating Club of Wilmington in Wilmington, Del., with her coach Priscilla Hill. Her programs—the short program is to music from the Once Upon A Time in America soundtrack and free skate is to “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin— are choreographed by Irina Romanova.
Wagner is mentored by 1998 Olympic Champion Tara Lipinski.
