Ashley Wagner Statement Regarding Coaching Situation | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Ashley Wagner Statement Regarding Coaching Situation

jaylee

Medalist
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
From the cited article “In my mind, the dream scenario is that I would have winning programs at nationals and make the team,” she said. “I would go to Sochi, skate two perfect programs, with the crowd giving me a standing ovation for my free skate, and I would win the gold medal. I’ll settle for the podium, but I want that gold medal.”

Hmm, interesting. I wonder if these were Ashley's exact words or the author changed them in order to sound more intriguing.

While I have no problem with Ashley voicing her Olympic dreams (dream big!), I think gold medal is 99% impossible. Sure, there's a tiny chance that the top contenders could melt down and Ashley could be perfect, with 3/3s here and there. It's just that historically, Olympic gold medalists have never not had a world medal before winning gold. Not even the "flukiest" of champions, Sarah Hughes, lacked a world medal.

Liz Manley might give Ashley Wagner hope--she earned an Olympic medal without earning a world medal first, and had been to a few worlds already, as Ashley did. However, she was also skating on home ice...
 

ManyCairns

Medalist
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Country
United-States
Well, since she did say she was just describing her dream scenario, I think it would be odd if she said her ultimate dream was anything less than Olympic gold. She said dream, not realistic assessment. I truly believe if there was not some spark of that dream in every elite athlete, he or she wouldn't be an elite athlete, but would be someone like me, competing for life in their chosen sports -- at a local level (for me, horse shows and some dog sports, not that it matters).
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
From the cited article “In my mind, the dream scenario is that I would have winning programs at nationals and make the team,” she said. “I would go to Sochi, skate two perfect programs, with the crowd giving me a standing ovation for my free skate, and I would win the gold medal. I’ll settle for the podium, but I want that gold medal.”

Hmm, interesting. I wonder if these were Ashley's exact words or the author changed them in order to sound more intriguing.

I think she is likely responding to a question about how things would go down in her "ideal scenario" so to speak. That's why one has to be careful when reading one of these "articles". I find it much more informative to listen to the teleconference (or watch the actual interview), if available. I'm thankful for Ice Network putting them up.
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Say what you will about Wagner, but this is one thing I like about her. She is not afraid to voice her ambitions. Many seem to treat doing so as a "negative" or a "bad thing" and I wish that would stop. There was another piece (I believe it was one of her "Classroom Champions" pieces- go search YouTube if interested) where she stated her long term goal was to become world champ. She was talking to the kids about the importance of setting long- and short-term goals.

Now, is such a goal achievable? That could be up for debate, and to do a true assessment we must wait and see what condition she is in at season's beginning...All she can do is to give it her best effort and let the chips fall. Once you finish skating, it's all out of your control.
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
That was when Mao was having one of the worst season in her career, if not the worst, due to her mother passing away and her reworking he jumps. even if Mao makes mistakes on the jumps, her content and BV will still remain much higher. when one is planning 8 triples there is room for a mistake or two, but the same can not be said for someone who is only planning 6 triples.
and I also don't agree about Carolina beeing certain to get a medal. if we assume that Carolina ads the more difficult combo's. I don't see her beeing able to execute them without mistake (falls), and I don't see Carolina falling and still get a medal rewarded at the Olympics, like she did at this worlds.

I agree about Mao's poor 2011-2012 season due to circumstances far beyond her control, but I'm also making my prediction based on what we've seen in the past. The point I was making is that Mao rarely makes it through an entire competition without a few popped/UR/missed jumps. We don't know what she and Ashley's program layouts will be next season, so anything we say at this point is pure speculation.

You're distorting some of my claims. I never said that Carolina is certain to get a medal; I said that she would have to have a very bad competition for Ashley to surpass her. At the Olympics, a Carolina with multiple falls could easily land off of the podium.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Well, I think right now all of us can sit here and "armchair quarterback" based on what happened last season, etc. None of us has a clue what will transpire in the next 8-9 months. Ashley has just as good a chance as anybody else and she would be irresponsible if she didn't have her sights set on the gold medal. I doubt anyone goes out and practices for hours and hours and gives up a good portion of their young lives to train for a silver or a bronze medal. And OF COURSE she will be disappointed if she's not on the podium. What kind of a person would she be, what kind of an international qualified figure skater would she be, if she was just skating for the fun of it and didn't care if she medaled or not! Not at this stage of her career. So all anyone can do is predict but I sure wouldn't go to the bank with any of the predictions at this time of year. Wait until the GP series starts and see how some of these skaters do.

As much as I would like to see Ashley or Gracie on top of the podium.....I'm just looking forward to a really, really GOOD competitive year. I pretty much like all the top skaters - not so much Carolina - but alot of people are peaking at the right time. It's going to be a great year for figure skating!
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
I hate to think skating is about money and getting the right coach and choreographer.

In my opinion an excellent coach and a choreographer who really knows her/his CoP stuff are very wise choices. But they are not enough. A skater who is able to skate to an excellent CoP choreography is also needed....
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
From the cited article “In my mind, the dream scenario is that I would have winning programs at nationals and make the team,” she said. “I would go to Sochi, skate two perfect programs, with the crowd giving me a standing ovation for my free skate, and I would win the gold medal.

Isn't this the dream of every Olympic team member?
 

SoundtracksOnIce

On the Ice
Joined
May 16, 2013
An agent could have a field day if Ashley had Robin Wagner as her coach, advertising the team of "Wagner and Wagner." Reminds me of what NBC wanted when they suggested Lindsay Wagner (Bionic Woman) to costar with Robert Wagner on Hart to Hart in 1979. (Stefanie Powers got the part instead).

Actually, Robin always makes me do a double take since I started watching H2H on DVD - I keep picturing Robert Wagner as a skating coach and have to read the name again! LOL.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Don't give them any ideas...they're already having enough of a field day with Gracie "Gold"...!
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
It's not her fault!!

Yep. Dunno why people (here and on Twitter, too) are harping on Gracie's last name as it relates to her skating. Of course the media will milk the last drops out of that connection -- did anyone honestly expect them not to?

The "field day" is due to Gracie's early senior success. I doubt she'd be half as popular if she didn't have the results to show for it.
 

SoundtracksOnIce

On the Ice
Joined
May 16, 2013
You didn't, but Soundtracks implied it might be!

Sorry, I meant to harp on the commentators for going after it. It seems like they can't leave anything alone and once they start they never let it go.

I remember NBC having a field day with Mohini Bhardwaj in gymnastics. EVERY broadcast (if not every routine) we would get, "Her name means illusion in Hindi, but she's very real," or something like that.
 
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