Ashley Wagner to train part-time with Rafael Arutyunyan | Golden Skate

Ashley Wagner to train part-time with Rafael Arutyunyan

Selene

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
(6/25/13) - Ashley Wagner, the two-time reigning U.S. champion, announced today she has commenced training part time with Rafael Arutyunyan in Lake Arrowhead, Calif. She continues to train with John Nicks in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Arutyunyan will accompany Wagner to competitions.

"I'm excited for resolution to my coaching situation," Wagner said. "I scrambled a bit after Mr. Nicks confirmed he would no longer be my travel coach. I'm now thrilled to have two great coaches in my corner. I have no doubt my time with Rafael will benefit my skating as I work toward my goal of making the 2014 Olympic Team. I am looking forward to getting busy and preparing for the coming year."

http://www.usfsa.org/Story.asp?id=49321&type=media
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
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Mar 6, 2010
Interesting. Obviously a lot people have worked with him by don't ever seem to settle with him. makes sense for a travel coach not a every day coach.
 

Selene

On the Ice
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Feb 7, 2012
Arutyunyan is a good jump coach. I wonder if he can help Ashley get a 3-3. Her 2A-3T is really bad and shows no promise, imo. But she has had credible attempts at the 3F-3T, and maybe training with Arutyunyan can get it to be consistent. Because I don't even think she will repeat as US Champion, let alone stand on the podium at Worlds, if she doesn't improve her technical content.
 

ucrgirl

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Feb 16, 2010
Good news. Hopefully Rafael will be able to help her compete to the best of her abilities.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
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Feb 17, 2010
Arutyunyan is a good jump coach. I wonder if he can help Ashley get a 3-3. Her 2A-3T is really bad and shows no promise, imo. But she has had credible attempts at the 3F-3T, and maybe training with Arutyunyan can get it to be consistent. Because I don't even think she will repeat as US Champion, let alone stand on the podium at Worlds, if she doesn't improve her technical content.

I'm not optimistic about her prospects for a 3-3 combo either. I agree that she will need to increase her base value to maintain her standing nationally and internationally. I honesty think we have seen the best we are going to see from Ashley and she has had outstanding results the past two years compared to what she was doing before that time.
 

jaylee

Medalist
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Thanks for the news. Glad that Ashley has her coaching situation settled. She's worked so hard these past few years to get to where she is, I hope she can build on that past success in the Olympic season.

I understand that Nicks won't travel with her on the GP. I wonder if he will still go with her to the Olympics, though?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I'm very pleased to hear this. It sounds like the best of both worlds for Ashley. I wonder whether we'll see any change in her skating.
 

ManyCairns

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Mar 12, 2007
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United-States
...

I understand that Nicks won't travel with her on the GP. I wonder if he will still go with her to the Olympics, though?

Perhaps, but there's not much that could be new for Mr. Nicks at this point in his incredible career, and that is such a long trip for someone his age. Not saying that he's doddering, but he's 84; my mother is 78 and hasn't traveled as far as the other side of her city in several years.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Very happy to hear this news. So good for Ashley! :)
Hope Rafael can help her to improve her technique on 'true' Lutz. ;)
 

clairecloutier

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
I hope it works out for Ashley, but truthfully this two-pronged coaching situation, at two different rinks, is far from ideal. I really wish Mr. Nicks could have just put in one more full year for her. Of course he has a right to retire, but this is the most important year of Ashley's career, and he has really put her in a tough spot. She's trying to put the best face on it, but it can't be easy. I doubt Arutyunyan will be able to work miracles with her jumps at this point; he'll only have her part-time, and there's less than 4 months till the start of the season.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I think this a smart move and I actually think Ashley has a better chance at getting a 3-3 consistent than a 2a-3t. Don't you guys remember how a few years back the 2a was Ashley's nemesis and she was getting dinged for URs on it most of the time? 2a is not a good jump for her, and even now that she's better at rotating it, she still never gets a great running edge out of it and so tacking on a 3t to the end of it is going to be difficult. Her triple jumps however are stronger, and feasibly I think Ashley would be capable of doing 3f-3t, 3lo-3t, or 3t-3t because 3f, 3lo, and 3t are all good jumps for her and she gets more flow out of these jumps than she does her 2a. Her 3lo is especially gorgeous, but maybe that's a harder jump to turn into a 3-3 because you lose so much speed on the takeoff of the jump that it's hard to get a lot of speed coming out, idk but I do know you don't see many people doing 3lo-3t combos (the only ones I can think of who do this combo are Tim Dolensky and Haruka Imai), although for Ashley her 3lo is gorgeous so it could be possible. 3f-3t could also work, and even if she were to just do 3t-3t, she could then do 3f as her solo jump in the SP and pick up some GOE points and in the FS where she currently does not do a 3t on it's own she could open with 3t-3t and then keep most of the rest of her layout the same, repeat either 3f or 3lo and put 2 combos in the 2nd half to get her BV up.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'm not optimistic about her prospects for a 3-3 combo either. I agree that she will need to increase her base value to maintain her standing nationally and internationally. I honesty think we have seen the best we are going to see from Ashley and she has had outstanding results the past two years compared to what she was doing before that time.

A good part of me agrees with this...it's amazing what Wagner has been able to do in the past couple of years, but I truly don't think she can get much better. At her best she is an outside shot for World/Olympic bronze - perhaps higher if others mess up - and hopefully she can find a way to hit her prime at the right moment and have no regrets on the effort, regardless of result.

(Then again, having said that...not many thought she'd even get this far...so who knows, but it'll take another miracle leap from her to compete on the Kostner/Asada/Kim level...)
 

kwanatic

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May 19, 2011
I think it's a good move and it really is the best of both worlds. RA is known as a technical coach so I think he may be able to help Ashley with the 3-3. It's obvious she can do a 3F-3T. I've seen practice videos of her executing that combo very well. I think a lack of "showtime" so to speak (ie. performing in competition) is why it hasn't become consistent. It was always a will she/won't she situation when it came to the 3-3 but she knows she's dead in the water without it this season.

Having RA working with her on it sounds like a great deal to me. It would have been nice for Nicks to stick with Ashley this season but for goodness sake, the man is old...very old. The fact that he's still working at all is amazing IMO.

I think Ashley has an uphill battle this season as far as maintaining her position in the top 5 in the world but if she can get that 3-3 (possibly a 2-3) then she should be in good shape.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I understand that Nicks won't travel with her on the GP. I wonder if he will still go with her to the Olympics, though?

Seems highly unlikely that Mr. Nicks will accompany Wagner to Sochi, based on comments he made when the news first came out that he would be working with Wagner only at home.
At the time, he basically said (I'm paraphrasing) that he learned from getting himself to/from Sochi for the GPF how physically arduous the trip is, and he had no intention of putting his body through such an ordeal again. In addition to the marathon time in flight, a very long layover in Istanbul (something like seven or nine hours, I think he said) also was necessary. Absolutely exhausting for anyone at any age, I'd say.
 

Jammers

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Nov 4, 2010
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I still wonder if he would be willing to travel just once if Ashley does make it to Sochi.
 

amc987

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Feb 12, 2012
I think Ashley made a wise choice. She needs a technical coach to help her get to the next level (successfully executing 3-3s and 2A-3Ts in competition) and Arutunian is known for his expertise in that area.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
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Jan 23, 2004
Wise decision for Ashley. Her chances of making the podium in Sochi IMO has just been increased.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
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Nov 28, 2012
I think he will help Ashley with her jumps, but then I remember Mao and wonder.
 

Jammers

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Nov 4, 2010
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United-States
Yeah sometimes a skater has maxed out on what jumps they can do and then they level off then decline.
 
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