I felt the same way back in 2011 that the US was going to be in bad shape if Rachael Flatt was still the best the US had to offer heading into the Sochi or if she was even still a contender. If no one has challenged or passed up a almost 26 year old Wagner by 2017 it will not be good for US skating.
It's not Wagner's or U.S. Figure Skating's responsibility to make other skaters more competitive. If Wagner is still a contender in 2017, it's because Wagner rose to the occasion and others didn't. I guess you can argue that if USFS did this or that then we we would have more contenders but federation support can only do so much.
As for not having "enough" talent, talent also only gets you so far. If you have no head for competition or the work ethic, you're not going to be competitive.
Also why do people have a problem getting somewhere because they worked for it? Golly, if talent is the "best" way to get someplace, then why bother to do anything?
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