Ashley Wagner and the Olympics | Golden Skate

Ashley Wagner and the Olympics

coolboogie22

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
It's a question that I was wondering :think:

I have the impression that Ashley Wagner career have drop a lot since the winning of Gracie Gold and the controversy between her and Mirai Nagasu.
The judges seems to have favor her in the PCS more in the past competition before nationals and after nationals, it's like that the judge decide to not favor her anymore, even if her performance where remarquable after nationals.

Is it me or Ashley would have benefit more to refuse the Olympic team for to save a great reputation from the judges ? I think that the judges have decide to put her out since this even if she make good performance :confused:
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I think there is a unwritten rule that figure skaters tend to follow. If you have a chance to go to the Olympics, go. ;)
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Not at all. On the contrary she proved herself. At Worlds especially the judges went with her.
 

Panpie

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I'm not sure what reputation Ashley had prior to going to Sochi. Whatever it was, I don't think her scores were affected one way or the other at either Worlds or Olympics. I think she finished about where she should have, given the competition, and would have with or without the controversy her selection to this year's Olympic team.
 

RABID

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
It's a question that I was wondering :think:

I have the impression that Ashley Wagner career have drop a lot since the winning of Gracie Gold and the controversy between her and Mirai Nagasu.
The judges seems to have favor her in the PCS more in the past competition before nationals and after nationals, it's like that the judge decide to not favor her anymore, even if her performance where remarquable after nationals.

Is it me or Ashley would have benefit more to refuse the Olympic team for to save a great reputation from the judges ? I think that the judges have decide to put her out since this even if she make good performance :confused:


I sort of agree but I see it from a different perspective. I think Sochi, regardless of how well she did, exposed her as a skater being surpassed by the up and comers. All of a sudden she is the "old vet" and not one very decorated and so not one to be overly concerned about from a judge's standpoint. Should she have gone to Sochi? Irrelevant question and yes should have. It makes no difference and in fact it keeps her relevant.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I do think Ashley score at Worlds, for instance, was a bit stingy, compared to Gracie's. So in that sense, I do think she's been "exposed" as a vet that's struggling to keep up with newcomers. And she may not ever gain back her status as USA #1, which could be another bummer for her scores (Too bad--I love her as a performer!).

That being said, of course she should go to the Olympics! Why refuse that opportunity, just on the off-chance that she can, what, maybe win a bronze medal at Worlds in the future? Maybe make it to the next Olympics, at which she'll be even further from the podium? It's an honour to simply be an Olympian, medals or not. ;)
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
I don't think so at all. I they wanted to kill her career, they could have not put her on the Olympic or World teams at all. In those two events, she proved herself to be quite steady. I think the Worlds long program was underscored, but had she earned just 1.7 points more, she'd have been fifth at Worlds overall.
I think the USFS can't really afford to "kill" anyone at this point, and any of the current top 3 could easily win the Nationals next year.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I don't see her having another chance to go to the Olympics. So by all means, she should have seized the opportunity to go to Sochi. She'll always have that experience. I don't think that her going changed the international judges' view of her because they never really favored her. Compared to other skaters of this era, she just doesn't have a top-three quality about her skating except if something unusual happens to all the skaters who are ahead of her. I mean, really: YuNa, Mao, Carolina, Yulia, Adelina, whoever else comes along in Russia...Ashley (and even Gracie) did not have the goods to surpass these skaters unless, like Mao in the short program, something awful happened. Ashley is solid and hardworking but is generally not a front-rank skater. How great that she got to go to the Olympics and do very well there! There's no downside to that for her.
 

coolboogie22

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
I sort of agree but I see it from a different perspective. I think Sochi, regardless of how well she did, exposed her as a skater being surpassed by the up and comers. All of a sudden she is the "old vet" and not one very decorated and so not one to be overly concerned about from a judge's standpoint. Should she have gone to Sochi? Irrelevant question and yes should have. It makes no difference and in fact it keeps her relevant.

I agree with you, it's like that she was there as a «old veteran» since the upcomer have surpassed her ... figure skating is a sport after all!
 

jkun

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
No, I think she showed a mature style of skating at Sochi/Worlds in a field of young ladies. I think she may be the only lady to show a more mature level of skating for the next few years. Her scores seem to be the only scores that are correctly given. I think everyone else is just over-scored in relation to her.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
No they wanted to kill Mirai's career. That's why they didn't even send her to Worlds. I'm an Ashley fan who agreed with the decision completely but that is how I see it.

As for Ashley, she was treading water for about a year or more with her tech content. She was always going to slip some internationally when the Russians and Gracie got consistent. Especially Gracie. It started at the GPF where she lost to Julia and had to fight to hold off others in the SP, really happened in Sochi and continued at Worlds. It wasn't part of some conspiracy of USFS who invested a lot in her in this quad.

But still, she's an Olympian and got to end her season on a high note showing the judges what she can do in the FS at Worlds. USFS set her up as best they could for next season given the position she put them and herself in with her performance at Nats and the rise of younger skaters. Moreover, they gave her the team event (and the guaranteed bronze) over Polina, which showed USFS is still invested in her as one of their top girls and allows her to have Olympic medalist on her resume forever.

And let's be real all people will remember from USFS in Sochi in 6 months are maybe D/W and Ashley's face. I think she stands to benefit as much or more financially from that as her actual skating. If she stays onto Pyeongchang, I don't doubt she'll have a million sponsors the season before whether or not she actually makes it. If she doesn't make it, she's probably there with NBC as part of Tara & Johnny. So not only was her career not killed, I think her place in figure skating was secured as a result of Sochi.
 

FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
No, for me they actually saved her career by sending her to Sochi+Worlds!!
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
She had two solid competitions, went viral with her shocked expression, and came away with a team bronze. Not a career killer by any means.
 

skatedreamer

Medalist
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Country
United-States
Is it me or Ashley would have benefit more to refuse the Olympic team for to save a great reputation from the judges ?

IMO, the real career killer would have been to refuse a spot on the Olympic team except for a really really good reason like a serious injury. What athlete doesn't want to go to the Olympics?

[Marlon Brando/Godfather voice]: It's an offer you can't refuse...
 

YLFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
I think it doesn't much matter either way. She and the other US girls were presented by NBC and the US fed as strong medal contenders when they really weren't.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Ashley did great at both Sochi and Worlds, about where she was expected to be given her performances earlier in the season. Certainly Mirai wouldn't have performed nearly as well.
 

coolboogie22

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Ashley did great at both Sochi and Worlds, about where she was expected to be given her performances earlier in the season. Certainly Mirai wouldn't have performed nearly as well.

I think that we cannot say that about Mirai! We don't know what she would have do at Sochi or at Worlds since that she was not there, maybe she would have surprise us by doing great performance. We will never know!
I think Mirai is in a good position right now, by not sending her at world/Sochi and finishing her season with a great performance at nationals, I think that she can challenge the field next season, if she rise the occasion to show that her 3rd place at national wasn't a joke, but the result of her hard work, she can regain her place as a top contender.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
I think Mirai is in a good position right now, by not sending her at world/Sochi and finishing her season with a great performance at nationals,

Except that she didn't. She went to Four Continents and put in a truly rubbish showing with a tech panel that was prepared to call her out on her underrotations. And boy oh boy did the forums here explode with excuses for her.

Ashley deserved the Olympics. If Mirai wanted to go, she should have skated better in the lead-up. It's over, it's done with, seriously, GET OVER IT.
 
Top