Ashley Wagner's popularity | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Ashley Wagner's popularity

minze

Medalist
Joined
Dec 22, 2012
But.... Some of the criticism of Ashley is legit, she works hard and love the sport, but if she did not win a world medal when Yuna was out, Mao was reworking her jumps and Caro watered diwn her content. It will be harder for her to get on that podium without a 3-3, because all the newbies on top have it.
 

anyanka

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
She was never my favorite, but I like how she was the only skater who did not toe the line last summer when the US squad was asked about the anti-gay laws in Russia, and she made her position and her feelings on it loud and clear. I respect her candidness and honesty. When she made that face at the team event SP I actually liked her even more, actually! While it's best for skaters to be calm and professional, her reaction was a breath of fresh air. It wasn't meant to be a diss against the judges directly IMO, she knew she didn't perform very well. When the general public and media turned against her after nationals I felt for her. Overall she didn't have the best season but she still got to perform at the Olympics, medaled on the GP series and brought home a team bronze from Sochi.

She'll be "old" by this sport's standards by 2018 and I don't see her going to those games, but in the next year or two, if she chooses to close out her career, I hope she does so on a high note.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
For those who wail on her for going to Worlds instead of Mirai, the US would have only 2 spots next year given that Mirai herself wouldn't have placed top 8 at Worlds (heck she wasn't even top 9 at 4CC).
 

TMC

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
The other point of view is this. If Davis and White had blown nationals, that's sports. If you are the best (American) football team in the league but lose in the playoffs, you don't get to play in the Super Bowl. ;)

True, but these are two different things. In one, your score determines if you advance or not. Numbers. In the other, a group of people look at your performance, compare it to others and your own past performances, and try to predict how well you are likely to do. Numbers are important, but more important is how you're likely to perform.

ETA: FS is also an international olympic sport. Those competitors represent their country, American football players represent themselves. They probably don't need to increase the popularity of that sport over there quite as desperately as FS ;)
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
True, but these are two different things. In one, your score determines if you advance or not. Numbers. In the other, a group of people look at your performance, compare it to others and your own past performances, and try to predict how well you are likely to do. Numbers are important, but more important is how you're likely to perform.

ETA: FS is also an international olympic sport. Those competitors represent their country, American football players represent themselves. They probably don't need to increase the popularity of that sport over there quite as desperately as FS ;)

Bingo. Especially when choosing the best possible team. And as USFSA pointed out, their selection comes from a variety of criteria.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
Respect, but not love.

I respect her work ethic and determination, but I just can't find a way to love her programs. Something is missing, and it's hard for me to define exactly what that is.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
For those who wail on her for going to Worlds instead of Mirai, the US would have only 2 spots next year given that Mirai herself wouldn't have placed top 8 at Worlds (heck she wasn't even top 9 at 4CC).
Actually Mirai could have bombed and finished 20th and the US still would have 3 spots next year. Gracie and Polina combined were at 13 which is just enough to keep the 3 spots for another year.
 

charmblade

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I agree with most of the other posters on here. I like her a lot. Is she the most talented skater out there? No. Is she fun to watch and can she sell a program? Definitely. She has done a respectable job of being the US #1 lady for a few years, and while I wasn't quite ready for her to pass those reins over to Gracie, I can see Gracie's potential and I'm ok with it. I definitely want her to keep competing though, as I don't think that Ashley is done yet. Chasing Gracie could be really good for her, maybe it will keep that competitive spark strong and I am definitely not convinced that she can't still beat Gracie. :)

I find her attitude refreshing. I think she doesn't have a great filter and wears her emotions on her sleeve, which could be problematic, except I am not turned off by her personality. There are several outspoken skaters who just grate on my nerves when they talk (Chan, Abbot, Moir to name a few) but not Ashley. I think the difference is that I never feel like she isn't taking the competitions seriously or blaming anyone else for her mistakes. Remember at Nationals after that free skate when she was just repeatedly mouthing "I'm sorry" to the camera? She knew she screwed up and was owning up to it, which shows a certain appreciation of her fans. Yes, she is sassy and not afraid to speak out, but she still comes across as likable to me. And judging by the many Twitter/Instagram pictures she is always in with other skaters, she seems to get along and have fun with almost all the other US skaters.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Actually Mirai could have bombed and finished 20th and the US still would have 3 spots next year. Gracie and Polina combined were at 13 which is just enough to keep the 3 spots for another year.

Oh right forgot about her, lol. Well the fact remains that Ashley still was the better representative.
 

TheCzar

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 30, 2013
I think people find Ashley polarising because she's a well rounder skater (middle of the pile, but can hold her own among the best). But more importantly- she's a fully realised person. She knows what she's about, she has opinions which she expresses whenever she wants, she's not a drone. People find that quality refreshing while the rest still want to pretend FS is a pageant where everyone should be a 'packaged' and PR-friendly.

The whole debacle over her inclusion in the team was just absurd. She was always going to be in the team. She needed to be in the team, otherwise the US team would have faltered. Yes Polina proved herself and so did Gracie- but those two performances should have been outweighed by Ashley's body of work anyway. Plus Mirai would have faltered. She showed signs of return but Mirai at the time wasn't any better than Zijun Li having a meltdown.
 

UnsaneLily87

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 8, 2006
I think people find Ashley polarising because she's a well rounder skater (middle of the pile, but can hold her own among the best). But more importantly- she's a fully realised person. She knows what she's about, she has opinions which she expresses whenever she wants, she's not a drone. People find that quality refreshing while the rest still want to pretend FS is a pageant where everyone should be a 'packaged' and PR-friendly.

The whole debacle over her inclusion in the team was just absurd. She was always going to be in the team. She needed to be in the team, otherwise the US team would have faltered. Yes Polina proved herself and so did Gracie- but those two performances should have been outweighed by Ashley's body of work anyway. Plus Mirai would have faltered. She showed signs of return but Mirai at the time wasn't any better than Zijun Li having a meltdown.

:agree: Nothing scarier to a certain group of people than a woman with an opinion.
 

a_reader

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
:agree: Nothing scarier to a certain group of people than a woman with an opinion.

It truly is. I have to wonder if the small minority of people criticizing Ashley for having "entitlement issues" feel the same way about all women who are outspoken, know what they want and aren't afraid to go for it
 

Brenda

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
I'm a little confused about Ashley's work ethic because I always thought that she was an example of hard work compensating for a relative lack of natural talent (i.e. the opposite of Mirai Nagasu's reputation). IIRC Ashley herself has talked about how she knows she isn't as naturally talented as some other skaters but that she could outwork them (in her TSL interview, I think).

and yet this Rafael Arutunian interview from Absolute Skating seems to suggest otherwise:

You were in Sochi with Ashley Wagner. She was in a difficult situation after finishing fourth at US Nationals. How did you help her survive all the media pressure and be at her best for the Olympics?
What we did is that we concentrated on her for 2-3 weeks. And she received the best attention. But if she wants to compete and be the best, she cannot rely on only 2-3 weeks. Her training must be done at the highest level all year long. I don’t really read a lot of what they say and write. We concentrated on what we were able to do, and everything had to be done in the best way, down to the smallest detail. In sports there is no irrelevant detail; all details are important. If you ignore the small details, they will hit you back. So always make everything perfect - they way you train, the way you live, how far you live from the ice rink, who teaches you, and who does your choreography. It’s not perfect every time, not even in the USA.

What is her best quality as a skater?
I think it’s her performance, the way she performs. Technically she needs to develop and she needs to change her work ethic; she needs to work more, which is difficult, but I think that it’s not too late to change that.
 

LittleLotte29

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
I'm a little confused about Ashley's work ethic because I always thought that she was an example of hard work compensating for a relative lack of natural talent (i.e. the opposite of Mirai Nagasu's reputation). IIRC Ashley herself has talked about how she knows she isn't as naturally talented as some other skaters but that she could outwork them (in her TSL interview, I think).

I think Ashley is just different than many other skaters. I mean, she's totally opposite to Japanese skaters, even to Gracie and Polina. She has her own style and many people can call it "lack of talent". You know, she just doesn't meet the standards, she's creating the new ones ;) And I think she's absolutely aware of this. And maybe Artunian wants her skating to be more fluent, more "classical" if you know what I mean. She was working hard to pleased of herself and she wants to work even harder to please the judges. It's just an idea :think:
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Marai Nagasu

Okay, this really annoys me. You seemingly worship Mirai and hate Ashley in every post on this board and yet you can't even give Mirai the respect of spelling her name right. For goodness' sake, it's not even a difficult name.
 

Coltrocks12

On the Ice
Joined
May 18, 2014
I don't love Marai. I respect her. My favorite skater is actually Gracie Gold.

As to the point of the Super Bowl and other sports, Skating is an Olympic Sport and uses Nationals as an Olympic trial. In any other sport (let's say swimming) that isn't a team sport like soccer or basketball, they use the placements of the Olympic trial to determine the team and don't intervene unless a hopeful who is world ranked is injured. If they don't place, tough bananas, better luck next time. Some of those hopefuls are famous and are even the main marketing faces of the federation. Skating is the only sport I know of that will replace a skater due to politics and ignore the supposed Olympic trial's placements. What happened to Marai was dead wrong to everybody involved and I don't care if they thought Ashley would place higher, tough bananas, better luck next time don't bomb at Nats.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
I don't love Marai. I respect her.

Well if you "respect" her, then how about you show her the respect of SPELLING HER NAME RIGHT. I'm sorry but deliberately continuing to mis-spell her name is the ultimate form of disrespect.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I like Ashley very much. With Mao, Yuna, and Carolina out, she is one of the most engaging performers left in the ladies' field. I love how she into her programs on the attack, and how much sass and fire she shows. Her Samson & Delilah program really showcased this, and I hope her future programs will do the same. Her candid off-ice personality only enhances this and makes me like her more. Same goes for the whole Sochi debacle. Nationals being the sole selection criterion never made sense to me. Ashley earned her spot with years of solid skating. If Mirai wanted to go so badly, then maybe she should've skated well on a regular basis, instead of once every four years.

Yes, Ashley needs to improve her tech, but I wouldn't write her off any more than I'd predict Olympic medals for Gracie or Polina.

Also, not that this matters, but if I must address it: Ashley is absolutely beautiful and I'm confused why anyone would think otherwise.
 
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