Ashley Wagner: ‘Russian girls are incredible’

[gsk8]

USA’s Ashley Wagner is gearing up for her fourth Grand Prix Final, which begins Thursday in Barcelona, Spain, and it’s not lost on her that the younger skaters have technically challenging programs.

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[anyanka]

Good article! Glad to see Ashley acknowledge her need for a triple-triple head-on, and rather than the more "critical" remarks she made elsewhere that she recognizes and respects her competitors.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I love that she actually says exactly what many skaters (and fans) are thinking but are too PC to say. It seems like she has a good head on her shoulders, and is optimistic but not hyping herself either. It's been not even a year since she medalled at the last GPF, although her 3-3 was more consistent then. If there's one thing though, it's you can bet that she will go after that 3-3, even if a 3-2 would probably get her more points, and I admire her guts for going for it since that's what she needs to medal.

 

[Crossover]

“What bothers me the most I would have to say, are journalists who go out of their way to be rude or be catty to get views, and they tag me in it,” said Wagner.

She's said many times that she wants to be a part of the media field after her competitive career is wrapped up.
Since Ashely has studied journalism, I don't see why not. She can do better from her experience.

As for the GPF, I wish her best of luck. She can show the audience what she can do.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

She's said many times that she wants to be a part of the media field after her competitive career is wrapped up.
Since Ashely has studied journalism, I don't see why not. She can do better from her experience.

As for the GPF, I wish her best of luck. She can show the audience what she can do.

I think she'd do great in journalism. She's clearly not afraid of giving interesting responses to tough questions, so one assumes she would ask tougher, interesting questions herself.

 

[Crossover]

I like the tone of the new article because it's warm and supportive of the subject.

 

[cooper]

i guess the russian supporters are still going to criticize her..

 

[peg]

Good article! Glad to see Ashley acknowledge her need for a triple-triple head-on, and rather than the more "critical" remarks she made elsewhere that she recognizes and respects her competitors.

Both articles were written from the same media interview and simply chose to quote different parts of her response. Her response in the first article started by saying they Russian girls are incredible

As posted by R.D. in the "Wagner Takes on Her Critics" thread

Q: (from Nick Zaccardi) I wanna ask you, umm, could you kind of compare what it's like...in this environment where you're going up against these four Russians that are all...these(?) young girls, and compare that to what it was like even a few years ago when it was Mao [Asada], and Yuna Kim and kinda that sort of era? What are the differences that you see?

A: (Wagner) Umm...(short pause, then laughs) I'm trying to think of how to...umm, tip-toe(???)(laughs)...Umm, I think that...these Russian girls are absolutely incredible (voice emphasis) and they're so talented (voice emphasis), and you can tell that they put in the work and...umm, you know, they worked really hard to get to this point. Umm...Mao and Yuna Kim, to me...they were something absolutely incredible(voice emphasis), and they had this total package (voice emphasis) and they had this, uh...individual persona (voice emphasis) and I think that the difference between that era and the one that we're in right now is that, uh, all of these Russian girls right now, and who knows, like, you know, as time goes on maybe they'll start to stand out individually a bit more but everyone kinda sees them as one big...chunk of, (brief laugh), of Russian girls skating and Mao and Yuna really were able to create their own individual...legacy. I think that's kinda the difference between where we are now and...back then.

(Nick Z says, "Thank you." and they move on to the next question)

And her response to another question about the Russians and a comparison of ice time

Q: (from Lynn): [actually, this is a follow-up to a previous question] ...And, just kind of a quick follow up, umm, your coach, uh, Rafael [Arutunian], uh, you know, always a very honest, uh, gentleman...and he says that sometimes you have...you don't really get as much ice time as you might like...uh, at your rink, you know, to work on all of these things [she's referring to jumps that Wagner mentioned working on in previous answer]. Umm, do you see that as a factor, you know, particularly going up against these, uh, Russians who...you know, have very good ice time?

A: (Wagner) I mean, I'm...I'm going up against, uh, a bunch of girls who have...uh, you know, an entire country giving them...uh, apartments (emphasis) and...uh, perfect ice time (emphasis)...and everything has really worked out perfectly (emphasis) for them...but...at the same time, you know what, my ice time might not be perfect, but I make the absolute best (emphasis) of what I have...Rafael...(laughs) Rafael loves to...let everybody know how difficult things can be (brief laugh) sometimes, but quite honestly, you know, if I have 2 hours on the ice and it's not exactly perfect training conditions, that's fine, it's the best I'm going to get that day and I have to just work with it. So it's not something that I think affects me all that much, because I'm just (???) kinda pushing through...uh, but...it would be nice to (laughs) live a day in the, in the Russians' shoes and, you know, have everything kind of perfectly set up so I can just focus on my training.

(Lynn says "Thank you", and they move on to the next question)

Same interview. Two different writers, two completely different headlines and impression of Ashley.

 

[sweetskates1]

Kick Russian butts Ashley! Happy you are in the GPF!

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

It's funny how a reporter can completely run a story off course. The story in turn can be driven more by agenda than facts. This interview does a much better job of presenting Ashley's tone and the spirit of the conversation.

 

[supsu]

It's funny how a reporter can completely run a story off course. The story in turn can be driven more by agenda than facts. This interview does a much better job of presenting Ashley's tone and the spirit of the conversation.

My words exactly! It's sad how the reporters (not just figure skating) have to chop and cut interviews the way they like as long as it becomes edgy and gets more clicks. Even if u say something that is well-hearted it can come out totally different when written down on a paper. I appreciate that we still have athletes who say what they think and are honest (yet still remaining respectful towards fellow competitors).

 

[Chris_E]

It's funny how a reporter can completely run a story off course. The story in turn can be driven more by agenda than facts. This interview does a much better job of presenting Ashley's tone and the spirit of the conversation.

Yup, too bad this one came out too late and the damage is already done with the previous article and thread.

 

[desertskates]

Yup, Sam-Skwantch said is best! I hope Ashley puts her best skating out there at the GPF

 

[Sandpiper]

Love that picture of Ashley. So fierce!

It's funny how a reporter can completely run a story off course. The story in turn can be driven more by agenda than facts. This interview does a much better job of presenting Ashley's tone and the spirit of the conversation.

:thumbsup:

 

[noidont]

Wow, she manages to always piss someone off in a new interview. Bravo.?

Being a journalist myself, I would admit agenda sure exists, but no journalist would make up a Q&A just for the fun of it. I think Ashley just likes to talk. I'm sure she has no evil intention, but she just talks. We come across this stuff too often when someone says something politically incorrect and expects the journalist to not write about it. Well...hey, if there is anything a journalism school teaches (which really isn't much), it is to get the most out of the interviewees by using tricks to make them blabber.

 

[anyanka]

Both articles were written from the same media interview and simply chose to quote different parts of her response. Her response in the first article started by saying they Russian girls are incredible

Same interview. Two different writers, two completely different headlines and impression of Ashley.

Ah, I missed that. Thanks for that info.

 

[jkaruna]

Listen to her original interview and see which one interpreted better.
http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/103250406/v37022975

 

[[email protected]]

I guess, we just need to wait for the interview: "Russian girls: Ashley Wagner is incredible".

 

[gsk8]

Not a bad finish!

Looks like she had the second highest component scores in the long program. Aside from underrotating the the triple Sal in her combo, she was solid.

 

[Mathman]

Listen to her original interview and see which one interpreted better.

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/103250406/v37022975

Thanks for the link. OK, I finally got around to listening to the actual Q&A news conference My impression is that the this article (the Golden Skate article linked in the first post of this thread ) was much better than the Ice Network version at presenting Ashley's take on the competition with the young skaters from Russia. Ashley's straight out-of-the-box comment was indeed, "The Russian girls are incredible" -- and she also began the whole interview talking about how challenging the competition would be at the Grand Prix Final.

The Ice Network article focused more on the awkwardly worded "big chunk of Russian girls," which I think skewed the interview a little. A viewer asked her to comparer what it was like skating in the Mao Asada / Yuna Kim era compared with competing against the great emerging skaters of the next generation. The thrust of her answer was that Kim and Asada were performers come to full artistic and athletic maturity, while the youngsters competing now are still refining their skills, honing their individual styles and jockeying for position of future dominance.

(OK, those aren't Ashley's exact words. But I'm pretty sure that's what she meant to say. )

The other thing to remember is that the Golden Skate article is not just a transcript of this single interview (although the direct quotes from the skater are taken from it), but draws on other sources for background information as well.

Where Ashley can be criticized is the part about how good the Russian athletes have it, with all the free ice time, free apartments and all. I don't know where she got that strange idea from.