Wagner Takes on Her Critics
- Thread starter Icey
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And once again she can't do it without being kinda rude to other skaters and their fans. "Russian girls right now, who knows, maybe as time goes on they’ll start to stand out individually a bit more, but everyone kind of sees them as one big chunk of Russian girls skating". Come on now. You can say that Radionova, Lipnitskaya and Tuktamysheva are immature, but saying that their skating is identical is a bit silly.
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- Dec 3, 2014
Good. I seriously don't understand the criticism against Wagner. If people happened to even casually follow figure skating then there would be no argument over whether USFS made the right decision or not. As much as I love Mirai, I found it soundly justifiable that Ashley was the one chosen for the Olympic team.
As for the age, I find it unfair if people ask Wagner such questions considering her good runs through the grand prix. If such questions were to be aimed depending on age, why not aim it at Jeremy Abott who not only is older, but has also had a string of disappointing results, all the while going back on the promise of skating his last season which was supposed to be last season?!!!!
As for the age, I find it unfair if people ask Wagner such questions considering her good runs through the grand prix. If such questions were to be aimed depending on age, why not aim it at Jeremy Abott who not only is older, but has also had a string of disappointing results, all the while going back on the promise of skating his last season which was supposed to be last season?!!!!
Politically incorrect thing to say about the Russian skaters but I agree with it. They are all are one big blur to me. It's all about the jumps and flexibility. Hopefully some of them will develop their own in the coming years. A lot of them are still very young, like Radionova. I did enjoy Artemieva though. She's the only one that I'd say skates with emotion and has her own individual style. Enjoyed her FS this season, "boyfriend" shirt and all.
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That's what came to my mind on first reading, too. The Russian ladies are certainly not above criticism, but skating all the same way is the last thing one could claim about them. There is definitely much more difference in ice personality between Liza, Lina, Lena, Julia and the others than in any other top nation's ladies' field. No offence to Ashley, but I think maybe with that statement she is a little bit caught in her own prejudice?
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If Ashley, as a US skater, wants to talk a little smack about the fabulous Russians then I don't have a problem with it...it might be helpful if she had better talking points but it's not unusual in sports to talk a little over the top...and personally I think it can be kinda fun to watch...of course it would be better if she could bring a fully rotated triple flip, triple toe and double axel triple toe but for now it's really all she's got. I do like her programs though and I do think she brings a certain performance aspect to her skating that some of the others lack...
Not really. Liza has perfect jumps, Lena is one of the more expressive skaters, Yulia is very flexible. Everyone has something that stands out. I guess Pogo is the only one who's a bit generic.
Her talking a bit of smack is actually pretty tame compared to pretty much ... well, every other sport out there. Figure skating is still a sport. There's going to be a bit of locker room talk and this is rather genteel. She may say they're a bit of a "blur", but over here it's true, fans and casual followers of skaters can tell Yulia from Adelina from Elena, but most people would say "oh it's a Russian girl". We may know the difference, but our non-skating-fan friends and family only identify them by nationality.
What she doesn't want to do is to give her competitors too much anger or shade, because she doesn't want to give them incentive to clobber her in competition.
What she doesn't want to do is to give her competitors too much anger or shade, because she doesn't want to give them incentive to clobber her in competition.
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I want to dismiss AW's remark about Russian ladies but I cant quite do it. Perhaps there IS a Russian sports machine that is making cookie cutter pixies ...find young girls with talent, sponsor them...shape them...finance them personally...maybe not to the extent the Chinese Govt did/does pairs skaters, but If you look at Gracie, AW, Mirai, Polina, you see very great differences ....more than what you see in the Russian ladies....I am not putting down the Russian ladies at all....but the way they were chosen and financed is so much different than in the US...which AW alluded to in her remarks.....
Chris who still likes Anna P.
Chris who still likes Anna P.
I don't think Ashley meant anything negative about her comment regarding the Russian girls. Perhaps what she's saying is the the pool of talent in just super super deep in the Russians ladies this season. Everyone is winning and being on top and since that is the trend, they have been recognized as a strong group of contenders. And since the post-Olympic season is still so early and all of them have not yet competed against one another in a single event, it's hard to determine yet who is truly the only one person who is cut above the rest of the talents.
Maybe.
Maybe.
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I don't mind Ashley talking smack and a lot of times I just think she talks too much. Oddly enough I actually like her for this. The thing is...she hepls to paint the target people shoot at on her back and probably has a big hand in creating her critics. This much should be understood. Especially by someone who is a veteran of the sport. So I just chalk it up as going with the territory.
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- Mar 28, 2014
I don't agree with Ashley, but I love that she's not a Meryl Davis per se in the sense of always giving boring non-answers.
Now all she has to do is back up her skating otherwise that Russian blur will run her right over without skipping a beat.
Now all she has to do is back up her skating otherwise that Russian blur will run her right over without skipping a beat.
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I think a lot of the Russian girls worked pretty hard to get where they are. You seem to imply they had it easy in relation to Ashley. I'm aware of her part time job to help support her skating but I think if you see how some of the Russian girls worked hard to skate their family into a better life you might not be so cut and dry with your statement.
For Example Serafima just moved to Moscow and left half of her family to pursue her love. The St Petersburg fed couldn't support her any more and her only option was to move to Moscow and seek out the federations funding via eteri's group.
On top of that ...are the Russian girls even old enough to have jobs that could cover the costs of skating and is this a precedent we should be encouraging?
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- Feb 26, 2014
Really? What do you know about the sacrifices that their families had to make?
Yulia, Adelina and the rest did have the "nice apartments" and support once they got results, like everybody else.
Yulia's mom sold her apartment and went to Moscow, which is very expensive, and made a gamble.
I'm sure Adelina had her own issues too. Do you have any idea what Plushenko went through before becoming a champion? Trankov, and many others who made a lot of sacrifices?
I don't mind her playing the Queen of the "mature" and "artistic" skating. As someone said above this is nothing compared to other sports, but I find it quite offensive when someone pretends to know what these skaters have done to be where they are and dismiss it.
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^ I'm also curious about that. I read previously that Trankov could only eat once a day before because he didn't have any money during training. Basically, I just think that every one struggles financially in the beginning to support their skating. Even Yuna's mom had to make financial sacrifices for Yuna before.
