Ashley Wagner Helps US Get To Medal Round

Ashley Wagner Helps US Get To Medal Round

Although Ashley Wagner was not satisfied with her scores in the Winter Olympic Games, it was enough to send the US into the medal round of the team competition. Her solid routine also silenced her critics who said someone else should be in the team instead of her.

Her 63.10 score was enough for fourth place, behind Mao Asada of Japan. Wagner said she wanted to prove to herself that she can go past a bad competition. She added she was the strong competitor that her mother was dealing with all her for twenty-two years.

Wagner finished fourth during the US Figure Skating Championships and she was placed in the team instead of Mirai Nagasu. Nagasu finished third in the competition.

The US is currently in third place and may get the bronze medal with its 34 points. Canada is in second place with 41 points, while Russia is in first place with its 47 points. Ashley Wagner is set to leave Sochi to train for her individual competition while the rest of the team will try to get the medal.

National trials are normally used in determining the members of the US Olympic team. However, national championships are held by skating, which provides it the opportunity to select the skaters basing on their previous performances. Although Wagner gave the US a berth in the world championships last year, critics have indicated that Nagasu should be in the team instead of Wagner.

Wagner said she was hurt during the first week the critics made her know about what they thought about the issue since they were focusing on her character instead of her skating skills. However, she realized that she had the support from the entire skating community, including Nagasu.

Although her national championships performance was horrible, Ashley Wagner said it allowed her to increase her preparations for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday February 10 2014, 4:11 AM EST. Ref: ESPN. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0