Imagine if you have spent the past ten years of your life training to compete in the Olympics for figure skating, and only one more competition stands in the way of making your dream become reality. Wouldn’t you feel pressured by the high expectations set by your coaches, fans, family and yourself? Ten years of endless training, competitions, and painful blisters leading up to this moment that could be the deciding factor of making the Olympic team. I know that if I was in this situation, I would most likely cave in to the pressure out of the fear of disappointing myself and my family. Unfortunately for figure skater Ashley Wagner, this is exactly what happened during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that took place on January 11, 2014.
Wagner was the national champion in 2012 and 2013 and had performed extremely well in the past few years at numerous international competitions. Her success at previous international competitions and high medal count made her a favorite at the 2014 U.S. National Championships; everyone expected that she would perform well and without a doubt, become a member of the Olympic team. Before watching her skate, I had predicted that she would once again become the national champion.
However, her journey at the championships turned out to be her worst nightmare. After placing fourth in her short program, Wagner desperately needed to perform a clean free skate routine to boost her score. Because U.S. figure skating chooses only the top three skaters in the country for the Olympics, it was critical that Wagner place herself in the top three slots at the championships to secure her spot on the Olympic team. Unfortunately, she failed to do so and ended up placing 4th in the competition, winning the pewter medal. She completely fell apart on the ice and let the pressure of the competition get to her mind causing her to fall twice during her jumps in the free program. I can only imagine what was going through her head after her free skate, knowing that her dream was on the line. Everything she had worked towards was at risk all because of one bad competition.
Most fans believed that the three skaters who should compete in the Olympics are the top three in the national championships. However, US figure skating believes that if the skater has a historic record of winning streaks and has proved herself in other competitions, then she can still become a part of the Olympic team. Because of Wagner’s history of success, U.S figure skating decided to look past her embarrassing performance at Nationals and focus on her past competitions.
Wagner deserved another chance of winning Olympic gold because she was highly qualified to make the Olympic team. One bad skate should not determine whether she is good enough to compete or not. How would you feel if your dreams were crushed because of one bad skate? Also, this wouldn’t be the first time that Wagner has had her dream snatched away from her. At the 2010 Nationals, she finished in 4th place, narrowly missing the opportunity to compete in the Olympics then because there were only two spots available on the team (now there are three). After she discovered she had made the team, Wagner tweeted, “Thank you, for seeing beyond this and helping push me forward to Sochi. I am ready to begin this journey, I will not let this define me.”
As soon as US Figure Skating released their decision on the 2014 Olympic Figure Skating team, social media exploded with negative opinions and articles on the decision. Questions were raised as to why Ashley Wagner had been chosen after falling on the ice twice at nationals. People were commenting all over Wagner’s instagram about how she didn’t deserve to go to the Olympics and that Mirai Nagasu, the bronze medalist at Nationals, should have been chosen over her. Instagram users even went to the extent to say that the U.S. figure skating committee was racist and only chose Wagner because she was white.
True, Mirai Nagasu did perform extremely well at Nationals and did win third place in front of Wagner who was bumped to 4th. Nagasu did not make any significant errors during her routine and skated beautifully. She also has had previous Olympic experience having earned 4th place at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. However, what makes Wagner a better candidate than Nagasu is her performance at international competitions. Throughout the past four years, Wagner has earned numerous medals and impressed the world with her domination on the ice. Nagasu, on the other hand, has struggled since the 2010 Olympics in many of her competitions. She did manage to perform beautifully at Nationals but Wagner has outperformed her in so many other competitions before this one.
All in all, people need give Ashley Wagner a break about her disappointing performance and give her another chance. She already feels terrible and doesn’t need anyone commenting on her photos about how horrible of a skater she is when she is one of the top skaters in the world. I bet that half of the people watching U.S Nationals didn’t watch her previous competitions and don’t know about her successful history. I also find it horrifying that people are treating her so badly when she is trying to train for the Olympics. U.S figure skating chose her instead of Nagasu for a reason, and people need to respect that decision as the committee knows way more about Wagner’s accomplishments than we do. U.S. figure skating has always chosen the figure skaters for the Olympics so they know how to strategize and predict what skaters are more likely to earn gold medals. Also, she is representing our country, so more people need to support her and believe in her ability to skate. I certainly believe she has the potential to win a gold medal and make America proud. However, she needs the support and love of her own country when she travels to Sochi in one month to compete in the biggest, most important competition of her life.