(l-r) Mao Asada, Ashley Wagner and Caroline Zhang
WAGNER GLIDES TO TITLE; U.S. CLAIMS SIX MEDALS
by TROY SCHWINDT F
resh off her breakthrough victory at the 2012 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Champion- ships, Ashley Wagner showed the interna- tional skating community that she means busi- ness by winning the 2012 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., held Feb. 9–12. Te 20-year-old from Alexandria, Va.,
breezed past the field of 30 women, which in- cluded 2010 World champion and Japanese ti- tlist Mao Asada. Te United States carted off an event-best six medals, including two each in ladies and pairs.
“Tis was a pretty darn good competition for me,” said Wagner, who shattered her person-
al-best free skate score by 18 points (128.34) en route to a total of 192.41 points, the highest score recorded by a lady this season. “I think it’s huge for me to pull out those
scores internationally. Tis is not only great for my career but for people’s understanding of my level of skating now, to give everyone an idea of what I’m capable of going to Worlds.” Wagner, who trains under legendary coach
John Nicks in southern California, put out two splendid programs that exceeded her perfor- mances in San Jose less than two weeks earlier. “Going into Worlds, I can go in knowing
I’m capable under not ideal situations — a week after nationals, at altitude — to pull something off like that,” she said. Trailing Asada by 0.18 points after the short
program, Wagner captivated the audience at the Colorado Springs World Arena with her “Black Swan” free skate. She started strong with a triple flip-double toe-double toe combination. Her only hiccup occurred next when she doubled the back end of an intended double Axel-triple toe loop combination. “Te Axel was a little bit screwy,” Wagner said. “I decided to do the double and not waste the energy to pull off the triple toe so I would have energy for the rest of the program, which sky-high as we are, that’s important to be able to do.”
From that point on, she glided effortlessly
from one element to the next. She was credited with six clean triple jumps and three level four spins. Her speed, transitions and choreographed
Ashley Wagner tops her remarkable performance at the U.S. Championships with two crowd-pleasing programs in Colorado Springs. Wagner’s Black Swan free skate has been a huge hit this campaign.
Wagner credits her coach John Nicks with putting her on the right path to success.
10 MARCH 2012
moves blended magnificently to create a memo- rable performance that was rewarded with a standing ovation. “We (choreographer Phillip Mills and Wag- ner) wanted to create something very authentic, and then that, combined with Mr. Nicks’ aware- ness of the audience and performance technique, I think creates the perfect performance package,” Wagner said. Asada also skated well, but her triple Axel was judged as under-rotated. She also two-footed her triple Lutz and doubled an intended triple Salchow. Asada finished with 188.62 points. One of the feel-good stories from the event
came from Caroline Zhang, who has resurrected her career this season. Fourth at the recent U.S. Championships, Zhang has become steady and reliable under coaches Peter Oppegard and Karen Kwan-Oppegard. In Colorado Springs, Zhang, 18, was ter- rific, finishing fourth in the short program and third in the free skate to earn the bronze medal. She recorded career-best scores, finishing with 176.18 points. “It feels great,” Zhang said of her personal-
best score. “It just gives me more motivation to keep working and help me get an even better one next year.” U.S. bronze medalist Agnes Zawadzki hit snags in both of her programs, finishing sixth in both segments and sixth overall with 157.23 points. “I’m a little disappointed in myself,” the
17-year-old said. “It was kind of bittersweet be- cause I got a personal best but it wasn’t the way that I wanted it to be. It’s different in practice than in competition and I just think I have to work on bringing those two together for next sea- son.”
PAIRS
For the first time since 2000, two U.S. pairs teams finished on the podium at the Four Con- tinents Championships. U.S. champions Caydee Denney and John Coughlin and U.S. silver med-
(l-r) Daisuke Takahashi, Patrick Chan and Ross Miner
PHOTOS BY MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES
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