Silver linings Wagner, Rippon share
a best friendship by MIMI WHETSTONE When legendary coach John Nicks retired from
traveling this spring, two-time reigning U.S. cham- pion Ashley Wagner had some decisions to make. A self-proclaimed “army brat,” she was no
stranger to relocating. First, she left El Segundo, Calif., and set up camp in nearby Lake Arrowhead to train under technical guru Rafael Arutyunyan. Ten, when the Lake Arrowhead rink closed at the end of August, she started training in Artesia. In October, Wagner began her 2013‒14 sea-
son at Hilton HHonors Skate America under the watchful eye of her new coach and the support of her new training mate, 2012 U.S. silver medalist Adam Rippon. “We’ve been training together for about six
months now, but we’ve been friends for more than 10 years,” Rippon said. “It’s so nice to see her every day now. She’s the best.” “It’s fun to teach them,” Arutyunyan said. “I
don’t have any problems with their character or the way they act. Tey do everything very well. Tey’re very manageable and I don’t have any problems with either of them. Tey’re a good fit for each oth- er.”
Beginning their Olympic campaigns together,
both Wagner and Rippon opened the season with success, earning the silver medal in their respective disciplines. Following Rippon’s short program, Wagner raced to the AT&T Athlete Lounge, where she greeted him with tears in her eyes. “We both want the absolute best for each oth-
er,” Wagner said. “When I saw him after his short program, I was so overjoyed. I knew he could do it. He really wanted to prove himself and he did, and I was so proud of him. It was overwhelming.” “Her support meant the world to me,” Rip-
pon added. “Our friendship goes so far beyond skating. It just means so much to have her here and by my side through this journey. Hopefully we can both get to the Olympics. Tat would be unreal.” When the ladies took the ice for the final time,
the support system reversed. Tis time, Rippon sat anxiously with the spectators. “I actually texted him before my free skate be- cause my warm-up was a little stiff,” Wagner said. “He didn’t even say words back, he just sent me a picture of babies snuggling with puppies. It was exactly what I needed to relax and feel good. He didn’t need words; he just knows me that well.” “She’s probably my best friend in the world,
but it’s so hard to watch her skate,” Rippon said. “I want to be here to support her and kind of emo- tionally get through it with her, but it’s so hard be- cause I know every step of that program. It’s the same thing for her with me. We have complete faith in each other, but we want the best for each other so badly.”
While Wagner only started training with Rip-
pon in June, their friendship dates back to a U.S. Championships event, and, while neither can quite
Wagner rides triple-triple to silver medal Ashley Wagner, a nine-time medalist
on the ISU Grand Prix Series, conquered her demons in Detroit. “I sleep a little bit better at night
when I say I’m going to do something and then I do it,” Wagner said at the post- event press conference. “To say my main goal is to get the triple-triple and then come away with two triple-triples in my programs, it’s a good feeling.” Not only did Wagner land a clean
triple flip-triple toe combination in both performances, she set personal-best scores both overall and for her short program, choreographed by 2003 World ice dance champion Shae-Lynn Bourne. Wagner earned 69.26 points for the seg- ment, en route to 193.81 total points and the silver medal. The gold medal went to two-time
World champion Mao Asada of Japan, who amassed 204.55 points. The 2010 Olympic silver medalist won both seg- ments of the competition, opening her short program with a clean triple Axel. Elena Radionova, 14, of Russia, finished third at her first-ever Grand Prix event with 183.95 points. Wagner’s compa- triots, Samantha Cesario and Caroline Zhang, finished in fifth and 10th place, respectively.
neys both on and off the ice. “I think you know it when a person comes
into your life and you can tell that they’re stuck with you forever,” Rippon said. “Ashley’s one of those people for me. I can see myself calling her years and years from now and saying ‘Hey, can you watch my kids for a few hours?’ She’s like a member of my family.” “I’m so happy to be training with him,” Wag-
ner added. “He’s my family. I’m so excited to expe- rience this Olympic season together.”
A special bond Trust drives relationship
of Brown and Ade by TROY SCHWINDT Jason Brown calls his coach Kori Ade “my sec-
ond mom.” Te two are so close that oftentimes, when
they walk through airports, people mistake their athlete-coach relationship. “Tey think Jason’s the father,” said Ade, who
is married to Sean Johnston and is the mother of daughters Athena, who will turn 4 next month, and Kaia, 6 months old. “When Jason’s pushing the stroller or pulling a bag, people say to us, ‘Oh, she’s so cute! You two must be so happy.’” Brown, 18, just smiles and takes it in stride.
It’s a step up from when he was much younger and people saw his ponytail and mistook him for Ade’s daughter. “Jason feels like he’s part of my family and he’s
part of my children’s lives,” Ade said. “We always say he’s like a big brother to my girls. “I feel the same way with his family. I feel very
welcome and comfortable. I think the best part of our relationship is that off the ice we are so close and on the ice it becomes coach-skater. We respect each other’s roles.” Brown made his Grand Prix Series debut at
Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon watch the action in the AT&T Athlete Lounge.
recall the year, they both clearly remember the meeting as significant. “We first met at a nationals a long time ago,
getting ready for the exhibition,” Rippon recalled. “I had straight hair and a fake tan, and she had a huge ponytail with ringlet curls that was slicked back. We were both diamonds in the rough and we both knew it right away.” “We met back in the days when Adam had
way too many ruffles on his costumes,” Wag- ner added. “Seriously, look up the photos. I also thought that ringlet curls looked amazing. Tank- fully we were both able to look past all of that to see a friendship that would go the distance.” While the two are scheduled to compete at separate second assignments in the 2013 Grand Prix Series, both athletes will continue to support and encourage one another throughout their jour-
2013 Hilton HHonors Skate America in Detroit and finished second in the short program and fifth overall. He began taking lessons from Ade near his
home in Highland Park, Ill., when he was 4 years old. Ade remembers a rambunctious boy who zipped around the rink but who didn’t always pay attention or follow directions. “I think I just realized that he had so much energy that if it were channeled properly, he could be something someday on the ice,” Ade said. She was right. As Brown began to mature both mentally and physically, Ade recognized his inher- ent energy and his willingness to be coached could take him far. “He may have been a great gymnast, he may
have been a great soccer player. I’m sure he has the potential inside of him to do anything,” Ade said. “I just offered a program that really focused on off- ice training and appropriate self-awareness and all the things that young bodies need to be sport-spe- cific.”
Tis past summer, Brown was the top finisher in the 15-and-over male division of the nationwide
SKATING 17
PHOTO BY TOM WHERLE
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