SENIOR L AD I ES Redemption!
Wagner quiets critics with third title; Gold, Chen delight crowds
by AMY ROSEWATER Ashley Wagner was well aware that
some people had written her off. Tey said that at 23, she was too old. Tey said she couldn’t land a triple-triple combination. And there were those who argued that she shouldn’t even have been named to the Olympic Team, having finished fourth at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Champion- ships in Boston. It was time, the naysayers believed, that she should hang it up. Tere was just one problem: Wagner
wasn’t buying it. Not only did she win both the short
and free skate programs in Greensboro to claim her third U.S. title, she also incorpo- rated a combination in both programs that she had never landed before in competition: a triple Lutz-triple toe. Her score of 221.02 points bested top rival and defending U.S. champion Gracie Gold by 15.48 points and was 26.65 points better than her previous personal-best U.S. score, set back in 2013. Not since the days of Michelle Kwan, who won nine U.S. championships be- tween 1996 and 2005, had a woman won three U.S. titles. Wagner, who won in 2012 and 2013 but relinquished her crown to Gold in 2014, relished her moment in Greensboro.
“Tis one tastes the sweetest; this one means the most to me,” said Wagner, who lives and trains in Los Angeles but contin- ues to represent the Skating Club of Wilm- ington. “Because this one shows every single person who doubts me, every single person who says I’m too old, every single person who says I’m not capable of being a leading lady — this shows them that they need to shut their mouths and watch me skate.” Earlier in the season, Wagner admit-
ted she was “mentally fried” after the in- tense scrutiny she was under following the Olympic Games in Sochi, but with help from coach and noted technician Rafael Arutunian and close friend and training mate Adam Rippon, she was able to re- group and rekindle her love for the sport.
12 MARCH 2015 Although Wagner had medaled in both
of her Grand Prix events this season, she was continually being called for underrotating her jumps. At Skate Canada, she was sec- ond to 16-year-old Anna Pogorilaya, and at Trophée Eric Bompard, she finished behind Elena Radionova, who was 15 at the time, and Julia Lipnitskaia, a gold medalist in the team event in Sochi who is 16. Still, Wagner qualified as one of six
women for the Grand Prix Final in Bar- celona. Four of the six hailed from Russia, and Wagner found herself in last place after the short program. She rallied, however, in the free skate, and even landed a clean triple-triple in the process. It was that pro- gram that got her rejuvenated for the U.S. Championships. “I’m viciously competitive,” said Wag-
ner. “I will always admit to that. I don’t like to get beat, and I do not like to get beat by girls.” In Greensboro, Wagner backed up her big talk with her short program. Skat- ing to “Adagio” from the ballet Spartacus, she unleashed a clean triple Lutz-triple toe and sailed through to a U.S. personal-best 72.04 point score. She gave the crowd two thumbs-up from the kiss and cry, and was relieved afterward to talk about her strong performance with reporters. “First of all,” she said, “I’m glad to be
standing in front of you guys and I don’t have to explain myself.” Rippon, who choreographed pro-
grams for Wagner and Mirai Nagasu, said it was more difficult to watch Wagner skate than to compete himself. “Definitely it was more nerve-rack-
ing,” he said. “You have no control.” For Arutunian, who has been working
with Wagner for the past couple of seasons, it was imperative that Wagner continue to push the envelope technically. Even though he knew the U.S. Championships would be a pressure-cooker environment for her, he wanted to challenge her with the triple Lutz-triple toe because he knew she would
GOLD Ashley Wagner, 221.02 SILVER Gracie Gold, 205.54 BRONZE Karen Chen, 199.79 PEWTER Polina Edmunds, 192.62
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
LADIES
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