Fellow Ice Skaters Slam Ashley Wagner For Whining About Not Making Olympic Team
Ice skater Ashley Wagner is devastated that she won't be going to the Winter Olympics — and let everyone know about it.
But now, she's reportedly getting slammed by fellow ice skaters over her sore loser whining!
The ice queen, 26, proclaimed herself "furious" over the judging that left her off the U.S. Olympics team headed for South Korea next month.
On Friday night, Wagner finished in 4th place at the U.S. National Championships behind three younger women, Bradie Tennell, 19, Mirai Nagasu, 24, and Karen Chen, 18. Although the first three national finishers don't always go to the Olympics, as it's ultimately decided by a skating selection committee, Tennell, Nagasu, and Chen were the picks, leaving Wagner off the squad. She will be the first alternate.
Now, some fellow ice skaters are giving veteran star Wagner the big chill, saying she alone is responsible for losing the Olympic berth as her performance didn't shine, according to Ice Network.
Sandra Bezic, a former ice skater turned TV commentator, wrote in a text message to the ice skating website, "Ashley's (free skate) program was truly lovely and nuanced, but it got overshadowed….she seemed complacent.
"She is to blame for not making the team. She underestimated how hungry the other women were. The right team is going to the Olympics."
Olympic gold medal winning skater Scott Hamilton, who is a commentator for NBC, agreed, telling Ice Network, "I expected her to throw down here, but when I looked in her eyes before the short program, I saw doubt instead of intensity. Sometimes athletes tighten up in the Olympic year."
"You expect what you're used to," Hamilton noted. "She was used to getting different scores."
Hamilton thinks Wagner began to lose her edge after winning a silver medal at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.
"Since Boston, Ashley has lost a lot of momentum -- so much that the judges' enthusiasm goes out the window," Hamilton said. "We all have a shelf life, and we covet the new because it is a breath of fresh air."
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Among other things, Wagner raged about Friday's national judges, "I am absolutely OK with them being strict on my rotations. That's what I think that U.S. Figure Skating should demand of their judges but it needs to be across the board. I don't necessarily feel like it's been that way at this event.
"As solid as I skated and to get those scores, I am furious, and I think deservedly so."
On Saturday, U.S. Figure Skating President Samuel Auxier said he had no issues with Wagner's comments, but added, "I agree with the judging. When she reviews what she did, she will see the mistake on the combination in the short program was very costly, as was the missed level on the spin at the end of the free skate. Those points were the difference."
Wagner was controversially named to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics team, even though she finished behind Nagasu at the nationals. She wound up in seventh place at the Olympics four years ago, but did win a team bronze medal.
Ice skating has always had its share of controversies, however, and Wagner's plight is no exception!
As an ISU judge, frankly, I agree with the judging," Auxier said. "When she reviews what she did, she will see the mistake on the combination in the short program was very costly, as was the missed level on the spin at the end of the free skate. Those points were the difference."
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