Two weeks after what she described as the “devastating” disappointment of not making the 2018 U.S. Olympic team, three-time national figure skating champion and 2014 Olympic team bronze medalist Ashley Wagner said Friday she “very likely” will be going to South Korea to work “on the media side of things.”
Wagner, 26, who finished a controversial fourth at the national championships, told USA TODAY Sports that details are not yet finalized, but that she has been presented with “lots of cool opportunities,” adding, “It’s very likely I will be over in Korea and be busy with someone in some way, shape or form, which is really exciting for me.”
Wagner, the most quotable skater of this, or perhaps any, generation who was the most heavily-promoted U.S. female skater leading up to the Olympics, said she couldn’t say with whom she might be working, but said the media “is something I’ve been wanting to work into anyway.” She also has various sponsors who are continuing to use her, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bridgestone, P&G and Zico.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Wagner said. “This Olympic door slammed shut in my face but so many other doors are opening up for me to just kind of step on through.”
As the first alternate for the U.S. Olympic team, Wagner said she is continuing to train every day at her rink in Southern California in case she is needed due to an injury or illness to one of the three American women competing in Pyeongchang: Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen. The last time an Olympic alternate was called upon in U.S. figure skating was 2006, when Emily Hughes replaced the injured Michelle Kwan in Turin, Italy.
“I feel mixed emotions,” Wagner said. “It’s a really tough position to be in as an alternate. I’m going into the rink and training but I’m training for something that there’s absolutely no guarantee of happening. You still have to be prepared but you’re also basically training for nothing. That emotionally is really hard to do every single day.”
Presuming she ends up in Pyeongchang with a media job, Wagner said with a smile, “My skates will definitely be coming over to Korea with me.”
Wagner found herself in the midst of an unprecedented judging controversy at the 2018 national championships in San Jose. As the only American woman to win a world championship medal over the past 11 seasons (silver in 2016), she inexplicably was given lower program component scores (the highly-subjective artistic and performance scores) at nationals than she received at her autumn international events. This didn’t happen to her competitors. It happened only to her – the most recognizable American woman competing in the sport, nationally and internationally.
She said she has thought a lot about this and has had “a hard time getting peace with it,” but also wants to move on.
“For some reason, everything kind of shook out the way it did, and I absolutely can accept that,” Wagner said. “Over the years, I have so much respect for the sport and so much respect for my competitors. At this point, it’s not my job to take away from any of those girls’ legitimacy to be on that team. All of them earned their spot in their own right.
“After Sochi (when Wagner was placed on the Olympic team based on her body of work), the last thing I would ever want to do is take away from any of those athletes. For me to try to find a reason as to why this happened, there’s no point. At this point, I’m officially Team USA’s champion and I’m going to be supporting them from the sidelines.”
Wagner said she has made no decisions yet about her future in competitive figure skating, but did say that she will use her well-received new “La La Land” program during the Stars on Ice skating tour this spring.
“No matter what happens with my career from here on out,” she said, “I am proof that you don’t have to be the most talented, you don’t have to be the most graceful, you don’t have to be the most supported, but if you have the most heart, you can make anything happen.”
