Ashley Wagner is elated after skating a flawless freeskate at the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships. (Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images)
On Saturday night around 10:50pm EST, Ashley Wagner won her third national figure skating title, snatching the top spot away from 2014 national champion Gracie Gold. Wagner, who won with a score of 221.02, bested Gold by more than 15 points overall and 10 points in the free skate. Gold took a costly fall on a triple flip, a jump that she’d been struggling with since returing from a severe stress fracture in her foot which sidelined her from the Grand Prix Final in December.
Wagner’s win is extremely important for the sport both nationally and internationally. Nationally–she’s the strongest female skater the Americans can put on the ice. On any given day she can skate lights out in terms of components and artistry. Internationally–she’s the only true challenge the Americans have against the Russians for the gold medal at the World Championships.
Wagner nails a triple loop with a difficult spread eagle entry in the second half of her free skate at U.S. Nationals on Saturday.
Wagner’s personality is huge–she’s never afraid to speak her mind, or show it. At the Sochi games in 2014, Wagner was the only athlete–male or female and from any country or discipline–to speak out against Vladimir Putin’s human rights record. Even if U.S. Figure Skating cannot brand her with the fairy tale image in the same way they did with Gold last season, they should be so lucky to have an athlete truly embody the qualities of a citizen diplomat for the United States. She also is known for her infamous facial expressions of shock when she saw the judges’ marks after the team event. Wagner has been on top of the U.S. podium twice before, but became an underdog when Gold’s storybook narrative took over, and when (more significantly) Ashley crumbled at nationals last year, making the Olympic team on a selection decision rather than winning a medal at nationals. Since finishing off the podium in Sochi, Wagner has taken the 2014-15 season by storm, using the doubts that the media cast as a way to fuel her fire. While Gold often used sit-down interviews and profiles leading up to nationals to mention the mounting media attention and expectations placed on her shoulders during and following the 2014 Olympics, Wagner never complained about the pressure. She often talked about how she thrived on it. On Saturday, she used it as rocket fuel to propel her to to the top; overtaking anyone who dared stand (or triple loop) in her way.
FiveThirtyEight’s Carla Correa made this chart to showcase just how much Wagner has improved over the past two seasons.
Wagner’s connection with the audience during her freeskate to “One Day I’ll Fly Away” from Moulan Rouge was unlike much of what we’ve seen from the ladies at nationals since the Kwan era. Former national champions Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu didn’t rock the house like Wagner. Wagner even outdid herself, skating more powerfully and forcefully than and with expression unparalled by her previous two titles. This amazing FiveThirtyEight post breaks down just exactly how much Wagner was able to improve over last season. The change in rules to allow lyrics gave Wagner the opportunity to showcase her personality in a way that she was never able to before this season. She couldn’t have said it better: “I’m so endlessly in love with this sport,” Wagner said, “and I’m so glad I was able to show it with the way I skated tonight.”
And although Wagner’s personality and outspokenness is important when talking about her contributions to the sport, the most important takeaway from the weekend is her over the top combined score. With a total score in the 220s–the best score an American woman has ever posted at the U.S. championships–Wagner is actually a serious gold medal contender at the World Championships; she’s not just a contender because she’s an American who gets a ton of media coveraged and is coached by Rafael Arutuynian (Michelle Kwan’s former coach). We haven’t seen an American figure skater as important to the sport since Michelle Kwan. Now we have Ashley.
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