Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner and Italy’s Carolina Kostner glide across the ice during the short program at the 2014 ISU World Figure Skating Championships held at Saitama Super Arena on Thursday afternoon (March 27) in Saitama, Japan.
Currently, Japan’s Mao Asada sits on top of the leaderboard with 78.66 points, followed by Carolina earning 77.24 and Russia’s Yulia Lipnitskaya, with 74.54.
Gracie, 18, is in 5th at the moment, with Ashley, 22, in 7th and Polina Edmunds in 12th.
Remember, the top two U.S. finishes must add up to 13 or less to keep the three spots at the world championships for next year.
“There is. . .a lot of pressure for the United States to keep the three spots we already have,” Ashley shared. “It’s one of those times where maybe I’m tired but I’m not going to be selfish. I’m thinking about everybody else who might be going to worlds next year.”
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Figure skaters Ashley Wagner, Gracie Gold and Polina Edmunds stop by The Today Show on early Saturday morning (February 22) after competing in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The athletes — 22, 18, and 15-years-old, respectively — opened up on the program about the controversy surrounding the scoring system that placed Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova over South Korea’s Yuna Kim and Italy’s Carolina Kostner in the free skate the night before.
“People need to be held accountable,” Ashley shared in a interview after the medals had been decided. “They need to get rid of anonymous judging. There are many changes that need to come to this sport if we want a fan base. People don’t want to watch a sport where you watch people fall down and somehow score above someone who goes clean. It’s confusing and we need to make it clear for people.”
Johnny Weir, who placed 6th at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and is a commentator at Sochi, shared, “That is a big, big number [Adelina's score]. You have to think being in Russia in front of a Russian audience has definitely helped. She (Sotnikova) skated well, I don’t know if she was eight points ahead of Carolina Kostner.”
Also pictured below: Jason Brown, Kristi Yamaguchi, Paul Wylie, Scott Hamilton, Jeremy Abbott, Alex and Maia Shibutani plus Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome and Sarah Hendrickson of the USA Skiing Team.
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Russia’s Adeline Sotnikova wraps herself in her country’s flag alongside Korea’s Yuna Kim and Italy’s Carolina Kostner, after winning the gold medal during the ladie’s free skate at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics held at Iceberg Skating Palace on Thursday night (February 20) in Sochi, Russia.
Adelina, 17, was passed over for the team event where Russia won gold with sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya — she ended up 5th, overall.
“I really wanted to participate in the team competition because I understood that we would win a medal because our team is so strong,” Adelina shared with press afterwards. “When I found out I was not in the team, I felt so sorry and I felt offended. I felt so cheated in a way. Anyway, I still had my goal to show this skating, the one that I did today. Maybe it is all for the best that I didn’t compete in the team competition and it was an advantage for me that it made me so mad to win the gold medal.”
Team USA’s Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner and Polina Edmunds were strong on the ice, with only a few falls on jumps between them. They all ended up in the top ten — Gracie, 4th, Ashley, 7th and Polina, 9th.
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Ashley Wagner, Gracie Gold and Polina Edmunds came out with a strong presence during the Figure Skating Ladies’ Short Program at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics held at Iceberg Skating Palace on Wednesday night (February 19) in Sochi, Russia.
Polina, 15, put Team USA on the map in the first group, earning a 61.04. Gracie, 18, in the second group earned 68.63 and Ashley, 22, who skated in the last group with the top skaters, earned 65.21, just a mere .02 points from Russia’s Yulia Lipnitskaya.
Currently, Gracie sits in 4th place, with Ashley and Polina in 6th and 7th, respectively.
Can’t wait to see them in the free skate tomorrow night! 15+ pics inside… More Here! »
Meet Polina Edmunds, the breakout star of the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships!
Over the weekend, the 15-year-old skater was just a few points behind leader and winner Gracie Gold at the annual event held at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
“I think tonight was the night we all needed to prove ourselves, and I think I proved myself,” Polina told press after her senior level debut.
And on early Sunday morning (January 12), Polina was announced as one of the ladies team members for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Congrats, Polina – watch her performances below!
Polina Edmunds – Short Program, 1/09
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