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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Congrats to Sarah Hendrickson and Lindsey Van!
The two ski jumpers just secured spots on the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Ski Jumping Team!
The 19- and 29-year-old skiers were named to the Olympic team alongside Jessica Jerome, Nick Fairall, Nick Alexander, Peter Frenette and Anders Johnson following the Ski Jumping Olympic Trials held at Utah Olympic Park on late last year in Park City, Utah.
“WOOOHOOOO! WE ARE GOING TO SOCHI! #redull #roadtosochi #sochi2014 #teamoakley #greatstartssarah #teamusana #nike @teamusa,” Sarah celebrated on Instagram with a cute pic.
The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics start on February 6th, with opening ceremonies on February 7th.
Meryl Davis and Charlie White get their interest peaked from a reporter during the Team Kellogg’s Sochi Winter Olympics Kick-Off event held at The New Museum last week in New York City.
The two champion Ice Dancers were joined by ski-jumper Sarah Hendrickson, free skier Torin Yater-Wallace, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler along with Team Kellogg’s co-captains Kristi Yamaguchi and Jim Craig.
“Great morning on the Today Show with @torinwallace and other Olympic Hopefuls! Can’t believe this is happening ???????????????????????? #sochi2014 #roadtosochi #todayshow #nike #usoc #usst,” Sarah excitedly tweeted the day after during her Today Show appearance for the official kick-off event.
Check out Sarah‘s Kellogg’s video below! 10+ pics inside…
Team Kellogg’s – Sarah Hendrickson
More Here! »
Sarah Hendrickson is all smiles for the USOC portrait shoot which happened just last week in Los Angeles.
The 18-year-old ski-jumper, who stands as the world champion, was just recently honored with the “Olympian of the Year” honor at the Governor’s State of Sport Awards in Utah.
The Governor’s State of Sport Awards honor individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to sport in Utah in 2012.
“Long day shooting for USOC in Cali today but so awesome to meet some of the Olympic hopefuls! Chilling out in Beverly Hills tomorrow :)” Sarah wrote after the shoot.
Can’t wait to watch her at the Olympics!
15+ pics inside… More Here! »
Sarah Hendrickson gets lifted by her teammates after grabbing the gold during the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Women’s Ski Jumping HS106 on Friday (February 22) in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
The 18-year-old athlete scored a total of 253.7 points, almost three points ahead of rival Sara Takanashi of Japan.
“I can’t even put it into words right now,” Sarah shared (via USA Today). “I’m so happy. I had confidence on this hill and I knew I could have good jumps. But standing at the top of the first round, my heart was beating and everything was shaking and I didn’t know if I could pull it off. But obviously I pulled together two good jumps.”
Earlier in the week, Sarah competed at the FIS Women’s Ski Jumping event held in Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia. There, she placed third after Sara Takanashi and Coline Mattel of France.
Congrats, Sarah! 25+ pics inside… More Here! »
