The official roster for the U.S. Figure Skating Olympic Team have been announced.
After competing at the 2018 U.S. Championships over the weekend in San Jose, U.S. Figure Skating announced that three men, three ladies, three ice dance teams and one pair team would be headed to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics set for next month.
During the Olympics, like in 2014, the US team will also compete in the team event consisting of one lady, one man, one pairs team and one ice dance team, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will kick off on February 9th in South Korea.
Click inside now to meet the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Olympic Team…
Ashley Wagner is not happy about losing out on Team USA placement in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The figure skater received lower scores than she expected from the judges during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday (January 5).
Ashley finished in fourth place and revealed to The Salt Lake Tribune that she was “absolutely furious.”
“For me to put out two programs that I did at this competition as solid as I skated and to get those scores, I am furious, and I think deservedly so,” she shared. “I honestly think that at the end of the day, this is how I feel, and I feel like I need to stick up for myself, and I think that I delivered when I really needed to. I think all these girls delivered when they needed to, but I want to be on that Olympic team and I’m really mad that I’m in this position again.”
Ashley finished in fourth in the U.S. Championships in 2014 as well and was given the chance to represent the country at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, but today it was announced that Ashley will serve as Team USA’s first alternate.
The 2018 Games, starting on February 8, would have marked Ashley‘s third Olympic experience (she was also a first alternate at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver).
As an athlete, I'm allowed to be mad. As a senior competitor with over 10 years of experience, I'm allowed to question things. At the end of the day, I laid out my best and I'm going home proud! Congrats to the lovely ladies of the team, you've got me in your cheering squad now!
FYI: Anne wore a Meshki bralette. Ivana wore a PrettyLittleThing wrap dress. Ashley T wore a Milly dress and Schutz shoes. Jennette wore Sachin & Babi dress, Allsaints jacket, Caterina Jewelry earrings, Swarovski choker and rings, and an Inge Christopher clutch, with Jaggar thigh highs. Nastia wore Asilio. Samantha wore a For Love and Lemons dress and Kate Spade heels.
The athlete, who is the reigning U.S. National Silver Medalist, defended her words in the mag on twitter, when one site took the piece like Ashley was apologizing for even being in the sport to begin with.
She wasn’t — at all.
“Let’s be clear, I’m making no apologies for my sport!” Ashley wrote on Twitter. “I’m excited to take this opportunity to showcase the athleticism of skating.”
Definitely read Ashley‘s essay, which will give you more appreciation for figure skating and Ashley.
Ashley is also pictured below with BFF, fellow skater and choreographer Adam Rippon, and gymnast Aly Raisman, at the BODY at ESPYs Party in Hollywood on Tuesday (July 11).
“It isn’t so black and white,” she shared in a new interview. “Charlie and I took until about a month and a half, two months ago to decide for sure to announce that we weren’t going to go back to the Olympics.”
That’s over three years of weighing options and going through all their pro and cons lists.
Meryl adds, “For us, it really is a sort of intangible feeling…We took that time, and were sort of blown in the direction of new adventures.”
And adventures there are…when Meryl isn’t teaching young kids learn to skate through the Figure Skating in Harlem and Figure Skating in Detroit programs, she’s working on her anthropology degree, and next up? Stars on Ice!
“Obviously I had a very terrible long program and I didn’t place very well and I got a low score,” Gracie said after her long program.
“It’s just something about this year, I’ve been in a funk. I’m glad this is not the Olympic year.”
However, she still thinks she should be on the world team roster.
“Even though today’s skating was subpar, there’s not a doubt in my mind that this has been a rough season, but that I’m still pretty much one of the best skaters in the United States and in the world. … All I know is that, given the opportunity, I wouldn’t let them down and I think that I would be a very wise pick for the world team.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should Gracie be on the world teams?
JJJ Update: Gracie has just split with her longtime coach, Frank Carroll. He was also the coach for Michelle Kwan, Evan Lysacek, Mirai Nagasu and currently coaches 2014 Mens’ Bronze Medalist Denis Ten.
Click inside for the full US Figure Skating World Teams Rosters…More Here! »
Let’s get real here — Ashley Wagner is one of the greatest figure skaters in the United States right now. We’ll go as far to say that she IS the greatest.
When you have three national titles, and are the current US National Silver Medalist, you can definitely say that you are on the top — so why is Ashley having to still answer questions about her age in this sport?
“I’m so sick of hearing about my age,” she shared during a press conference during the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships this weekend. “I’m so sick of it.”
She’s 25, which for some, is considered old in the sport of figure skating. But it shouldn’t be. It should be fierce, and amazing, and magnifying.
Ashley added, “You guys, if anyone asks me one more question about my age, I’ll just stop talking to them. It’s ridiculous.”
This isn’t the first time age has come up for women, especially, in sports. Ashley has fought back numerous times and even Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas tackled it when they were selected for the Final Five Gymnastics team for Rio.
“When a football player wins a Super Bowl, no one asks them why they come back. When the swimmers win, they don’t ask them,” Aly said then. “With gymnastics they always say it can’t be done but Gabby and I are trying to disprove that…I think you have to be a little crazy. Me and Gabby are a little bit nuts.”
Watch both of Ashley‘s programs from nationals below!
