Ashley Wagner slams Olympic figure skating judges, calls for change

http://sports.yahoo.com/news ^ | February 20, 2014 | Martin Rogers

[NKP_Vet]

SOCHI, Russia — Ashley Wagner launched a withering attack on figure skating's hierarchy and the Winter Olympics judges on Thursday night after being pushed down to seventh in the ladies' individual competition.

The 22-year-old American fought back tears as she revealed her frustration and anger with the judging at the Iceberg Skating Palace and suggested that the two Russian skaters, gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova and fifth-place finisher Julia Lipnitskaia, had been given unfairly inflated scores.

"I feel gypped," said Wagner, who skated two programs without any falls and punched the air with delight at the end of her free skate.

[NKP_Vet]

I agree. The Russian that won the Gold almost fell and the announcers said nothing at all about it. Yuna Kim had another flawless skate and should should have won the Gold in my opinion, with the Russian taking Silver and Wagner Bronze. But each Olympics has this same scenario. Different Olympics, same story. Wagner has every right to feel cheated. She scored lower than a Russian who fell twice on the ice.

[1rudeboy]

"I feel gypped"

Racist!

[mykroar]

Agree - I couldn’t believe how low her numbers were on her long program. And no question that Kim shouldn’t won gold.

[mykroar]

And no question that Kim shouldn’t won gold.

SHOULD HAVE

[TomGuy]

As I have posted in some of the football related threads, refs have prefs.

Recall the scandal regarding the French (IIRC) judge at the Olympics several years ago.

[pgkdan]

I would have had Kim Gold, Kerchner Silver and The Russian Bronze. Wagner should have been 5th or 6th.

[SoothingDave]

Maybe they need instant replay.

[Loud Mime]

Judges carry the ability to change the outcome, and its not just in gymnastics or figure skating.

Does anybody remember the '72 Olympics Gold Medal Basketball Game?

[NKP_Vet]

“As I have posted in some of the football related threads, refs have prefs”.

After Russian was taken out of the Hockey medal contention, this was to be expected. The two biggest events of the Winter Olympics are figure skating and hockey. Now Russian has Gold in one of them. And let’s not forget they said the other day they were cheated out of the win against the Americans when that goal was not allowed. They’re still raising hell about it.

[pbear8]

I would have put Carolina Kostner in first.

[pbear8]

The rules state that a goal cannot be scored when the net is not fixed in place. Since it was not, the refs really didn’t have a choice.

[from occupied ga]

and suggested that the two Russian skaters, gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova and fifth-place finisher Julia Lipnitskaia, had been given unfairly inflated scores.

Pretty obvious to me that they were given inflated scores.

[Cordio]

Kim should have one. But Ashely Wagner has never been a favorite of mine. She went through her long program in a perfunctory way, I thought, certainly without the finess of a Kim. Ashely is famous for mistake making under pressure, including the U S finals where she was fourth or fifth because of major mistakes but was chosen to go to the Olympics ahead of a skater who earned 3rd, who was not happy or felt that a fair decision. Her skate of the long program was far from her best artistically-she just didn’t make a major technical mistake.

[latina4dubya]

Wagner should have been 5th or 6th.

i agree! it takes more than "no falls" to make for a clean skate... a clean program... she may not have fallen, but she was not exactly clean... she had some mistakes... and i know that a fall does not mean you automatically lose, or lose out on the gold... it all depends on the difficulty, style, etc... as it is, she almost didn't even make the team...

[dfwgator]

Part of the reason I don’t care that much for the Winter Olympics anymore.

Too many events are based on judging. I just want events where the results are objective, who is the fastest or whatever, without dealing with “style points.”

[cunning_fish]

Flawless skating is not that makes the most points in this sport. A complicity of tricks and overall grace is that counts the most. So, you can lose a point at fall but gain five points at certain jump. You need to take it into account before judging.

[EnquiringMind]

What a sore loser are you, Ashley Wagner. That little Russian girl was fabulous, not to mention she performed an extra jump. She was the clear winner, IMO.

[HamiltonJay]

So you believe technical difficulty should have no impact on scoring? If just not falling is the game everyone can just do the minimum ... Doesn’t sound like much of a competition to me.

[dfwgator]

Yep, I could skate for five minutes without falling, but I don’t think I would come close to winning a Gold Medal for it. ;)

[mykroar]

I don’t think Wagner should have medalled, but her scores seemed very low for a clean program. Kim, however, got completely ganked. I think Kim should have gotten the gold, Russian silver and Italian bronze.