Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen go 1-2-3 against a deep field, but the fourth-place finisher is “furious” with her scores and believes her overall body of work warrants a spot on Team U…
San Jose—Ashley Wagner finished off the podium at the U. S. Figure Skating Championships Friday night but nevertheless found—or placed—herself at the center of another drama looming over the Olympic team selection.
Bradie Tennell, the Illinois 19-year-old who only weeks ago was nowhere on the Olympic radar, captured the U. S. title against the deepest women’s field in five Olympic cycles with a composed and flawless free skate and a 219.51 overall score on tension-filled evening at SAP Center.
“Going into it I could really feel the intensity of the arena and all the energy,” Tennell said.
It was even electric backstage where Wagner, the three-time U. S. champion and 2016 World Championships silver medalist, ripped into the judges after finishing fourth overall.
Even before Wagner’s tirade the arena buzzed with sense of anticipation and uncertainty over which of the four leading contenders would present the best case for the three spots on the Olympic team on a night where the selection controversy surrounding Wagner and Mirai Nagasu at the 2014 U. S. Championships continued to loom large over the sport.
Nagasu, the 24-year-old from Arcadia, presented a convincing closing argument to return to the Olympic Games finishing second with an 213.84 overall mark.
“I really feel like the comeback kid,” said Nagasu, the 2008 U. S. champion who was also fourth at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver as a 16-year-old.
“I’m really happy with where I am right now,” she continued.
The operative word being “now.”
Four years ago Nagasu thought she was on Team USA after finishing third at the U. S. Championships in Boston, a place ahead of Wagner. But a U. S. Figure Skating selection committee sent Wagner to Sochi instead.
[related_articles location=”left” show_article_date=”false” article_type=”curated” curated_ids=”626515,624030,620101″ It is a precedent that should make for a restless night for Karen Chen, the 18-year-old Riverside-based 2017 U. S. champion, who was third at 198.59 with a courageous program after spending much of Thursday in bed with virus.
“I’m just so proud of myself,” Chen said, “to forget about all the pain I was in and just keep reminding myself that I trained so hard for this moment that I wasn’t going to let some stupid sickness win and I’m going to keep fighting to the end.”
In a sense Wagner also went out swinging Friday night, criticizing the judging in no uncertain terms after finishing just behind Chen at 196.19.
“I’m furious,” Wagner said. “I am absolutely. I know when I go and I lay it down. I absolutely left one jump on the table but 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.
“I am a performer and that second mark is just not there and you know I am absolutely OK with them being strict on my rotations. That’s what I think U. S. Figure Skating should demand of its judges but it needs to be across the board and I don’t necessarily feel like it’s been that way at this event. So we’ll see how things pan out.”
All four women will be up at 5 a.m. PST Saturday to see the Olympic team announced on NBC and against the backdrop of another selection firestorm involving Wagner, this time lit by the skater herself.
Wagner’s comments also further fueled the debate over whether the Olympic team spots should be awarded to the top three finishers at the U. S. Championships, similar to how track and field selects its Olympic team.
“Tough question,” Nagasu said. “Last cycle I would have said top three… I’m hoping this cycle is a better one for me.”
This cycle the selection committee will base their decision based on a criteria involving eight competitions (in order of importance): the 2018 U. S. Championships, the 2017-18 Grand Prix final, the 2017 Worlds, 2017-18 Grand Prix circuit, 2017 Four Continents, 2017 U. S. Championships, 2017 World Junior Championships and the 2016-17 Grand Prix final.
In addition to being the new U. S. champion, Tennell was third at Skate America, a Grand Prix event, ahead of Chen and Wagner, who withdrew with a foot infection after the short program. She was ninth at the 2017 U. S. Championships and seventh at World Juniors.
Nagasu, fourth at last year’s U. S. Championships, took third at Four Continents and then posted fourth and ninth place at her two Grand Prix events. She also has the biggest upside of any of the Americans after earlier this season becoming only the second U. S. woman to land a triple axel in international competition .
Where it could get interesting is deciding between Chen, who struggled on the Grand Prix circuit this season. In addition to her U. S. title she was also fourth at the 2017 Worlds, three spots ahead of Wagner. Wagner was third at Skate Canada, her other Grand Prix event, and second at last year’s U. S. Championships.
Asked if she thought she deserved to be on the Olympic team, Wagner said, “Yes, I do.”
Wagner’s complaints about the judging center around her components scores this week. She had an overall free skate score higher than Chen’s—130.11 to 129.11. But Chen’s 3.56 margin after the short program gave her enough of a cushion in the final standings.
Wagner’s short program component score was 30.09 down, from the 33.68 and 33.47 marks she had at Skate America and Skate Canada.
“I honestly think that at the end of the day you, this is how I feel,” Wagner said when asked if she was concerned that her criticism of the judging might undermine her chances with the selection committee. “And I feel like I need to stick up for myself and I think that I delivered when I really needed to. And 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.”
But a case could also be made that Wagner has no one but herself to blame for finding herself in a precarious position again.
Wagner left off a triple salchow jump at the end of a three-jump combination just past the halfway point of her routine Friday, opting for a double salchow.
