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Figure Skating

US Figure Skater Ashley Wagner on Trying For 2014 Olympics
Fitness

Figure Skater Ashley Wagner on Her Winter Olympics Dreams

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from espnW here on FitSugar!
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We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from espnW here on FitSugar! This week, figure skater Ashley Wagner blogs about her journey to the 2014 Winter Olympics.

By Ashley Wagner

To come as close as you possibly can to your dreams without achieving them is heartbreaking.

That's what happened to me in 2010. You may or may not have noticed me back then, but I was the first alternate to the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Going to the Olympics has always been my dream, ever since I watched Tara Lipinski win the 1998 Games.

When I just missed the team, it kind of made me re-evaluate whether I even wanted to keep skating at all, but I ultimately realized I wasn't done with the sport. I want to work as hard as I can so the next time I won't leave anything behind, and have no regrets.

I started skating when I was 5 years old. I was living in Alaska at the time — one of many places we called home because my dad was in the Army — and my little brother and I were cooped up in the house, challenging my mom as most kids do. She decided to take some action, so she signed us up for a Mommy and Me ice skating class. I loved it, but she hated it. My mom never got back on the rink again, but I never wanted to stop!

Kerri Walsh Jennings On Her Olympic Success

I just loved the feeling of skating. Even as we moved around a lot with my dad's job, my parents made sure there was a rink nearby wherever we were stationed. I was always in a new place with new people, but the ice was the one place I was comfortable and didn't have to readjust. I felt at home, and skating was like an old friend that had always been there for me.

Flag football takes hold in Anchorage

I'm confident I have some talent, but I think the one thing that got me to the point where I am now is I'm a ridiculously hard worker. Everything I've accomplished as a skater is the result of a lot of blood, sweat and tears — the old-fashioned way. I'm on the ice 20 to 25 hours a week depending on the season, and I spend an hour or two off-ice each day doing yoga, core weight training, swimming, running and circuit training.

I've made plenty of sacrifices along the way. In high school when my friends were going to a movie on Friday nights, I didn't go because I had practice early on Saturday. I completed my senior year of high school online because I had moved from Washington, D.C., to Delaware to train with a different coach. I'm 21, but not a normal college kid because I chose to move to California to train full time. Still, I get to do what I love more than anything else in the world, so I'm lucky.

Blog from bobsledder Elana Meyers on Lolo Jones training with them

Keep reading for more.

Should Athletes Who Fall Get a Medal?
Poll

Should Athletes Medal Even If They Fall?

While watching the figure skating events at this year's Winter games, a few friends mentioned that if a skater falls, they shouldn't medal.
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While watching the figure skating events at this year's Winter games, a few friends mentioned that if a skater falls, they shouldn't medal. Many of them were pointing to Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, who skated his way into third place despite falling in his long program. Meanwhile, American Johnny Weir skated a flawless short and long program but ended up in sixth place.

The idea of an athlete not winning a medal because of a fall is not a new sentiment, and is only one reason sports with judges are controversial. During the 2008 Summer games, China's Cheng Fei received bronze in the women's vault despite landing on her knees. Like Takahasi, many of Fei's competitors gave solid performances and stuck their landings. But what sets Fei and Takahasi apart is that their overall performances are much more difficult than their competitors who gave clean routines.

What do you think . . .

Olympic Sports With Judges Plagued by Controversy
Poll

Should Sports With Judges Be Allowed in the Olympics?

It was nail-biting watching the men's figure skating competition this year.
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It was nail-biting watching the men's figure skating competition this year. In the end, Evan Lysacek took home the gold — a decision that wasn't without controversy. Many argue that at its core, figure skating is not a sport, in part because the winner is determined by a group of judges. Often, the judges disagree and it's questionable how impartial they can really be — remember the huge judging scandal that plagued the 2002 Winter games? Try as they may to revamp the scoring system, there is always controversy: some felt that Evgeni Plushenko should have skated away with gold, while others said Johnny Weir was cheated out of a better standing.

Some say that the only way to have a fair Olympics is to get rid of any sport that relies on judges, turning them into demonstration sports instead. That way, medal standings are determined solely by an athlete's performance: who crosses the finish line first and which team scores the most points. No one doubted the gold medal victories achieved by Lindsey Vonn, Hannah Kearney, or Bode Miller — it was clear as day that each of them finished first.

What do you think . . .

The Top Figure Skating Outfits of the Olympics
ice skating

Sparkles, Spandex, and Spirit Fingers

For such a graceful sport, there's always a lot of controversy surrounding figure skating: to quad or not to quad, judging scandals, and putting hits out on other skaters, to name just a few of the soap opera-esque moments happening on the ice.
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For such a graceful sport, there's always a lot of controversy surrounding figure skating: to quad or not to quad, judging scandals, and putting hits out on other skaters, to name just a few of the soap opera-esque moments happening on the ice. For some — like columnist Ken Herman — just calling figure skating a sport is rife with controversy: "Nothing done to music is a sport. And anything involving costumes (especially with sequins) is not a sport. Sports have uniforms, not costumes."

Still, figure skating remains one of the most watched of the Olympic events; I'm thinking those sequins, jazz hands, and feathers have a lot to do with its success. Let's face it — before there was a Lady Gaga, there was competitive ice skating. So far, at the Vancouver games, we've been dazzled with some spectacular costumes: corsets, leather, and feathers dominated, and that was only from the men!

Here are our picks for the most memorable (read: outlandish/wild/questionable) costumes from Olympics past.

View 17 Photos ›

And for more photos just read more

Johnny Weir Olympics Interview
Tips

Olympic Beauty: Talking Makeup With Figure Skater Johnny Weir

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics have just begun, and with them comes fierce competition in figure skating.
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The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics have just begun, and with them comes fierce competition in figure skating. Figure skaters aren't just amazing athletes, though — they're also consummate performers with more beauty savvy than you can shake a kabuki brush at. So you can imagine my excitement when Johnny Weir, one of the US team's brightest stars, let me ask him my most burning Olympic makeup questions. He had some great advice, so to find out how to get a performance-worthy look, just keep reading.

Rachael Flatt Olympics Interview
Makeup

Olympian Rachael Flatt Shares Her Makeup Secrets

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are almost upon us, and sports from bobsledding to curling will be all over our TV sets.
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The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are almost upon us, and sports from bobsledding to curling will be all over our TV sets. While she was gearing up for the competition, Rachael Flatt, one of the US figure skating team's stars, let me ask her a couple of questions about hair and makeup on the ice. She had great tips for keeping your hair in place and the eye shadow shades that make your look pop, so to find out what she had to say, just read more.

SMG on Self, But Not Self Centered
Celebrity

SMG on Self, But Not Self Centered

Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of those celebrities that seems a bit more grounded, despite the fact that she too was a child actress.
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Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of those celebrities that seems a bit more grounded, despite the fact that she too was a child actress. Recently, she deep dived with Self Magazine about what's it's like to be her...

Here are highlights:

Gellar follows a very strict eating plan that she summarizes in two words: good food. "I'm not much of a junk food eater. I like pretzels, but I'd rather have steak. I'd rather have a great meal. I'd rather dine.

It's a bit hard to believe Gellar puts away all that grub give that, at 5 foot 4, she's barely sample-size. But she works up an appetitive by being active virtually nonstop. As a child, she was ranked the third-best figure skater in New York state, and later she earned a brown belt in tae kwon do. Most recently, she's taken up tennis.

Usually I don't buy into celebrities saying that they eat a lot and don't gain weight, but somehow I feel like she's being honest. It seems she is just sensible about what she eats, but she'd never deny herself some tasty grub, especially since her hubby went to culinary school. Also, balancing off the tasty grub with some good old fashioned activity (skating and tae kwon do?!) is definitely a healthy way to live life. Plus, she's known to bike around New York City (man, I still love that bike) instead of using car, or a driver for that matter. Check out the rest of her great interview in the October issue of Self Magazine (on newsstands now).

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