On February 8th, 2018 the Winter Olympic Games will begin in South Korea. USA picks the individual figure skaters that will go to the games at Nationals. Typically, the top three finishers go and compete and the fourth place finisher becomes the alternate. Wagner expected to be a returner on the Olympic team; as she has been ranked one of the top figure skaters in the U.S.. Even though she had an amazing routine that she was extremely proud of, she placed fourth. Anyone would be upset about not making the team, especially when they came as close as Wagner did. Although, she took her frustration a step too far and went to question the judges about her scores.

Ashley Wagner went to the 2014 Winter Olympics, under a very similar situation. She had placed fourth but the Olympic Committee switched her with the third place finisher. When she went to the Olympics she did not do so well. So, she worked really hard to make it to Nationals, get on the olympic team, and hopefully do well this time around at the Olympics. However, that did not happen and as Wagner is twenty-six years old, this was probably going to be her last chance at her Olympic dream. She was clearly heartbroken about her placing, as she showed on national t.v.; shaking her head and pursing her lips . But, should she really have questioned the judges? She wasn’t respecting the judges, and that she should be happy for getting the chance to compete at Nationals, and she still is an Olympic alternate. On the other hand, I see where she is coming from. I too do a sport where your judged by a score and how the judge sees you. It’s not like track or swim, where you’re timed. Sometimes, the judges sees something you might not agree with. For example, I do competitive gymnastics, and one time when I was competing my score was very low. I couldn’t understand; I did everything in my routine and stuck all of my landings. Even my coach was confused, so we put in an inquiry for my score and it turned out the judge didn’t see one of my skills. That mistake took about half a point off my score; no wonder it was so low. Judges are people too and they make mistakes. So, I think it was okay for Wagner to question them, but the way she went about it was a problem. When the score first came up she started shaking her head and was very disappointed. When you’re on national t.v. you have to be more careful about your actions.

A week later in an interview with the Today Show, Wagner says she has no regrets about her actions. Wagner said, “I think I was just heartbroken, I mean I was devastated, I had worked twenty-two years for that moment. And I put out something I was so proud of.” Wagner wanted to do her best, and she thought she did. She supports who is on the team and said the girls earned their spot. She talked about how the scores deal with herself, and she wanted to know why they were low compared to what she usually gets. That way she can perfect her routines to make sure this problem does not happen again. Overall, I think Wagner should have been more careful about her actions after she got her score, but it is good that she supports the team and is excited to cheer them on.