SOCHI, Russia Thu Feb 6, 2014 4:43am EST
Ashley Wagner of the U.S. skates during a figure skating training sesssion in preparation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at the Iceberg Skating Palace, February 5, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson
<span id="articleText"/> SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Controversially gifted a spot on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team despite an error-strewn performance at the national championships, Ashley Wagner decided only radical change would give her shot at the podium in Sochi.
<span id="midArticle_0"/> Wagner ditched the problematic long program she had been rehearsing all season just weeks before the February 7-23 Sochi Olympics. She concedes making the decision so close to the Games was a massive gamble.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> "It is absolutely crazy, insane that I decided to change it, but I am so passionate about what I do and so driven to get onto that Olympic podium, I just felt in my heart that program was not going to get me there," she said.
<span id="midArticle_2"/> "It's a big risk."
<span id="midArticle_3"/> Wagner's skate at nationals ended in tears, fourth place and a sleepless night while she prayed selectors would overlook her performance and select her for one of the three places.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Gracie Gold earned her Olympic ticket after capturing her first national title while 15-year-old sensation Polina Edmunds took second, locking up two of the three spots.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> Mirai Nagasu, who was fourth at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, placed third and had looked set to grab the final position.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> However, a nine-member panel awarded it to Wagner based on the two-time national champion's past performances.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> "Seeing Sochi 2014 and the Olympic rings everywhere, you know, I kind of half to pinch myself," she said.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> The last leg of her journey has not been easy. She has had to face down a storm of controversy over being picked and claw back her confidence to bring it to the Games.
<span id="midArticle_9"/> Shakespeare's soft-hearted, tragic heroine in Sergei Prokofiev's score of Romeo and Juliet was not going to get her to the podium, she felt.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> "The break up with Romeo and Juliet was when I fell twice at nationals. That was a really bad break up," she said.
<span id="midArticle_11"/> So Wagner, against her coach's advice, revived an old program to composer Camille Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah.
<span id="midArticle_12"/> "This music makes me competitive, this is the one that kind of raises the hair on my arms, gets me excited to go out there and be vicious," Wagner said.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> In the world of figure skating, artistry is only half the battle. Nailing the big jumps is what puts Japan's Mao Asada and South Korea's Kim Yuna at the top.
<span id="midArticle_14"/> To help her stick the elusive triple-triple jumps when it counts, Wagner shed pounds and let coach Rafael Arutunian work her "to the point of exhaustion."
<span id="midArticle_15"/> It paid off as she landed the difficult combination at her first practice session in Sochi.
<span id="midArticle_0"/> "I can't sugarcoat it, that is really what is going to make or break this competition," Wagner bluntly told reporters.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> (Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
<span id="midArticle_2"/>
Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson
<span id="articleText"/> SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Controversially gifted a spot on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team despite an error-strewn performance at the national championships, Ashley Wagner decided only radical change would give her shot at the podium in Sochi.
<span id="midArticle_0"/> Wagner ditched the problematic long program she had been rehearsing all season just weeks before the February 7-23 Sochi Olympics. She concedes making the decision so close to the Games was a massive gamble.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> "It is absolutely crazy, insane that I decided to change it, but I am so passionate about what I do and so driven to get onto that Olympic podium, I just felt in my heart that program was not going to get me there," she said.
<span id="midArticle_2"/> "It's a big risk."
<span id="midArticle_3"/> Wagner's skate at nationals ended in tears, fourth place and a sleepless night while she prayed selectors would overlook her performance and select her for one of the three places.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Gracie Gold earned her Olympic ticket after capturing her first national title while 15-year-old sensation Polina Edmunds took second, locking up two of the three spots.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> Mirai Nagasu, who was fourth at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, placed third and had looked set to grab the final position.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> However, a nine-member panel awarded it to Wagner based on the two-time national champion's past performances.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> "Seeing Sochi 2014 and the Olympic rings everywhere, you know, I kind of half to pinch myself," she said.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> The last leg of her journey has not been easy. She has had to face down a storm of controversy over being picked and claw back her confidence to bring it to the Games.
<span id="midArticle_9"/> Shakespeare's soft-hearted, tragic heroine in Sergei Prokofiev's score of Romeo and Juliet was not going to get her to the podium, she felt.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> "The break up with Romeo and Juliet was when I fell twice at nationals. That was a really bad break up," she said.
<span id="midArticle_11"/> So Wagner, against her coach's advice, revived an old program to composer Camille Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah.
<span id="midArticle_12"/> "This music makes me competitive, this is the one that kind of raises the hair on my arms, gets me excited to go out there and be vicious," Wagner said.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> In the world of figure skating, artistry is only half the battle. Nailing the big jumps is what puts Japan's Mao Asada and South Korea's Kim Yuna at the top.
<span id="midArticle_14"/> To help her stick the elusive triple-triple jumps when it counts, Wagner shed pounds and let coach Rafael Arutunian work her "to the point of exhaustion."
<span id="midArticle_15"/> It paid off as she landed the difficult combination at her first practice session in Sochi.
<span id="midArticle_0"/> "I can't sugarcoat it, that is really what is going to make or break this competition," Wagner bluntly told reporters.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> (Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
<span id="midArticle_2"/>
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