What happened Saturday night was what often happens in the world of figure skating: a full-scale implosion. By the end of her performance in the free skate at the US Figure Skating Championships, even Wagner's sequins appeared to be crying. Four years after disappointingly missing the Olympic team by one place, Wagner appeared to have done it again.

Her performance was a collection of cringe-worthy moments including two falls and a bad stumble. With three Olympic slots available, Wagner finished fourth – and not a particularly close fourth, eight points behind Mirai Nagasu. Her Olympic dreams appeared, one gain, dashed.

U.S. Figure Skating officials chose to look beyond Wagner’s two falls amid a nerve-seized free skate at the U.S. championships Saturday, in which she finished fourth, and named Wagner to one of the three women’s spots on the Sochi-bound team.

The decision was made by a selection committee behind closed doors Sunday morning, announced at a noon news conference at Boston’s TD Garden and fell most bitterly on Mirai Nagasu, who had exulted just 12 hours earlier in a bronze-medal performance that under normal circumstances would have guaranteed her a spot on the Olympic team.

2. Two-time U.S. figure skating champion Ashley Wagner’s sponsor portfolio keeps growing. Cover Girl is the latest to sign her, joining Nike, P&G, Hilton HHonors, the Century Council, Highmark, Pandora and BP. I can’t remember a U.S. figure skater without an Olympic medal who has had more endorsements, and it is more remarkable for one who has not even won a senior world championship medal. The woman who called herself the "almost girl" now has joined Lindsey Vonn as the winter "it girls" to corporate America.

Ike were you a Yamaguchi guy or the Kerrigan type?

If you read this article I guarantee you'll start to see Harding as a sympathetic figure: http://www.believermag.com/issues/20140 ... e_marshall

It's not like this never happened before. There are a lot of politics in figure skating.

And there is definitely a bias against girls who may be seen as "rough around the edges" like Tonya Harding and Nicole Bobek. If you read this article I guarantee you'll start to see Harding as a sympathetic figure: http://www.believermag.com/issues/20140 ... e_marshall

From what I understand, the third place finisher had virtually no shot at winning a medal. Her difficulty is not high enough to be anything more than a participant.

There is a reason that NBC was building campaigns around the one they put on the team. She has a chance of winning.

Ill take that challenge.

Ive heard too many of the 911 calls

gotta love those plucky asians....

Read the article. Harding was a victim. Kerrigan was the "chosen one". Harding had to do twice as much to beat her. It's classist and un-American.

I am really thrilled that Lindsay Vonn has not been able to be shoved down out throats for two Olympic cycles in a row. Not that hot and an obvious attention whore...really a perfect mate for Tiger.

Our hotel smelled like dead hooker vagina (before you ask I had gotten a detailed description from beardown)

Is Survivorman is doing new shows? I'll have to set the DVR.

yes, I think New episodes start tonight

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Ill take that challenge.

Ive heard too many of the 911 calls

You win. Great article.

Can't get articles like that in a newspaper.

I'm an Oksana Baiul man myself. You've never seen a triple lutz until a Ukrainian broad has gone down on you.

The justification the USFSA gave for selecting Wagner was her “body of work” in international events she has competed. However, Wagner’s body of work leaves a lot to be desired. Multiple falls and stumbles seem to be everywhere, reminiscent of Canadian Patrick Chan’s performances.

In every major event where Wagner has competed, she has faltered. When Wagner is under pressure, she does not perform well. Isn’t the Olympics a pressure-packed event?

Every figure skating fan knows that Olympic gold medal winners are not selected based on their body of work. Skaters only get one chance and how they perform in that event determines a medal, if any.

If the Olympic sport was determined by a skater’s overall “body of work”, then Michelle Kwan should have won the gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, instead of Sarah Hughes. So why did the USFSA selectively choose to ignore Wagner’s poor performance at US nationals?

As with most sporting events, money and sponsors matter.

NBC lost one of its U.S. Olympic stars when Lindsey Vonn opted out of the Olympics earlier this month due to injury. The TV network, who currently holds U.S. broadcasting rights to the Olympics, was not about to let their other Olympic hopeful, Ashley Wagner slip by either. With all the Wagner publicity that NBC has bombarded viewers with recently, how could they?

Right. Those championships weren't a competition to advance to the Olympics. There's more to it than that. Even the title of this thread is bad. There was no "plucky Asian winner". She was third and the other girl was fourth on her worst day and has far more credentials.

What did you think of this week's episode of Girls?