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‘I Was Just Heartbroken': Ashley Wagner Explains Why She Was ‘Furious' After US Championships

The three-time national champion who won a team gold at the Sochi Games wouldn't take back the remarks or do it differently if she had the chance

Ashley Wagner is standing by controversial remarks she made at the U.S. figure skating championships last week, when she said she was furious about how judges scored a performance that ultimately left her out of the Olympic team. 

Five days later, Wagner is feeling okay about the moment and proud of her performance, as well as the women who did qualify for the team, she said in an appearance on the "Today" show.

"It was one of those things where you're thrown into the mixed zone [where reporters ask athletes questions] immediately after I found out that my Olympic dreams had come to an end," she said Wednesday. "I think that I was just heartbroken."

But Wagner, a three-time national champion who won a team gold at the Sochi Games in 2014, wouldn't take back the remarks or do it differently if she had the chance: "What you see is what you get with me and I pride myself in being honest and open."

Wagner had said "I am absolutely furious" immediately after getting a score that left her in fourth place in the championships, despite what she said was solid skating. The score left her out of the Olympic team.

She's now the first alternate for the Pyeongchang Games, behind Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen, the medalists at the national championships.

Wagner went on to defend the outburst in a tweet, saying that her many years of competitive experience give her the right to question a score she's gotten and be mad about a result that didn't go her way.

Four years ago, Wagner experienced a very similar situation with the opposite outcome, when she was sent to Sochi despite finishing fourth — at the expense of Nagasu.

That's one of the reasons why Wagner has been so supportive of the figure skaters who will be representing the U.S. at the Olympics next month, and she reiterated Wednesday that she'll be cheering them on.

"I've been in the position where people have tried to take away my legitimacy for being on a team and I would never want to do that to another athlete," she said.

And as for her position as an alternate, Wagner noted that she's still training and would be ready should something come up and she's called to Pyeongchang.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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