Wagner takes on tough field at Skate America

KENT, Wash. – Any athlete who’s questioned whether that extra hour of practice or extra session in the weight room really makes a difference, meet Ashley Wagner.

Three years ago, the figure skater was sitting in a hotel room, feeling the bitter sting of finishing one spot short of the Olympics. This weekend she is headlining Skate America as the reigning U.S. champion, the best hope the American women have of ending their embarrassing skid on the international scene.

“I’m so excited to get the season started, it’s going to be a great year,” Wagner said. “The pre-Olympic year is always exciting and I have a chance to tell people I am the one to watch.”

Skate America begins today. The first stop on skating’s Grand Prix series was expected to feature the much-anticipated return of defending Olympic champion Evan Lysacek, who has not competed since the 2010 in Vancouver. But Lysacek had to withdraw last week because of a groin injury, shifting the spotlight to Wagner’s showdown with Russia’s Alena Leonova and Adelina Sotnikova in the women’s competition.

Leonova and Sotnikova are at the forefront of the rebuilding effort for the Russians, who are desperate not to repeat their dismal Vancouver performance at their own 2014 Sochi Olympics. Leonova, who turns 21 next month, was second at last year’s senior world championships, giving Russia its first medal at worlds since Irina Slutskaya won the title in 2005.

Sotnikova was just 12 when she won her first Russian senior title, in 2009, and now has won three of the last four. Though Sotnikova missed the age cutoff for Europeans and world championships last year by a day – she turned 15 on July 1 – she was eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit, and she won a pair of bronze medals.

Leonova and Sotnikova are both former junior world champions, too, Leonova winning in 2009 and Sotnikova in 2011.

“It’s always important to kind of have an idea what you’re going up against,” Wagner said. “I’m aware of both of them. They’re both strong competitors. I always love a challenge, so I think it’s great they’re both going to be there.