USFS Announces Three Withdrawals | Golden Skate

USFS Announces Three Withdrawals

gsk8

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Jan. 12, 2018) - U.S. Figure Skating announced today that three athletes have withdrawn from two ISU Championship events.

U.S. silver medalist Ross Miner and U.S. pewter medalist Ashley Wagner have withdrawn from the Four Continents Championships. The event is set to take place from Jan. 22-28, 2018 in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei.

Grant Hochstein, who placed fifth at the 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, will replace Miner and Angela Wang, who finished seventh at the U.S. Championships, will replace Wagner. In all, 18 Team USA athletes will compete at the event.

Starr Andrews, who placed sixth at U.S. Championships, has withdrawn from the 2018 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and will be replaced by Emmy Ma, who finished 16th in San Jose last week. The World Junior Championships are set to take place in Sofia, Bulgaria from March 5-11, 2018. Andrews will still compete at the 2018 Four Continents Championships.
 

shiroKJ

Back to the forest you go.
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Jun 9, 2014
Oh no Starr! Is she injured?

As for the other two... well well well

No, she withdrew (unofficially?) a few days after nationals. No announcement on reason but someone on this board heard it was because she would be too drained(???) after 4CC so they opted to skip JWC. :scratch2:

As for Ross, thats understandable :( but Ashley? Girl.....
 

TontoK

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Well, Ashley doesn't surprise me.

I realize Ross must be disappointed, but I thought he'd take the gig.

I think we've probably seen the last of both of them on the competitive scene.

I guess I understand about Starr, too.
 

Moxiejan

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Though I would have loved to see Ashley & LaLa Land again at 4CCs, I'm hoping this means that she will be taking on a professional role with NBC at Olympics. Really, it seemed odd to me that they would fly her to NYC for Wednesday's Today Show segment, which she easily could have done as a remote from L.A. So maybe she also was in NYC to negotiate a deal.
 

draqq

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Interesting that both Miner and Wagner have withdrawn. For both of them, placing well at Four Continents would have supported the notion that they should have been on the Olympic team, but I suppose not making the team in the first place might have made them less interested or motivated in attending 4CC.

I also guess that both Miner and Wagner are likely going to retire (this withdrawal seems to signal that) so making 4CC their last competition might seem superfluous to them, and they might as well give their place to other skaters from the US who might want more exposure on the international senior circuit.
 

TerpsichoreFS

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No, she withdrew (unofficially?) a few days after nationals. No announcement on reason but someone on this board heard it was because she would be too drained(???) after 4CC so they opted to skip JWC. :scratch2:

It was announced in the same news release that Starr is doing Four Continents in two weeks. So obviously not injured.
It's more likely that she wants to compete only as a senior now,

I should've checked before asking ^^ thank you for your answer, and i think it's likelier that she wants to be a senior and prepare for it rather than just skip jwc because of fatigue risk
 

tulosai

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Dec 21, 2011
I'm disappointed but not at all surprised about Ashley.

I can't blame Ross.

Honestly don't care one way or another about if Starr goes to JWC but glad she's still going to 4CCs.
 

TontoK

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Though I would have loved to see Ashley & LaLa Land again at 4CCs, I'm hoping this means that she will be taking on a professional role with NBC at Olympics. Really, it seemed odd to me that they would fly her to NYC for Wednesday's Today Show segment, which she easily could have done as a remote from L.A. So maybe she also was in NYC to negotiate a deal.

After the shade Johnny and Tara threw at her at USNats... her working at NBC would be interesting. I don't see it.
 

frida80

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Feb 13, 2014
No, she withdrew (unofficially?) a few days after nationals. No announcement on reason but someone on this board heard it was because she would be too drained(???) after 4CC so they opted to skip JWC. :scratch2:

As for Ross, thats understandable :( but Ashley? Girl.....

She competed in Taipei last season, so she probably felt exhausted afterwards. I think it’s more about her Lutz than anything. Plus her junior FS layout didn’t go as well as her senior layout. I’m bummed. She couldn’t touch the Russians or Rika, but maybe she could’ve been in the top six if things went her way. Unlikely...

I think Starr will be fine. I think she’ll put her focus on fixing her Lutz edge, getting her 3F+3T and improving her skating skills. Plus I get to see Emmy again, so that’s always a plus.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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Jan 25, 2013
Interesting that both Miner and Wagner have withdrawn. For both of them, placing well at Four Continents would have supported the notion that they should have been on the Olympic team, but I suppose not making the team in the first place might have made them less interested or motivated in attending 4CC.

I also guess that both Miner and Wagner are likely going to retire (this withdrawal seems to signal that) so making 4CC their last competition might seem superfluous to them, and they might as well give their place to other skaters from the US who might want more exposure on the international senior circuit.

Well the problem is, if they do well it will be trivialized as a watered down competition and if they bomb people will flame them (Ross for being a fluke, and Wagner for not placing well in an easier competition thereby "justifying" her being off the team). Pre-Olympics Four Continents can be weird like that.
 

stella luna

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Jan. 12, 2018) - U.S. Figure Skating announced today that three athletes have withdrawn from two ISU Championship events.

U.S. silver medalist Ross Miner and U.S. pewter medalist Ashley Wagner have withdrawn from the Four Continents Championships. The event is set to take place from Jan. 22-28, 2018 in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei.

Grant Hochstein, who placed fifth at the 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, will replace Miner and Angela Wang, who finished seventh at the U.S. Championships, will replace Wagner. In all, 18 Team USA athletes will compete at the event.

Starr Andrews, who placed sixth at U.S. Championships, has withdrawn from the 2018 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and will be replaced by Emmy Ma, who finished 16th in San Jose last week. The World Junior Championships are set to take place in Sofia, Bulgaria from March 5-11, 2018. Andrews will still compete at the 2018 Four Continents Championships.

But on the Today show Ashley said she was preparing for the competition *bats eyes*.
 

StitchMonkey

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Jul 31, 2014
Starr makes sense to me. She never had a strong lutz and she has not attempted it post injury, and it is required in the SP for juniors this year. I think a strong showing for her at 4CC will better set her up for next season than an edge call that leaves her buried in the standings at junior worlds.

Ashley... why did she go on the today show and say he was training for a competition? Is team challenge cup happening this year? All we can do is wait and see and scratch our heads I guess.

Ross makes me sad. I wonder if he decided he wants his moment to be how he goes out...
 

Mrs. P

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^ Honestly Ross's free skate was probably the Skate of the competition. It probably would have been hard to replicate given all the drama that went down.
 

TontoK

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Well the problem is, if they do well it will be trivialized as a watered down competition and if they bomb people will flame them (Ross for being a fluke, and Wagner for not placing well in an easier competition thereby "justifying" her being off the team). Pre-Olympics Four Continents can be weird like that.

Your point is not without merit, but at a phase in their lives where the general goodwill of the public might be important to them, it's not a good look.

There are still plenty of Americans, myself included, who have an oldschool response to "When your country calls..."

So, unless there is some valid reason... it hasn't endeared either of them to me. I'm more forgiving of Starr, since she's doing 4CC, and might reasonably contend that another skater would do better at JW, since her other competition is so close.
 

gravy

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^ Honestly Ross's free skate was probably the Skate of the competition. It probably would have been hard to replicate given all the drama that went down.

It absolutely was! I'm so glad I was there to witness it in person.
 

Skatefan15

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Mar 8, 2015
Not all surprised about Ashley. Not really a fan but figured she would want to go out (internationally) with clean or decent programs. I kind of understand Ross though. But considering how is older than some of the other guys, I thought he would go to Four Continents to prove that Nationals wasn't a fluke (no disrespect at all though).
 
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