Wagner Looks to Bounce Back in Team Event
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia - Jeremy Abbott has been chosen to skate the men's short program for the United States in the new team figure skating event on Thursday night. Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir will skate the pairs short program.
The team event is new for 2014. Ten nations each enter one man, one woman, one pair and one ice dancing team, with each performing a short and long program. Two substitutions can be made between the short and long programs.
Jason Brown, second at the national championships, would be an intriguing choice to substitute for Abbott for the men's long program. His long program, set to 'Riverdance,' was a sensation at the nationals, and has racked up three million views on Youtube.
The competition begins Thursday night, a day before the opening ceremony, and continues on Saturday and Sunday.
The ice dancers and woman for the short program will be announced on Friday. Meryl Davis and Charlie White, the two-time world champions, will almost certainly be chosen to be the ice dancers. But the selection of the woman could be fraught.
The national champion, Gracie Gold, is a logical candidate. But Ashley Wagner, the national champion in 2012 and 2013, could also be in the mix, despite a poor performance at nationals.
Wagner's selection to the Olympic team at all was controversial, as she finished only fourth at the nationals after two falls. But citing her experience, U.S. Figure Skating named her to the team at the expense of the third-place finisher at nationals, Mirai Nagasu.
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