Ashley Wagner


Ashley Elisabeth Wagner is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, a thirteen-time Grand Prix medalist, and a three-time U.S. national champion. Wagner competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and placed 7th. At the junior level, Wagner is a two-time World Junior bronze medalist, the 2006-07 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time Junior Grand Prix medalist, and the 2007 U.S. junior bronze medalist.
Wagner joined NBC as a color commentator for the 2020 European Figure Skating Championships. She provided figure skating analysis for NBC's world feed at the 2024 U.S. Championships alongside fellow figure skater and former training mate Adam Rippon.

Early life

Ashley Wagner is the first child and only daughter of American parents Lieutenant Colonel Eric Wagner, U.S. Army and Melissa James, a former schoolteacher. Wagner was born in 1991 on a U.S. Army base in Heidelberg, Germany, where her father was stationed at the time. Her younger brother was a skater and competed on the national level.
Because Wagner's father was in the army, she was a military brat when her family moved nine times during her childhood; they settled in northern Virginia when she was ten years old.
Wagner was homeschooled by her mother for seven months. She later attended West Potomac High School through the 2007/2008 school year.
After studying at Northern Virginia Community College via its online Extended Learning Institute, she enrolled in Saddleback College in California but did not graduate.

Skating career

Early career

Wagner began skating at age five in Eagle River, Alaska. She says that her mother told her she could choose between ballet or figure skating, but she "wasn't going to do anything in pink shoes." According to her mother, Wagner began to show promise early and won a gold medal at her first competition. In 1998, Wagner watched Tara Lipinski win the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan on television. From that moment, she decided that she wanted to compete in the Olympics too.
Wagner later trained in Kansas City and Tacoma, Washington until her family moved to Portland, Oregon, where she was taught by Tonya Harding's former coach, Dody Teachman. In January 2002, Wagner began training with Shirley Hughes in Alexandria, Virginia. Jill Shipstad-Thomas choreographed her competitive programs.
In the 2002–03 season, Wagner qualified for the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships, which are the national championships of the United States for figure skaters at the juvenile and intermediate levels. Wagner placed 17th at the Intermediate level. The following season she tested up to the novice level. She won the silver medal at her regional competition, the first step to qualifying for the national championships, but placed tenth at her sectional competition and did not qualify for the 2004 National Championships.
Wagner qualified for her first U.S. Championships in the 2004–05 season after placing first at both the Northwest Pacific Regionals and the Pacific Coast Sectionals. Competing on the novice level, she placed seventh at Nationals.

2005–06 season: Junior international debut

For the 2005–06 season, Wagner moved up to the junior level. She won both the Northwest Pacific Regional and Pacific Coast Sectional competitions again to qualify for the National Championships. At the 2006 U.S. Nationals in St. Louis, Missouri, Wagner finished fourth on the junior level, earning the pewter medal. After the event, Wagner was named to the U.S. team for the Triglav Trophy in Slovenia, her first major international competition and where she made her international junior debut. There she landed six triple jumps, including a triple toe-triple toe combination, in her long program to move up from third in the short program to first overall.

2006–07 season: Bronze medal at Junior Worlds

In the 2006–07 season, Wagner made her Junior Grand Prix debut. She won both the Junior Grand Prix event in Courchevel, France, and the event in The Hague, Netherlands. Her wins qualified her for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she won the silver medal behind fellow American Caroline Zhang, with a final score of 142.01. At the 2007 U.S. Nationals in Spokane, Washington, Wagner placed third behind Mirai Nagasu and Caroline Zhang, earning herself a spot on the World Junior Championships team. Her bronze medal at the 2007 Nationals was the first time she had placed in the top three at the national championships. At the 2007 Junior Worlds in Oberstdorf, Germany, she landed seven triple jumps in her long program. She finished with the bronze medal behind Zhang and Nagasu, completing the first-ever American sweep of the World Junior podium.

2007–08 season: Senior debut

Wagner moved up to the senior level both nationally and internationally for the 2007–08 season. She made her senior international debut at the 2007 Skate Canada International in Quebec City, Quebec, where she placed fifth overall. Two weeks later, Wagner won her first senior international medal at the 2007 Trophée Éric Bompard in Paris, France. She placed third behind reigning World silver medalist Mao Asada and reigning U.S. National Champion Kimmie Meissner. She finished second in the long program ahead of Meissner and only lost to Meissner in the final standings by 0.11 points. During her fall Grand Prix events, Wagner attempted the triple Lutz-triple loop combination for the first time in competition, but it was downgraded by the technical callers because her attempts were not fully rotated. Discussing her first year on the Grand Prix, Wagner said, "Competing on the Grand Prix has forced my skating to mature. I'm a senior lady now, and I need to perform like one."
In January 2008, Wagner competed on the senior level for the first time at the 2008 U.S. Nationals in St. Paul, Minnesota. She placed second in the short program behind Mirai Nagasu after landing a triple Lutz-triple loop combination. In the free skate, she placed second again, this time behind Rachael Flatt, after landing seven triples including another triple Lutz-triple loop combination. She finished with the bronze medal overall behind Nagasu and Flatt. Because Nagasu, Flatt, and pewter-medalist Caroline Zhang were too young to compete at an ISU Senior Championship event, Wagner was the only medal winner to be named to the Four Continents and World Championships teams. Because of her third-place finish at the 2008 Nationals, Wagner earned a bye to the 2009 U.S. Nationals.
At the 2008 Four Continents in Goyang, South Korea, Wagner finished twelfth in the short program, fifth in the free skate, and eighth overall. At the 2008 World Championships in Goteburg, Sweden, she finished 16th after placing 11th in the short program and 15th in the long program. She fell once in her free skate.
In June 2008, Wagner announced that she would be leaving her longtime coach Shirley Hughes to begin working with Priscilla Hill in Wilmington, Delaware.

2008–09 season: Second bronze at Junior Worlds

For the 2008–09 Grand Prix of figure skating season, Wagner was assigned to compete at 2008 Cup of China where she finished fourth. Her next event was the 2008 NHK Trophy, where she again finished fourth. In the process she set new personal bests in the short program and her combined score.
She won the pewter medal at the 2009 U.S. Nationals and represented the United States at the 2009 Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria where she placed third, winning her second junior world medal.

2009–10 season

For the 2009–10 Grand Prix season, Wagner was assigned to compete at the 2009 Rostelecom Cup, at that event she won the silver medal. In the process she set new personal best scores in her long program and her combined score. After winning the bronze medal at the 2009 NHK Trophy, she qualified for the Grand Prix Final. At the Final, Wagner ranked last in the short program, fourth in the free skate, and fourth overall.
At the 2010 U.S. Nationals, Wagner won her second bronze medal. She was placed on the team to the 2010 Junior Worlds, but withdrew from the team before the event.

2010–11 season

A racing heartbeat that had long bothered Wagner became more frequent during the summer before the 2010–11 season. She also began to suffer violent full-body muscle spasms which her coach Priscilla Hill said were "some of the most horrific things I've ever seen." She saw a number of physicians who were unable to determine the cause. Finally, chiropractor and muscle specialist Steve Mathews revealed that tension in her neck muscles was causing one of her vertebrae to be pushed out of place, squeezing various nerves; a physical therapy program reduced the problems.
Wagner had practiced her new long program only about six times before she competed at 2010 NHK Trophy where she finished fifth. At 2010 Cup of Russia she won the bronze medal.
In June 2011, Wagner announced that she would move to Aliso Viejo, California to train with John Nicks and Phillip Mills at the Aliso Viejo Ice Palace. She quit her part-time job at American Eagle and used some of the money she had been saving for college in order to move across the country.

2011–12 season: First National title, Four Continents title

Wagner began the 2011–12 season at the 2011 Skate Canada International. She placed second in the short program and third in the freeskate to win the bronze medal overall. At the 2011 NHK Trophy, Wagner placed fifth in the short program and third in the freeskate to finish fourth overall. At the 2012 U.S. Nationals, she ranked third in the short program. She was first in the free program and won her first national title.
After her U.S. Championship win, Wagner was assigned to both the 2012 Four Continents Championships and the 2012 World Championships. At Four Continents, she placed second in the short program after two-footing a planned triple flip-triple toe combination and successfully landing her triple loop and double axel. She placed first in a free skate which included six triples and won the gold medal ahead of two time world champion Mao Asada. Her scores at the Four Continents event were the highest overall for a world lady all season and her free program score was the second highest of the season behind Carolina Kostner's gold medal-winning free skate at the 2012 World Championships. At the World Championships, Wagner was eighth in the short program after stepping out of her triple flip. She placed third in the free skate with a seven triple program, and fourth overall, thus securing two spots for U.S. ladies at the 2013 Worlds.