I strongly believe that if you have trained for an event, skate to qualify for that event and then you QUALIFY, then it should be YOU going to the event and not someone who was incapable of qualifying, either from injury or from having a bad day.
Of course, Ashley Wagner could not qualify for the Olympics but, because of her international standing (2nd in the world despite not having won a long program in one year) she took Mirai Nagasu's "earned" spot.
If international competition is the criteria, one has to wonder why Jeremy Abbott was not replaced by Max Aaron, who finished third. Abbott has an ABYSMAL record of winning national titles and then flopping miserably at international events like the Olympics and the World Championships.
That he flopped so miserably in the team competition is completely in character with his record. And that he flopped in the short program is also in keeping. Oh, sure....he'll skate beautifully from here on...now that there is ZERO possibility for him to medal and there is virtually no chance for the U.S. to earn that extra men's position at international competitions.
Next thing you know, we'll be in the same boat as Russia and have only one men's spot.
