Four Continents notes: Wagner ready to build on nationals success

Ashley Wagner is still on an emotional high from winning the U.S. figure skating championship last month, but she hasn’t blown off the Four Continents event.

The ladies short program begins at 1 p.m. Friday at World Arena, and Wagner – one of the marquee performers on the second day of competition - wants to follow up her first national championship with a strong showing.

“It’s extremely crucial I perform well here,” Wagner said. “I’m the U.S. ladies champion and want to maintain the level of skating I had at nationals. Going into worlds, it’s important to have another good performance underneath my belt.”

Wagner didn’t have a lot of time to refocus after nationals. She clinched her championship on Jan. 28. But that’s a challenge that she hopes pays off for her down the road.

“To me, it’s proving to myself I am mentally tough enough to do something like this,” Wagner said.

World champion returns

The arena where she had her greatest skating moment is gone, but Colorado Springs still has a special place for Petra Burka.

Burka won the 1965 world championship at the old Broadmoor World Arena. She is back in Colorado Springs this week, as a team leader for the Canadian team, organizing and overseeing the 39 athletes, coaches and officials on the squad.

“Whenever I fly back here, it comes back, this is the place where I won the world championship,” Burka said.

Some falls

Perhaps due to the close proximity to nationals, there were some mistakes in the men’s short program on Friday. Even reigning world champion Patrick Chan stumbled on his first jump, putting both hands on the ice to keep himself from going down, although the rest of his performance went well.

“I was very happy with how I was about to gather myself,” said Chan, who said he felt shaky in warmups as well. “I saw this as a challenge and a test.”

American Adam Rippon, the silver medalist at nationals last month, also fell on one of his jumps in the short program.

“I’m not affected by the mistake,” Rippon said. “I know what I have to do to skate well tomorrow.”