This past week, the 2018 US Nationals for figure skating happened, and it was surely an event. There were lots of ups, lots of downs, and I was left feeling exhausted at the end of it. But there's one happening that has me distraught in particular; and that is the sole fact that Ashley Wagner did not make the Olympic team.

The competition started off with the ladies short program, in which Wagner placed 5th. At the end of Wagner's short program, she mouthed the words, "Okay, I can work with this," which shows she was feeling more confident than usual in her short program.

However, the score did not reflect the confidence in her performance. Her PCS (program component score), in my opinion, were seemingly low for her, especially, as she stated, she scored higher in PCS with the same program at a competition she was injured at.

I do not know or claim to know the reasoning behind this score; however, as a spectator, I personally do think it should have been higher, and I feel as though she should not have been in 5th place after the short programs.

Fast-forward to two nights later, where she debuted a brand new program. This program was beautiful, magical, and very elegant; I felt as though she truly delivered, and she felt the same way. However, once again, her PCS was much lower than it seemingly should have been.

The next day, Ashley was not announced to the Olympic team.

As the cover of US Figure Skating advertisements and the leading US lady for years after her emergence at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, many fans, myself included, were devastated. Wagner put out two solid skates at the US Championships, beat the 10 year medal drought for ladies competition at the world championships in 2016, has been national champion three times, and has many grand prix and grand prix final medals; so why did she not make the team?

The answer is still not clear to me, all I know is that I will not see her compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, and I am truly devastated. Wagner has many remarkable achievements through her career, and I feel as though she would have been a strong addition to the Olympic team; she has so much experience, and potential.

I will forever stand behind Ashley Wagner, regardless of whether or not she made the Olympic team, and I will also forever believe she deserved a spot.