As an Army brat, American figure skater Ashley Wagner plans to take her father's no-nonsense advice about competing at the Olympics to heart.
“We didn’t have money for a sports psychologist so my dad just told me, ‘Don’t be a wimp,’” she said. “He said, ‘We can’t afford anything else, so just don’t be a wimp. That’s the best advice I can give you,’ and I think that’s kind of worked out for me.”
After a career of Olympic near-misses, the 22-year-old two-time U.S. skating champion says she hopes to use the Sochi Winter Games to change the impression many people have of her.
“I’m ready to have my moment and I’m ready to totally shed that ‘almost girl’ image,” she said.