With all the talk in US focusing on her competitors, Wagner makes most noise in GP season

Wagner looks for any edge in fierce US competition

Ashley Wagner is looking for any edge she can get.

Wagner was the lone American to qualify for this weekend’s Grand Prix final in Tokyo. While that meant yet another long flight, jet lag and more time away from home, the 18-year-old couldn’t wait. The United States has only two spots for the Vancouver Olympics and a half-dozen women who could get them, so any opportunity to perform her programs in competition before next month’s national championships can only help.

“Also, it’s a really great experience because I’ll be competing against the girls that are going to be at the Olympics,” Wagner said. “I feel that’s going to give me a little bit of an advantage over the other American girls.”

Wagner was last in Friday’s short program. The free skate was Saturday.

Despite finishing third at the 2008 U.S. championships and winning two bronze medals at the junior world championships, Wagner barely got any mention coming into the all-important Olympic season. Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen was coming back, Rachael Flatt had finished fifth at her first senior worlds, and former national champ Mirai Nagasu was rejuvenated after switching to coach Frank Carroll.

But it’s Wagner who’s been the best of the bunch so far, medaling at both of her Grand Prix events.

“I just wanted to be out there having fun,” she said. “I wasn’t very happy with my year last year. Obviously it was decent, but it wasn’t my best. I wasn’t skating for myself, I wasn’t out there skating to skate. I was skating to reach other people’s expectations.”

Wagner switched last season to Priscilla Hill, Johnny Weir’s former coach. Though some wondered about the move — she seemed to be progressing quite nicely under former coach Shirley Hughes — Wagner knew she needed more to have any chance at joining the world’s elite.

She had the jumps. But figure skating is a blend of athleticism and artistry, particularly under the current judging system.

Hill improved Wagner’s technique on her spins, and gave her some serious art-titude — so much so that she won the free skate at last year’s nationals with her dazzling “Spartacus” program. Wagner wound up fourth, an impressive finish considering she was 12th after the short program.

“She’s been able to make my skating so much more well-rounded,” Wagner said of Hill. “She has completely flipped my skating around. Not to say I’m not grateful about what my other coaches have given me because they got me to where I was when I came to Priscilla. But she’s really just been the icing on the cake.”

“It might be a while before I reach that perfect level of skating I want to reach,” Wagner added. “For now, though, I think we’re improving and things are going pretty well.”

BEST DRESSED: Now it’s Lindsey Vonn’s turn to see what a difference a high-tech suit can make.

Members of the U.S. ski team have been working with Spyder on a new “slippery” suit designed to be more aerodynamic and shave precious hundredths of a second off racers’ times. The suit, which will be worn by U.S. and Canadian skiers, will make its debut at the Vancouver Olympics.

“It’s showing really good results in the wind tunnel,” said Steven Nyman, one of the Americans who has tested the new suits. “If you’ve got the fastest stuff on, you can’t really complain. You just have to ski to your potential. It’s pretty cool to know we’re putting that effort in.”

According to Spyder, the texture on the outer layer has been made more slippery — it’s practically slick — so it creates less drag and air resistance. The padding has 40 percent less volume and is also more aerodynamic.

In the slalom and GS suits, the padding was moved to a separate underlayer to reduce the need for thread, seams and needle holes, all of which can increase drag.

“We were testing pads under the suit, the suits, suit materials, different cuts and fabric and stuff, seeing what worked best,” Nyman said. “I think we’ve got some really good stuff that will work really good for the Olympics.”

ANGRY ROHBOCK: The now-infamous antics of a New Mexico player in a women’s soccer match against BYU have been big talk in the women’s bobsled world.

Especially because the Olympic silver medalist was a star player at BYU.

Suffice to say, when Shauna Rohbock — a 95-goal scorer during her career at BYU — heard about Elizabeth Lambert’s actions, she wasn’t impressed.

“Some people wrote me and said, ‘She’s lucky that you’re not still playing,’” Rohbock said.

Lambert threw elbows, collided with BYU players and threw one opponent to the ground by her ponytail during New Mexico’s 1-0 loss to BYU last month in the Mountain West Conference semifinals. Television shows around the country showed the clips, with even David Letterman poking fun at it for several nights.

Rohbock also briefly played in the WUSA after leaving BYU. Her 95 collegiate goals is still BYU’s record by a wide margin.

WELCOME BACK: Two of the world’s top gymnasts are back after injuries.

Jade Barbosa, who won Brazil’s first all-around medal when she tied for bronze at the 2007 worlds, competed last weekend for the first time since the Beijing Olympics, winning the floor title at Brazil’s national championships. Barbosa had been out with a wrist injury originally feared to be career-ending.

Fabian Hambuechen returned for the final stop of the Champions Trophy series, which concluded Nov. 15. That was just a month after the German ruptured a ligament in his left foot during podium training at the world championships in London. He’d initially expected it would be six weeks before he would even resume full training.

BET ON IT: Australia and Britain are at it again, betting champagne on which country will have more success at the 2012 Olympics.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates has bet Colin Moynihan, chair of the British Olympic Association, a bottle of champagne for every medal separating the two countries in 2012, according to the British federation’s Web site.

The countries had a similar bet for the Beijing Games in 2008, when Britain finished a surprising fourth in the overall medals table with 47. Australia won 46 medals.

Like most host countries, Britain is devoting significant resources to its athletes in preparation for the 2012 London Games. The results are already evident. The 47 medals in Beijing was a 56 percent increase over the 30 won in 2004, and Coates estimates Britain could win “over 60″ on home soil.

OLYMPIC RINGS: The Las Vegas suburb of Henderson will host the 2011 Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, the first time the event has been in the United States since 1996. … Georges Guelzec of France has been elected president of the European Union of Gymnastics.

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.