Ashley Wagner became the first American woman to medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in ten years when she won silver in Boston on Sunday. The Monday morning after her win, she posted this message to Instagram:
{"provider_url":"https://www.instagram.com","media_id":"1220936863549406247_19575686","author_name":"ashwagner2010","height":null,"thumbnail_url":"https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e35/12965787_1673592282903099_1812901916_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMDkzNjg2MzU0OTQwNjI0Nw%3D%3D.2","thumbnail_width":480,"thumbnail_height":360,"provider_name":"Instagram","title":"Boston, thank you.\n\nIn my career, I have had so many people say no to me, so many people question whether I belonged, why I was sticking around. I have consistently been demanded to prove my existence in this sport, and finally I feel like I can silence all of that extra noise. I'm here because I love what I do, I didn't listen to all of the people telling me no, and I found a new way to go about things. I changed myself into an athlete that could climb onto the podium at the world stage. I can't believe I can call myself a world silver medalist! \nThank you to my coaches, the people that pushed me past my own limitations. Raf has given me a career I only once dreamed of having. I am so forever grateful for everything he has done for me.\n\nThank you to my family, who was in the audience this whole week supporting me. Being able to share this with them was incredible.\n\nLastly, thank you Boston for the experience of a lifetime. This was the most magnetic, vivacious and magical crowd I have ever been able to skate for, and it was a moment I will never forget.\n\nThank you. Never give up and never say never.","html":"&#lt;blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=\"6\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"&#gt;&#lt;div style=\"padding:8px;\"&#gt; &#lt;div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:37.5468164794% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\"&#gt; &#lt;div style=\" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt; &#lt;p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"&#gt; &#lt;a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BDxo5vNCrwn/\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\"&#gt;Boston, thank you. In my career, I have had so many people say no to me, so many people question whether I belonged, why I was sticking around. I have consistently been demanded to prove my existence in this sport, and finally I feel like I can silence all of that extra noise. I'm here because I love what I do, I didn't listen to all of the people telling me no, and I found a new way to go about things. I changed myself into an athlete that could climb onto the podium at the world stage. I can't believe I can call myself a world silver medalist! Thank you to my coaches, the people that pushed me past my own limitations. Raf has given me a career I only once dreamed of having. I am so forever grateful for everything he has done for me. Thank you to my family, who was in the audience this whole week supporting me. Being able to share this with them was incredible. Lastly, thank you Boston for the experience of a lifetime. This was the most magnetic, vivacious and magical crowd I have ever been able to skate for, and it was a moment I will never forget. Thank you. Never give up and never say never.&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt; &#lt;p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"&#gt;A photo posted by Ashley Wagner (@ashwagner2010) on &#lt;time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2016-04-04T10:50:37+00:00\"&#gt;Apr 4, 2016 at 3:50am PDT&#lt;/time&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;\n&#lt;script async defer src=\"//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js\"&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;","width":658,"version":"1.0","author_url":"https://www.instagram.com/ashwagner2010","author_id":19575686,"type":"rich"}
Wagner hasn’t had the easiest road to the podium: She almost quit five years ago when she couldn’t afford to keep competing, and ended up working at a Lucky Brand jean’s store in California to pay the bills while she trained. Her win on Sunday was the result of hard work and perseverance. As she wrote, “I have consistently been demanded to prove my existence in this sport, and finally I feel like I can silence all of that extra noise.”
