• Ashley Wagner, 22, placed a distant fourth at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Saturday after falling twice during her routine
• On Sunday she was shocked to learn she had been selected to compete at the Winter Olympics in Sochi despite her performance
  
• The decision meant the third-place finisher, Mirai Nagasu, who finished ahead of Wagner, was passed over
• It is the first time the U.S. Figure Skating Association has passed over a skater with the credentials and placements to make the team
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 22:13 EST, 12 January 2014 | UPDATED: 08:11 EST, 13 January 2014

Each year at the national figure skating championships, the top three finishers are named as the US Olympic team.

But a controversial decision by the U.S. Figure Skating Association on Sunday has seen Ashley Wagner - a major marketing element of the Olympics plan who crashed out of the finals after taking two tumbles during her routine - chosen over Mirai Nagasu, who finished ahead of Wagner in the competition and was the only skater not to fall or make a major error.

The move marks the first time the federation has ever bumped a skater from the team who met all the credentials and placed high enough at nationals was passed over for the Olympics, with Nagasu named as an alternate.

Nagasu placed third to Wagner's fourth place at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Saturday, but Wagner was still chosen.

However the USFSA defended the decision by saying that it made an 'objective analysis' of the skaters, with Wagner ranked No. 2 in the world by Icenetwork.com before her meltdown.

'If you look at Ashley Wagner's record and performance, she's got the top credentials of any of our female athletes,' said the organization's president, Patricia St. Peter.

Fifteen-year-old Polina Edmunds, who placed second at finals, was also selected, even though she has never competed in an international senior event.

Nagasu has impressive credentials under her belt, coming in at fourth place at the 2010 Games as a 16-year-old.

But U.S. Figure Skating's selection guidelines consider only the past year, and Nagasu had mostly struggled until a resurgent performance at nationals.

Wagner - who slipped under the stands to cry after her performance, fearing the worst - said she was shocked at the decision.

But she thanked the USFSA for making the right decision.

'I'm happy that my federation was able to see beyond one bad skate,' she said through tears once the announcement became official.

Wagner fell twice and failed to cleanly land two other triple jumps in Saturday's long program.

Afterward, she mouthed, 'I'm sorry' to her mother.

'I was overwhelmed from the big lights and the big show,' she said.

Wagner insists that won't happen again in Sochi, with the pressure off by making the Olympic team.

'I'm not that skater that everyone saw last night,' Wagner said.

'I'm a fierce competitor. I'm tough as nails.'

There was no way she was going to sleep Saturday night.

The 22-year-old Wagner video-chatted with some old friends, had a big glass of wine with her mother and brother and watched the movie The Seven Year Itch.

And she accepted that she might narrowly miss making the Olympic team for the second straight games, prepared to train through 2018.

'I danced with danger last night,' she said.

'I never want to feel that uncomfortable again.'

Wagner was watching a friend practice Sunday morning when she got the text message that she was on the team.

'It's been a really long four years,' she said later, her voice cracking.

Edmunds knew she'd have more Olympic opportunities in her future, but Sochi was special.

Her mother, who helps coach her, is from Russia.

Edmunds hasn't been there since she was 2, but she often says hi over Skype to all her relatives in the city of Tver, and when she competed at the Junior Grand Prix in Belarus, her uncle took an 18-hour train trip to see her perform.

The Olympics will also be a homecoming for U.S. pairs champion Simon Shnapir, who was born in Russia.

He gleefully said 'We're going to Sochi' in Russian when it was announced that he and partner Marissa Castelli were on the team.

They will be joined by runners-up Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay.

The U.S. has three spots in ice dancing, and top-three finishers Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani were picked.

The top-two men's finishers were also selected for the Americans' spots: Jeremy Abbott and Jason Brown.

Davis and White, the reigning world champs, are the Americans' best - and perhaps only - hope for a figure skating gold medal.

They won silver in Vancouver, and after four years spent establishing themselves as tops in the world, their chance to move up one step on the podium is finally here.

'Obviously we're going into these games with very high expectations,' White said.

'We've had a lot of great momentum over the last four years since the 2010 Games. We feel like we've put ourselves in a really great position to come home with a gold medal.'