Figuring out how to bring the 'cool factor' back to the skating rink

BOSTON — Ashley Wagner and Benjamin Agosto know what it's like to step off the ice at the figure skating world championships and feel as though they've conquered the sport. And what it feels like when the notoriously fickle sport bites back.

So when the International Skating Union put in motion its ambitious "Vision 2030" plan, which is designed to grow and expand the sport through improved fan engagement, it made sense that they would call Wagner, a three-time US champion and former world silver medalist, and Agosto, who won an Olympic silver medal with ice dance partner Tanith Belbin.

If anyone was going to interview athletes at last month's world championships at such an emotionally raw moment, the minute after their programs have concluded, it ought to be someone who has been through it themselves.