Ashley Wagner has said that she has been disappointed with the lack of support given to non-Russian athletes by figure skating crowds at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
The 22-year-old picked up a bronze medal for the USA in the team event, which was won by Russia, who also claimed gold in the pairs free skating and ladies free skating competitions.
"What people don't understand is that a crowd can really make or break a performance, and performing in front of a crowd that is, you know, just crickets, it's exhausting," Wagner told USA Today.
"It's natural for figure skaters as performers to always want to rise up and bring the crowd into it, and so when someone's quiet, you go even harder, you perform bigger movements, more energy, and just to get nothing back from that, it was disappointing, especially because this is an Olympic event and you really want to feel rewarded for what you've put out.
"So I think that the crowd was definitely disappointing here in Sochi, but to be a Russian figure skater, the crowd was phenomenal."
Team USA are currently fourth in the overall medals table, while Russia are first.
