LONDON, Ontario -- Amid all the flights of her peripatetic skating life, Ashley Wagner has never lost her luggage. Until now. Right before the most important world championships of her career.

In an enormous purple suitcase big enough to fit Barney, Wagner didn't just have a week's worth of clothes. She also had her only pair of boots and blades. Which means she may not have her skates for her first practice in London, Ontario, for the World Figure Skating Championships.

The women's competition begins Thursday with their short program. How Wagner, the two-time national champion, and teammate Gracie Gold skate at worlds will determine how many spots the U.S. women will have at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

After her Monday flight out of Orange County, Calif., was delayed, Wagner barely made her connection in San Francisco. Her luggage didn't.

Still late Tuesday morning, Wagner took the stressful situation in stride with her usual good humor. Oddly enough, when something out of the ordinary happens to Wagner, it tends to calm her.

"Things like this make me take a step back and not get intensely focused on one event. It's easy to go into worlds and say, 'I'm at worlds. I need to be serious, I need to be focused,'" she said in a mock stressful voice. "Then be like, OK, I don't have my skates. I have to relax a little bit. It makes me take a step back and realize it's just skating. It's an event, it's a huge event, but I'll do better that way."

Case in point: at the Trophee Bompard in Paris this season, Wagner was leveled by a severe cold that left her feeling achy and out of it.

"It made me take a step back, breathe, relax and say, 'I'm only human, this is just a sport. It will be fine.' Because I was so relaxed I felt I skated really well," she said.

After a near flawless free skate, Wagner won the event.

Wagner's skates landed in Toronto, went through customs, got stuck in rush-hour traffic and arrived at the arena just as warm-ups ended for her scheduled 6:30 p.m. practice. Skate crisis averted.