Gracie Gold Embraces a Rugged Comeback Path | Golden Skate

Gracie Gold Embraces a Rugged Comeback Path

mimithemermaid

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 16, 2016
Very nice article, thanks for posting!

I very much admire her going through the process of qualifying to Nationals this year -- I'm sure it can't have been easy to get on the ice and qualify that way and she must have felt like so many eyes were on her (and she's likely accurate in that), but she did it anyways and that's been pretty awesome to see.
 

Casual

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Gracie speaks about the 2020 US Nationals, the 2022 Olympics, & her progress on making a comeback!

“I can always retire at any moment and go back to school or work full time,” Gold said, adding that skating “is not the end of the world like I used to kind of feel like it was.”

I'm so happy to hear that! This realization (that skating is not the end of the world) is the most important breakthrough for her.

Now she can heal and prosper. Skate, retire, or whatever happens in the future, it will not be harmful anymore.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
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In addition to the quote in the OP, the best quote I've seen from Gracie is the one in the very last paragraph of this article. It's honest, and she's acknowledging what she did for herself that she's proud of. It's important to her and us that she's sharing her journey for the health and benefit of others, but I love that she's saying aloud her progress in honesty and bravery.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Gracie was so stunning and a beautiful skater and great jumper. So much pressure to be Golden. Dick a Button says it is a great burden to have much potential and that surely applied to Gracie. I can’t wait to see her and I wish her so much luck. I think the fans in Greensboro will be thrilled to see her take the ice. I hope the crowd and commentators are supportive. She is so brave. Love Gracie.

Did see sectionals and regionals. I am afraid for her. Pops and doubles. She should do a scratch spin because video shows it is really good still. I think stamina is clearly as issue. But I thought there would be better speed and flow. Her spins were always fast and centered. I think she should do a longer spiral maybe change edge ala Kwan and do fast scratch to end. I don’t think her jumps will show. A comment said instafgram showed quads in a harness. But it is crazy if she has not yet gotten consistent triples. I don’t think she can podium. I don’t think she should hope for Olympics. She looks great but we all know that she is not thin enough for triple triples. At 5 ‘5” she looks great. No body shaming. But the fatigue is so evident. Grace matured. She lost that excess weight but I do not think she has her stamina back. I expected to see speed in crossovers and her fast spins. Add in the scratch Gracie. Even if it is more like a show number. I like both music but she needs to find snappier music. I hope Gracie is not worried about placement. If she gets really nervous it will not be good.

Who is coaching her? At least the dresses look stunning. Oh my.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
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Gracie was so stunning and a beautiful skater and great jumper. So much pressure to be Golden. Dick a Button says it is a great burden to have much potential and that surely applied to Gracie. I can’t wait to see her and I wish her so much luck. I think the fans in Greensboro will be thrilled to see her take the ice. I hope the crowd and commentators are supportive. She is so brave. Love Gracie.

I love her too. I don’t know about the other fans, but I will be thrilled!
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
It wasn’t that long ago when everyone talked Gracie and Ashely as they carried the flag for US ladies. I thought Gracie was pushed aside when the Little Julia phenom started. But Eteri has a sytem a huge team and money funding the conveyor belt. Now it seems like we either have very few fans from US on GS or Gracie isn’t Golden so forget her. I really pray she skates well because it seems no one much cares about her anymore.

But as a comparison check the number of pages in the Russian ladies thread and compare to USA ladies thread. It is very sad that this sport is dead in America like so much. It is all about the cost of this sport and sad that so much porptential talent can not afford to stay in.

Go Gracie! God please help her do well. She really is brave to do this again. So glad she is doing what she still loves.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
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United-States
It wasn’t that long ago when everyone talked Gracie and Ashely as they carried the flag for US ladies. I thought Gracie was pushed aside when the Little Julia phenom started. But Eteri has a sytem a huge team and money funding the conveyor belt. Now it seems like we either have very few fans from US on GS or Gracie isn’t Golden so forget her. I really pray she skates well because it seems no one much cares about her anymore.

But as a comparison check the number of pages in the Russian ladies thread and compare to USA ladies thread. It is very sad that this sport is dead in America like so much. It is all about the cost of this sport and sad that so much porptential talent can not afford to stay in.

Go Gracie! God please help her do well. She really is brave to do this again. So glad she is doing what she still loves.

I think she has plenty of fans left, at least I hope so. I was told her Regionals was SRO and one could barely move. Unheard of for a Regionals. Based on my experience of going to Nationals, the ladies long is the only thing that might sell out. NBC will give her TV coverage because she’s Gracie Gold. I never look in the Russian ladies thread because that isn’t my interest.

It would be nice if another Michael Weiss came along and started a foundation. In the meantime I will make my micro donations.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
I think she has plenty of fans left, at least I hope so. I was told her Regionals was SRO and one could barely move. Unheard of for a Regionals. Based on my experience of going to Nationals, the ladies long is the only thing that might sell out. NBC will give her TV coverage because she’s Gracie Gold. I never look in the Russian ladies thread because that isn’t my interest.

It would be nice if another Michael Weiss came along and started a foundation. In the meantime I will make my micro donations.

If you care about the future of US skating and skaters, and want a foundation to donate to: https://fs12.formsite.com/USFSAIT/form158/secure_index.html?1292512563333
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
There are a few ways of looking at it. My way - good for her. Gracie is doing it on her terms, fore herself and isnot putting her sense of who she is or value on going to the olympics or winning a medal. She is going to do and be the best skater she can be and live life for today. Then there is my mother's view. She may be a bit selfish. Her family once exceptionally rich have had issues with the breadwinner. Many people in the mid twenties have to get a job and face "reality" and grow up. alot of people have dreams where there are few who will get that 'gold medal' figuratively or literally. She might be one of the many rather than the few. She has had some great chances and she has accomplished much; she should be happy and satisfied.

Gracie is treasured by many and that will not change. To be honest I am doubtful she can beat or will beat Bradie this year but who knows and who knows what the future brings.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
There are a few ways of looking at it. My way - good for her. Gracie is doing it on her terms, fore herself and isnot putting her sense of who she is or value on going to the olympics or winning a medal. She is going to do and be the best skater she can be and live life for today. Then there is my mother's view. She may be a bit selfish. Her family once exceptionally rich have had issues with the breadwinner. Many people in the mid twenties have to get a job and face "reality" and grow up. alot of people have dreams where there are few who will get that 'gold medal' figuratively or literally. She might be one of the many rather than the few. She has had some great chances and she has accomplished much; she should be happy and satisfied.

Gracie is treasured by many and that will not change. To be honest I am doubtful she can beat or will beat Bradie this year but who knows and who knows what the future brings.

well that's a...sad way to look at it. truth is, we don't know who is funding Gracie's comeback. we know she is coaching and is bringing in some income that way, but to my knowledge she hasn't said if she is relying on her parents or is paying her own way. to assume anything when we have no knowledge on her financial situation which frankly isn't anyone's business is wrong. i don't think your mother exactly understands what Gracie has been through.

i'm not expecting anything fabulous from her at nationals as far as placement goes. even if she's clean in both segments, i can see her possibly getting into the top 6. i have zero expectations for a podium finish or being direct competition to Bradie, Mariah or Alysa. i just hope she's happy with what she puts out, that's the least she deserves
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
Now it seems like we either have very few fans from US on GS or Gracie isn’t Golden so forget her. I really pray she skates well because it seems no one much cares about her anymore.

Lots and lots of people care about Gracie. If you read the 2019-20 US Ladies thread, a surprisingly large proportion of the posts, and even pages, are devoted to Gracie. Not a majority by any means, but a good percentage if you're counting, which I'm not; it's just a general observation.

I don't think we can judge interest in skating by comparing the US threads to the corresponding Russian threads. In the US threads, there just isn't as much interest in the kinds of conversations that go on in the Russian threads. (this is also just a perception on my part from occasional lurking; it may be wrong.) Personally, I'd enjoy more diverse or tangential conversation in US threads. But most subjects quickly get boiled down to "you support so-and-so or you don't, or you should;" or "So-and-so will likely win or medal, or needs to do "fill in the blank." Or current news about the skaters. Which is fine. It's just what's perceived as belonging in a thread.
 

KatGrace1925

Medalist
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Gracie Gold actually is a name causal sports fans in the US know. If I mention her people remember her from the Olympics, she had a ton of endorsements. There's a lot of people still rooting for her.
 

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
It wasn’t that long ago when everyone talked Gracie and Ashely as they carried the flag for US ladies. I thought Gracie was pushed aside when the Little Julia phenom started. But Eteri has a sytem a huge team and money funding the conveyor belt. Now it seems like we either have very few fans from US on GS or Gracie isn’t Golden so forget her. I really pray she skates well because it seems no one much cares about her anymore.

But as a comparison check the number of pages in the Russian ladies thread and compare to USA ladies thread. It is very sad that this sport is dead in America like so much. It is all about the cost of this sport and sad that so much porptential talent can not afford to stay in.

Go Gracie! God please help her do well. She really is brave to do this again. So glad she is doing what she still loves.

Why would Yulia have had an impact on Gracie? One was American one was Russian they had no impact on each other other than they skated Juniors together. It's truly sad and heartbreaking that both of these amazing young ladies who have had major hurdles in their life at young age. The good news they are conquering those hurdles. I hope Gracie can make a full come back she truly deserves it. But more than that I hope her story and her fight and her comeback can help so many other young athletes in the same boat as her.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Julia won everything over Gracie who was a gorgeous skater. At times I disagreed. Frank Carroll felt it was unfair judging at times. I agree.
 

ribbit

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Julia won everything over Gracie who was a gorgeous skater. At times I disagreed. Frank Carroll felt it was unfair judging at times. I agree.

I'm a little puzzled by this description. Yulia and Gracie (both of whom I love) skated against each other relatively rarely. After finishing 1-2 at Junior Worlds in 2011-12 (the only time they competed against each other that year), Yulia and Gracie competed against each other in only two senior seasons. Neither of them won the biggest events in either year. In 2013-14 Yulia had the better results, winning Skate Canada over Gracie, who finished 3rd. At the Olympics Yulia was part of the gold-medal-winning team and Gracie the bronze, while Gracie finished fourth and Yulia fifth in the individual event. At Worlds in 2014 their placements were reversed, with Yulia finishing second and Gracie fifth. In 2014-15 they didn't compete against each other at all. In 2015-16 Gracie had the better results. She came second and Yulia sixth at Skate America; Gracie then won the French GP, while Yulia finished second.

According to Wikipedia, Yulia has seven international senior gold medals to Gracie's two. Yulia won Finlandia twice (2012-13 and 2013-14), Cup of Tyrol (2015-16), Rostelecom (2013-14), Skate Canada (2013-14), Europeans (2013-14), and the Olympic team event (2013-14); Gracie won NHK Trophy (2014-15) and GP France (2015-16).

(Nationals are less directly comparable, but Yulia never won a Russian senior national championship--she took silver in 2011-12 and 2013-14--while Gracie won US nationals in 2013-14 and 2015-16 and came second in 2012-13 and 2014-15.)

Counting all international medals (not just golds), Yulia has five senior B/Challenger medals to Gracie's three, seven GP medals to Gracie's six, one GPF medal to Gracie's none, three ISU medals to Gracie's one (counting the Olympic team event). Yulia made two GPF appearances (2nd in 2013-14 and 5th in 2014-15), while Gracie made one (5th in 2015-16). But Yulia never made a Russian international team after her stellar 2013-14 season, while Gracie competed at 4CCs in 2012-13, 2014-15, and 2015-16, and made four straight Worlds appearances between the 2012-13 and 2015-16 seasons.

Basically, Yulia had one almost undefeated junior season in 2011-12 (losing only the Russian senior nationals after winning juniors) and one spectacular senior season, while Gracie had a somewhat longer run at the highest levels, though without winning an ISU individual championship medal. I really don't think we can say that Yulia somehow drove Gracie out of the sport or overshadowed her throughout her career.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Gracie's comeback will be good for skating and Nationals. We should see an even more improved Gracie at Nats with new outfits too.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I just pray she is happy with her skates. I don’t expect a great deal but I hope she does only what she can do in practice. Her last time out was a disaster and she withdrew. I hope she has more confidence regardless of what she is doing technically. Finger crossed for her. I hope people will cheer like mad when she takes the ice.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
I just pray she is happy with her skates. I don’t expect a great deal but I hope she does only what she can do in practice. Her last time out was a disaster and she withdrew. I hope she has more confidence regardless of what she is doing technically. Finger crossed for her. I hope people will cheer like mad when she takes the ice.

Are you referring to GP Rostelecom in 2018? Since then, Gracie has skated in Regionals and Sectionals this year and neither skate was a “disaster”.
 
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