Gracie Gold's Triple-Triple-Triple

christinaskater · Dec 8, 2011

I love Gracie! Just enjoy each moment and just love what you're doing!
I love her textbook jumps!

Amplitude, rotation, speed, flow and effortlessness! I think she will get monster GOE's if she becomes an established star!

Just work on the musicality, artistry etc. One step at a time!

gold12345 · Dec 8, 2011

jatale said:
Also, let's not forget that Liza is only 14 years old and she has a tiny body, she is less than 5 feet tall!! If she still has some growth spurts coming that will change everything for her. Gracie is all grown up, so her body is not going to be playing games with her going forward. Liza also hasn't faced the emotional upheavals that young adulthood will bring her way, the adolescent brain changes a lot from 14 to 16 (Gracie's age) let alone to 18 when "adulthood" is just starting.

While I agree that Liza is almost surely still going to grow, perhaps substantially, I'm not sure Gracie is completely past that stage herself. I had thought Zawadzki was done growing last year, but she wasn't... A lot of these girls continue through puberty until 18, 19. Even just a small body change can cause skating issues. Luckily, Gracie seems very technically sound in her jumping and might have a relatively easy time adjusting to any further puberty-related issues. Her biggest issue heading forward may be the mental side of things. No matter how good you are, Sr level skating presents its own set of challenges that just aren't seen in Jrs. Heck, Gracie barely even has Jr experience... She has no idea what pressure is yet.

cjsk8fan · Dec 8, 2011

How much did Agnes grow? She looks about the same to me, but an inch or two may not be detectable for someone watching a video.

Serious Business · Dec 9, 2011

What is heartening is that by all accounts, Gracie actually improved her jumping ability after her growth spurt. Yes, it's possible she'll have another one that will derail her, or maybe she'll be even stronger for it.

As for needing a 3A, it is entirely possible that Liza will debut a consistent competition 3A on top of all her other jumps and jump combinations. If she does, it will be hard for other ladies skaters to beat her without developing their own 3A or some other exceptional skills. But even in such a hypothetical future, there are still lots of worthy goals for a skater like Gracie to attain besides beating Liza. And right now, Gracie has more immediate and very achievable goals like winning US Junior Nationals and medaling at Junior Worlds. And heck, if she goes to JW, it's possible she'll beat the as yet 3axel-less Liza. All Gracie lacks is the reputation (and the attendant point boost) and two well constructed and artistic programs.

used2sk8 · Dec 10, 2011

Gracie is fantastic, but she really doesn't know pressure yet. It can be a big awakening!

mskater93 · Dec 12, 2011

Gracie understands pressure - she blew her opportunity to go to Nationals last year as a Junior with 2 bad skates at Mids. She seems to be using it as impetus to be better this year.

lcd · Dec 13, 2011

This whole thread fills me with wonder and dread. The "wonder" is sourced by the incredibly impressive jump sequence video itself. At 16, it seems that much more impressive since she is not a 13 year old vunder-acro phenom who could see all of these skills evaporate with a surge of biology. The dread is in the uber hyping that all of this implies.

I actually can see her doing extremely well this year and into next, but will be holding my breath and cringing the very first time AFTER that when she either puts a foot wrong, or is just a normal teen who opens her mouth in just the wrong way, and gold will turn to ...?

Definitely wish her well. Must be a thrilling time for her. Hope she is able to tune it all out and not hear a million and one voices in her head in that split second before she must actually deliver these combinations when it matters with the white hot lights of TV and all of these exponentially rising expectations fluffing her skyward before she even goes senior.

mskater93 · Dec 13, 2011

She's definitely well grounded and I highly doubt these exponentially rising expectations will fluff her skyward.

She has a great support system around her with her twin, a rival at the rink (Lexi V) and her family and a strong coaching team who have worked to keep her focused on the right things. It IS a great time for her and she just has to maintain her focus and technique.

christinaskater · Dec 16, 2011

Good luck to Gracie! Please tell her Merry Christmas!

Sylvia · Dec 21, 2011

Phil Hersh on Gracie Gold (includes a video interview): http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-1221-hersh-gracie-gold--20111221,0,6261564,full.column

I like this quote:

"I know the expectations are there," Gold said, "but I'm not a robot, so I can't do it every time."

kwanatic · Dec 21, 2011

I do hope people give her time to develop and grow. Shoving all of this expectation on her before she's even made it to the senior level is just a recipe for destruction. She seems level headed and whatnot, but the pressures of the sport can break a person down. Gracie hasn't performed in a highly competitive setting yet, so I'm not convinced. Her jumping ability is wonderful but I don't think it's wise to put all of that pressure on her so soon.

Like someone said, the US is so desperate for a star who can match up with the powerhouses coming out of Russia that they are throwing all of this attention and expectation onto a girl who has competed in only one JGP event (against the last place finisher at the JGPF and another who didn't even make it) and who won't be eligible for senior nationals until 2013...:disapp: People need to back off a bit. Let's see how she does at junior nationals this year and on the GP (if she decides to go senior) next year before we anoint her as the great US hope for Soichi...

Mrs. P · Dec 21, 2011

kwanatic said:
I do hope people give her time to develop and grow. Shoving all of this expectation on her before she's even made it to the senior level is just a recipe for destruction. She seems level headed and whatnot, but the pressures of the sport can break a person down. Gracie hasn't performed in a highly competitive setting yet, so I'm not convinced. Her jumping ability is wonderful but I don't think it's wise to put all of that pressure on her so soon.

Like someone said, the US is so desperate for a star who can match up with the powerhouses coming out of Russia that they are throwing all of this attention and expectation onto a girl who has competed in only one JGP event (against the last place finisher at the JGPF and another who didn't even make it) and who won't be eligible for senior nationals until 2013...:disapp: People need to back off a bit. Let's see how she does at junior nationals this year and on the GP (if she decides to go senior) next year before we anoint her as the great US hope for Soichi...

Well hype is part of the game in juniors these days, unfortunately. It think it's natural for people to want to hype people that show great promise early on. Just look at the Russian babies.

I think it's up to Gracie and her team to manage all this hype. I am definitely in the mindset of "let's the girl grow," but obviously no one is listening to such thoughts. So I think it will speak even better of Gracie and her team if they managed to handle this pressure day-by-day.

And when you think about it Michelle got that early on. A champion focuses and doesn't succumb to the hype. I'm hoping (and pretty confident, actually) that Gracie will show those traits.

Macassar88 · Dec 21, 2011

Mrs. P said:
And apparently, Gracie wants to do a Triple Axel someday. She practiced one on a harness a few days ago. (this is from her sister's YT channel):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-0sYGrI6Lk&feature=channel_video_title

That looked great. She's such an amazing jumper!

figureskatingfan22 · Dec 21, 2011

Mrs. P said:
And when you think about it Michelle got that early on. A champion focuses and doesn't succumb to the hype. I'm hoping (and pretty confident, actually) that Gracie will show those traits.

Michelle got into the limelight around 1994. Kristi had just won Olympic Gold in 1992 and the Tonya-Nancy-saga was in full swing. So a new skating star wasn't so necessary. I don't think they paid the same attention to her than they do to Gracie now. I'm no American, so I might be wrong, but considering the era and the events around her the pressure seemed low in comparison. Plus, her hype started when she skated in the seniors. Gold just had ONE international competition - in JUNIORS - in a time where TV ratings are dropping and the need for a new star is huge and the US ladies are in an almost all-time-low. I'd say Michelle didn't have to deal with that!

Summary of Kwan's beginnings:
1993 6th at US Senior Nationals, 1994 2nd at US Senior Nationals, 1994 Junior World Champion, 8th at her first Worlds in 1994 and being the only US lady in the LP after Bobek failed to qualify for the SP.

To hype a skater after those accomplishments is a lot different!! Gracie Gold has achieved nothing close to that yet and she already has to deal with these expectations. It's almost impossible to survive that. Poor, poor Gracie. If her team has anything to do with that, they should be banned.

cjsk8fan · Dec 21, 2011

Gracie seems confident, yet low key. We don't know how she will do under pressure yet, but what is mainly being said is that she is an amazing jumper. I think she is the one posting videos of herself accomplishing different jumping combinations on youtube. Infact, on one she skates over and turns off the camera. I don't think it is her coaching staff hyping her.

macy · Dec 21, 2011

cjsk8fan said:
Gracie seems confident, yet low key. We don't know how she will do under pressure yet, but what is mainly being said is that she is an amazing jumper. I think she is the one posting videos of herself accomplishing different jumping combinations on youtube. Infact, on one she skates over and turns off the camera. I don't think it is her coaching staff hyping her.

yes that is her personal youtube channel. her sister also has one that she uses to upload her own jumps and also a couple of gracie's such as the 3A.

macy · Dec 21, 2011

Sylvia said:
Phil Hersh on Gracie Gold (includes a video interview): http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-1221-hersh-gracie-gold--20111221,0,6261564,full.column

I like this quote:

what a cool article! she should be proud of herself with the comments scott, tara, and julie made about her. how cool. i hope she can stay relatively relaxed under the pressure she's already under and not let it overwhelm her. i think she can do it.

christinaskater · Jan 27, 2012

Congratulations Gracie for winning the US Junior title!

I heard she is seriously being considered to be sent to the 4 Continents championships and if she does well to the Worlds!

christinaskater · Jan 27, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m4S...list=ULrrnyABvzdiM&lf=mfu_in_order&playnext=1

Another 3--3--3 attempt!

brightphoton · Jan 28, 2012

christinaskater said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m4S...list=ULrrnyABvzdiM&lf=mfu_in_order&playnext=1

Another 3--3--3 attempt!

That video links to a triple toe-double toe, not a 3-3-3.

Gracie Gold's Triple-Triple-Triple

christinaskater

gold12345

cjsk8fan

Serious Business

used2sk8

mskater93

lcd

Match Penalty

mskater93

christinaskater

Sylvia

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

Macassar88

figureskatingfan22

cjsk8fan

macy

macy

christinaskater

christinaskater

brightphoton

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