- Joined
- Aug 21, 2012
Gracie is not a good competitor. Her problem is that she cannot handle her nerves. The difference between how she skates during practices and how she skates during competitions is shocking. Even the British Eurosport announcer, who runs the rink she trains at, stated that he had never seen her skate as badly as she did at 4CCs and the fact that she was overcome by nerves was written all over her face. She has very little high-level competitive experience, and it's obvious by her poor performances that she's not ready to compete at that level. She should be entering Senior B competitions for the experience and using those events to learn how to compete.
I think Gracie should admit to herself that she is not ready to compete at the world championships. She needs to find a sports psychologist and do a lot of work on her mental state at competitions. The US cannot afford to send a mentally weak skater to Worlds the season before the Olympics - not with Olympic berths on the line. Christina Gao is a good competitor and has been very consistent all season. She should be given the opportunity to go to Worlds over Gracie. She is much more likely to deliver a respectable performance . Gracie will probably get to Worlds, see she's in a warm up group with a skater like Kim Yuna, and lose focus from being intimidated by the whole experience.
I said this on a different thread, but Christina Gao hasn't shown much consistency until this season, and her international PCS won't come anywhere close to what the US needs to regain its three spots. It would be different if she could jump like Gracie or one of the Russian girls, but her technical content is nothing special, either. Her programs don't draw the eye--they're lovely and expressive, and she does a good job of interpretation, but next to skaters like Yuna and Mao, who would give her a second glance? At least Gracie can execute the TES needed to raise herself into the Top 10.
Gracie is working with a sports psychologist--she has been ever since Skate Canada, which is how she pulled herself together in time for the Rostelecom Cup. Neither she nor Ashley have skated their best at their last few competitions, but IMO, the US can't find a better pairing at the moment. The consensus is that Ashley and Gracie can end up with a total of 13th place. With just one season of decent results after several years as a senior, no one knows if Christina--even clean--is capable of finishing in the Top 10, and Ashley's no lock for Top 3. We came close to regaining 3 spots last year, since Ashley finished very high, but the Czisny disaster erased those hopes.
And the fact of the matter is that, if Christina had wanted to compete at Worlds, she needed to beat Gracie at US Nats. She didn't, and that's why Ashley and Gracie are the Worlds team.
EDIT: I agree with flutzy--in the event that the US fails to get three spots back, Christina Gao probably would not have made a significant difference.
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