Gold is skating's bright new star

Taan · Jan 27, 2013

Gracie Gold emerges as skating's bright new star
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...rges-us-figure-skating-championships/1867471/
For now, though, the U.S. figure skating community found itself in the delightful position of realizing that it had found a new star with the next Olympics 13 months away. While Wagner -- who is still recovering from a bad fall in December – struggled, Gold was a breath of fresh air that blew through the CenturyLink Arena like a spring breeze, with nothing but possibility looming in the most important year ahead.

pangtongfan · Jan 27, 2013

I think barring injury these two will be on the Olympic team next year (Wagner and Gold) almost for certain. The other girls had better hope they do well enough at Worlds to regain the 3rd U.S spot so the others even have a place to fight for.

Jammers · Jan 27, 2013

But the question is can Gracie skate like this when the pressure is on? She gets that deer in the headlights look on her face just like Mirai or Alissa. Last night there was no pressure on here so she could skate with freedom. But wow how nice is it to see a US lady with this kind of speed and jumps?

chuckm · Jan 27, 2013

On the contrary, the pressure was really on for Gracie in the FS. She was in a position where she HAD to deliver the goods or her shot at Worlds (and a chance to shine before Sochi) was gone.

Jammers · Jan 27, 2013

I think her lack of facial expression was one of determination. Yes she needs to project more but last night was all about business and redemption i think.

heyang · Jan 27, 2013

Last night was the 1st night I really watched Gracie skate. I can certainly see what everyone is saying about her jumps - by far the best of the US ladies right now.

However, her programs are still juniorish with lack of in-betweens. It's something that she'll have to insert to be really competitive at World level IMHO. She can't just rely on jumps.

Also, she hasn't put together 2 solid performances at senior levels, yet. I think she can do it, but until she does, she potentially has the same nerve issues as Alyssa and Mirai. Last night's free program was definitely a good start towards proving that she's got fight (Just think of Evan - the 1st Olympics he blew his short program and then came back with a top notch free skate.) ANyway, thus, the caution with annointing her quite yet.

BravesSkateFan · Jan 27, 2013

I'm I the only one who thinks she was overscored in the free? IMO she was obviously held up. Her components went from being in the 6's in the short to in the 7's and 8's for the long. She did deserve high scores for her TES, but the judges were obviously holding her up in hopes that she can help get 3 spots back.
Unfortunately I have no confidence that she can. This is the 2nd competition this year where she has majorly screwed up in the short. I'm not sure what the US judges beef with Nagasu is but the international judges seem to like her. I think she did better in the GP season than Gracie. Now this is not to say that one or the other should have scored above the other at Nationals, its just commentary on the judges hold up Gold and holding down Nagasu.

Layfan · Jan 27, 2013

chuckm said:
On the contrary, the pressure was really on for Gracie in the FS. She was in a position where she HAD to deliver the goods or her shot at Worlds (and a chance to shine before Sochi) was gone.

I agree. It was her first senior nationals true, but also the year before the Olympics and if she had bombed both programs she would have gone into next year as just another skater contending for the two spots. This was a crucial skate her for. I'm very happy for her that she gets a chance to go to senior worlds before the Olympic year.

She COULD be US skating next star. But she still has to prove herself.

noskates · Jan 27, 2013

I don't think Gracie's scores were inflated. I think she skated with desire, with purpose, and determination. Her jumps are beautiful. Her spins are beautiful. I think in the coming year she'll develop that finesse to go with her skating skills. She gives me hope! I thoroughly enjoyed her skating.

flutzy13 · Jan 27, 2013

BravesSkateFan said:
I'm I the only one who thinks she was overscored in the free? IMO she was obviously held up. Her components went from being in the 6's in the short to in the 7's and 8's for the long. She did deserve high scores for her TES, but the judges were obviously holding her up in hopes that she can help get 3 spots back.
Unfortunately I have no confidence that she can. This is the 2nd competition this year where she has majorly screwed up in the short. I'm not sure what the US judges beef with Nagasu is but the international judges seem to like her. I think she did better in the GP season than Gracie. Now this is not to say that one or the other should have scored above the other at Nationals, its just commentary on the judges hold up Gold and holding down Nagasu.

I think they were a tad inflated on the PCS end. I thought the program was maybe 127-128 but the judges were trying to pull her up after the free skate. That said, she was head and shoulders above everyone in the FS and deserved her silver completely so it wasn't any huge controversy.

Jammers · Jan 27, 2013

BravesSkateFan said:
I'm I the only one who thinks she was overscored in the free? IMO she was obviously held up. Her components went from being in the 6's in the short to in the 7's and 8's for the long. She did deserve high scores for her TES, but the judges were obviously holding her up in hopes that she can help get 3 spots back.
Unfortunately I have no confidence that she can. This is the 2nd competition this year where she has majorly screwed up in the short. I'm not sure what the US judges beef with Nagasu is but the international judges seem to like her. I think she did better in the GP season than Gracie. Now this is not to say that one or the other should have scored above the other at Nationals, its just commentary on the judges hold up Gold and holding down Nagasu.

Mirai has hurt herself for a long time with her under rotated jumps and skating at times with no passion. Plus she has not improved much as a skater since 2010.

Sasha'sSpins · Jan 27, 2013

BravesSkateFan said:
I'm I the only one who thinks she was overscored in the free? IMO she was obviously held up. Her components went from being in the 6's in the short to in the 7's and 8's for the long. She did deserve high scores for her TES, but the judges were obviously holding her up in hopes that she can help get 3 spots back.
Unfortunately I have no confidence that she can. This is the 2nd competition this year where she has majorly screwed up in the short. I'm not sure what the US judges beef with Nagasu is but the international judges seem to like her. I think she did better in the GP season than Gracie. Now this is not to say that one or the other should have scored above the other at Nationals, its just commentary on the judges hold up Gold and holding down Nagasu.

No-you're not the only one. Gracie is a star but she was all but pre-ordained to be on the world team with such suspiciously high PSC scores in the SP and FS (some judges gave her scores of 8s and 9s which was a joke). Another skater would have placed lower in the SP with such mistakes. But there's time. As I said in another forum if Michelle Kwan could transform herself in one year with styling, maturity, choreo so can Gracie. On the other hand-even when she skated juniorish the joy of skating was evident on her face. Gracie looked terrified in her SP and tense going into the FS. And her face was blank slate until she checked off all of her jumps. But again-there's time.

bixby · Jan 27, 2013

noskates said:
I don't think Gracie's scores were inflated. I think she skated with desire, with purpose, and determination. Her jumps are beautiful. Her spins are beautiful. I think in the coming year she'll develop that finesse to go with her skating skills. She gives me hope! I thoroughly enjoyed her skating.

I'm with you. For a 17 to deliver a free skate like that under enormous, immense, gigantic pressure; she definitely served notice to the trained and untrained eyes last night. By far she has the best jumping technique in the WORLD along with Kim Yuna. She jumps straight up and down with plenty of height and complete the revolution in the air that requires no need for stupid replay.

She skated lights out, with fire, determination and most importantly believed in herself. And for that, I would give her nothing under 8.0 range. So she was a bit UNDERSCORED. Ya' all hear me right!!! I just simply enjoyed watching her last night. Didn't look back or look past beyond what she delivered at the moment NOR added or deducted unreasonable expectations. It was a pure JOY to see her so happy and done something others couldn't last night.

I gave her a standing ovation myself, clapped my hands plus some tear drops I can't hold back. What a lovely young lady! She deserved every bit of it and whatever comes after.

BravesSkateFan · Jan 27, 2013

noskates said:
I don't think Gracie's scores were inflated. I think she skated with desire, with purpose, and determination. Her jumps are beautiful. Her spins are beautiful. I think in the coming year she'll develop that finesse to go with her skating skills. She gives me hope! I thoroughly enjoyed her skating.

Then how do you explain the jump from PCS's in the 6's to PCS's in the 7's & 8's?

flutzy13 said:
I think they were a tad inflated on the PCS end. I thought the program was maybe 127-128 but the judges were trying to pull her up after the free skate. That said, she was head and shoulders above everyone in the FS and deserved her silver completely so it wasn't any huge controversy.

As I said, my original post wasn't about who deserved what medal (or any medal). I just think people should be scored as they deserve, and not because the USFS thinks that one will do better than the other. I actually like both Mirai and Gracie's skating, and as such want them both to be marked fairly.

yelyoh · Jan 27, 2013

BravesSkateFan said:
I'm I the only one who thinks she was overscored in the free? IMO she was obviously held up. Her components went from being in the 6's in the short to in the 7's and 8's for the long. She did deserve high scores for her TES, but the judges were obviously holding her up in hopes that she can help get 3 spots back.
Unfortunately I have no confidence that she can. This is the 2nd competition this year where she has majorly screwed up in the short. I'm not sure what the US judges beef with Nagasu is but the international judges seem to like her. I think she did better in the GP season than Gracie. Now this is not to say that one or the other should have scored above the other at Nationals, its just commentary on the judges hold up Gold and holding down Nagasu.

ITA and am glad not everyone is on the bandwagon. Gold's PCS were really inflated. Re choreography there was no there, there. I thought Christina had so much more going for her on that count. The only PCS I'd give Gold acknowledgement for was her skating skills.

kwanatic · Jan 27, 2013

I'm happy Gracie was able to redeem herself but I'm not entirely convinced she's gotten over her nerves yet. She did have the luxury of skating without as much pressure. I seriously doubt if she believed she had a shot at gold sitting in 9th place more than 10 points back. There was pressure of course, but nowhere near what Ashley, Agnes or Mirai faced at the top. Good for Gracie to use that to her advantage and deliver a phenomenal technical program but what would have happened if she was in that last group with a legitimate shot at winning? The fact is she has yet to put together two convincing performances...

I do think she was overscored. Given her mistakes in the SP, the judges were pretty lenient. They kept her close enough to get back into it. Her LP was great in terms of the jumps but the program itself was not impressive at all. I think her PCS were overly generous but I'm not surprised; it is nationals after all and after landing all of those jumps the judges were going to make sure she got onto that team.

Given Mirai's instability and Agnes still being a wildcard, Ashley and Gracie are a good world team. However, neither of them would have medaled with the performances they gave this year. Neither will have room for errors like that at worlds where they won't have the luxury of national judges to boost them.

heyang · Jan 27, 2013

I agree with Kwanatic's last paragraph.

Wagner and Gold are the best team to send to World's IMHO and I also think they deserved their final National's placements, regardless of the # of points. I honestly don't think any of the other skaters outskated them in an overall sense.

BravesSkateFan · Jan 27, 2013

heyang said:
I agree with Kwanatic's last paragraph.

Wagner and Gold are the best team to send to World's IMHO and I also think they deserved their final National's placements, regardless of the # of points. I honestly don't think any of the other skaters outskated them in an overall sense.

I absolutely agree that their placements are correct. I'm just not sure that Gracie is a much better choice for the World team (at this point) than Mirai.

Bentley · Jan 27, 2013

I am very glad that Gracie is going to world and getting that International Esposure. If she skates like she did in her LP at Nationals she will do just fine. Marai has had so many chanches at Worlds and the Olympics and has never medaled. Time for some one else to have the oportunity. Gracie has all the Technical goods to medal. All she needs is a little polish and she will be hard to beat. It is a lot easier to learn the polish than the jumps and she is only 17. For her first Nationals she did extremely well.

CoyoteChris · Jan 27, 2013

I agree that Wagner and Gold are the team to send to Worlds. I will also say that IMHO, watching a TV or computer screen, you can not judge a skater's ice presence. I dont know how that effects a judge....even the techical pannel that I was listening to on the ear bug was way off some times on guesses of marks comming up, but Gracie Gold is an "IT" girl on the ice.
Its hard NOT to watch her.....I wasnt the only one holding my breath when she skated the Free.....

heyang said:
I agree with Kwanatic's last paragraph.

Wagner and Gold are the best team to send to World's IMHO and I also think they deserved their final National's placements, regardless of the # of points. I honestly don't think any of the other skaters outskated them in an overall sense.

Gold is skating's bright new star

Taan

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Jammers

chuckm

Jammers

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