The thing that makes me hopeful about Gracie is that she is the first American in awhile with really spacious, powerful jumps. I hope she can build on that and become a grade A skater rather than just a shade under that level. In my experience, it has seemed that skaters with good, strong jumps are able to maintain and even improve those jumps into their twenties, because the jumps don't depend for success on the skaters' being child-sized featherweights. Irina Slutskaya is a prime example of this.
Now if Gracie can just get inside the music a little more....I don't expect her to turn into Michelle or Sasha C., but she could conceivably develop some more elegance and flow.
As for her looks, of course she's very pretty, though those bright red lips aren't my preference. But if it's good enough for Taylor Swift, I suppose I should quiet down about it. I prefer her hair in that lovely braided style. I wouldn't put her at the top of my list of all-time skating beauties, because there are a lot of fine-looking skaters out there, including Czisny, Korpi, YuNa, Mao, about 90% of all ice dancers, and so on. In any case, a lot of fabulous skaters are merely pleasant-looking (for example, Jayne Torvill), and when they start skating, I can't take my eyes off them. So beauty is made up of many aspects, not just a fabulous face.
Now if Gracie can just get inside the music a little more....I don't expect her to turn into Michelle or Sasha C., but she could conceivably develop some more elegance and flow.
As for her looks, of course she's very pretty, though those bright red lips aren't my preference. But if it's good enough for Taylor Swift, I suppose I should quiet down about it. I prefer her hair in that lovely braided style. I wouldn't put her at the top of my list of all-time skating beauties, because there are a lot of fine-looking skaters out there, including Czisny, Korpi, YuNa, Mao, about 90% of all ice dancers, and so on. In any case, a lot of fabulous skaters are merely pleasant-looking (for example, Jayne Torvill), and when they start skating, I can't take my eyes off them. So beauty is made up of many aspects, not just a fabulous face.