Is Gracie Gold overhyped right now? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Is Gracie Gold overhyped right now?

FlattFan

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Jan 4, 2010
Alissa's programs are always empty. She can't handle complex footwork, can't handle complex choreography, can't handle different music. No idea what "highlight" in her typical music to show off "choreographic showstoppers" It don't exist!

Maybe if all she does is 1Lz and 1T, then she can increase the in between and her speed a little bit more. Asking a girl who's never that comfortable with step sequence to show off brilliant step sequence and score level 4 + 3 GOE on steps is like asking Alissa to go to Nationals this year. :)
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
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Alissa's scores at Regionals would have placed her 3rd at Sectionals last year. I don't think getting to Nationals will be a problem. She could do it with programs that only have double jumps.
 

Jammers

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Umm why are we talking about Alissa in a Gracie Gold thread? There is a Alissa thread elsewhere on here.
 

Gia_Sesshoumaru

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Back to the subject of Gracie, I think that she has a lot of potential. Yes, she's got all the technical skills, but I don't think she's where she needs to be artistically, but at her age, that's not unheard of. Not everyone is naturally gifted artistically. Kim is so dominant when she's on because she's got it all - the technical skills and the artistry. If Gracie can up her artistry, then sure, maybe she could be as dominant as Kim, but with some of the girls coming up, I'm not so sure. Only time will tell who can keep the skills and who fades. As for right now, I'm not impressed with Gracie. I do see why she won the silver at Nationals last year and why she was 6th at Worlds. I'm still not thrilled with her.
 

Jammers

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Back to the subject of Gracie, I think that she has a lot of potential. Yes, she's got all the technical skills, but I don't think she's where she needs to be artistically, but at her age, that's not unheard of. Not everyone is naturally gifted artistically. Kim is so dominant when she's on because she's got it all - the technical skills and the artistry. If Gracie can up her artistry, then sure, maybe she could be as dominant as Kim, but with some of the girls coming up, I'm not so sure. Only time will tell who can keep the skills and who fades. As for right now, I'm not impressed with Gracie. I do see why she won the silver at Nationals last year and why she was 6th at Worlds. I'm still not thrilled with her.
Maybe she finished 2nd at Nationals last season because she landed 7 triple jumps in the LP and put on the greatest jumping exhibition since Tony Harding over 20 years earlier while all the girls ahead of her stumbled and fell in the LP?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Maybe she finished 2nd at Nationals last season because she landed 7 triple jumps in the LP and put on the greatest jumping exhibition since Tony Harding over 20 years earlier while all the girls ahead of her stumbled and fell in the LP?

Yeah, that could be it....:)

I am an uber-fan of Michelle's, and I love Sasha. But even I can see that that splendid pair of champions were excellent jumpers but not monumental ones. Tara was likewise a terrific precision jumper but not notable in terms of the height of her jumps. The really buoyant, boundless leaps that one sees in skaters such as Volchkova and Slutskaya haven't come from America in years. Now we may have one of our own. If there's any way for her to develop (a) consistency and (b) artistry, wouldn't that be amazing? As far as I'm concerned, this is not impossible. Gracie's best skating may still be in her future--and in ours.
 

drivingmissdaisy

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If there's any way for her to develop (a) consistency and (b) artistry, wouldn't that be amazing? As far as I'm concerned, this is not impossible. Gracie's best skating may still be in her future--and in ours.

I'm not even sure she needs to develop her artistry if she can get programs that simply highlight the skills she already has. Midori, Tonya, Irina, and even Surya could pull very high artistic scores when they skated programs suitable for their powerful skating.
 

flying camel

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The hype comes because the girl can jump. Lets face it, most of the American ladies can't jump. They are either under rotating their jumps or they are just too scared to try them in competition. Most of us are waiting for Gracie to put the package together and deliver. I guess that is why she fills so stressed and sometimes she doesn't skate her best.
Maybe Frank can give her the direction she needs. I am just not sure if we will see a big change this year, but he did wonders for Mirai when she was with him. Why doesn't she go back? She and Gracie could really motivate each other.
 

Jammers

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The hype comes because the girl can jump. Lets face it, most of the American ladies can't jump. They are either under rotating their jumps or they are just too scared to try them in competition. Most of us are waiting for Gracie to put the package together and deliver. I guess that is why she fills so stressed and sometimes she doesn't skate her best.
Maybe Frank can give her the direction she needs. I am just not sure if we will see a big change this year, but he did wonders for Mirai when she was with him. Why doesn't she go back? She and Gracie could really motivate each other.
Frank has his hands full with Gracie and Ten and that's not counting if Evan comes back.
 

mskater93

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I think Gold and Nagasu have totally different processes/motivations and not sure THEY would make good training mates
 

Jammers

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Also Gracie seems more committed then Mirai did when she was with Frank. I'm glad that Frank has seemed to put a stop to the Gracie hype and kept her out of the public eye.
 

TheCzar

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Let me put my two cents in.

The first time I saw Gracie on the scene, she never struck me as a future champion of some sort. IMMENSE talent yes, but initially I thought- maybe it was just that she was young. But then you think of the greats like Kwan, Slutskaya, Ito and Chen and the younger icons Kim, Asada, Carolina- all burst onto the scene with enough pizzazz and cool nerve and ofc talent that immediately you just KNEW that they would leave their mark on the ice as icons of the sport. Gracie, despite the talent, left/leaves me cold every time. In one senior season she has shown potential and the tendency to fizzle quicker than you can say Elene Gedevanishvili.

I'm not hating, but I agree that she has been overhyped (still is, the fact that this thread is up) but that may be down to the fact that post-Kwan, the US has not had a consistent or dominant figure to bear the cross of such expectation. In comparison to Asada (and the deep field of Japanese skaters), Kim and Kostner who had dominated the generation since 2007, Gold simply hadn't made that much impact on the sport. Not really. Apart from maybe the press and her name lending itself to headlines- but even then it's not all good. Gold has yet to take Gold.

Maybe it's a tall order to meet such a bar, but that is the bar set for true champions. The US is fortunate that it now has a seemingly rich field of young up and comers- Polina, Hicks, Ashley Cain, Karen Chen, hell even Cesario (who I'm not really fond of but she's interesting). It may be premature but I'm not even certain that Gold will stay as US no.1 after Wagner retires. Maybe she's just not my cup of tea, but she has to step up and serve something good this Olympic season- at least pull a Sarah Hughes kind of artistry to make the season palatable.

Bottom line is, Gracie Gold has this season to show me if she can sustain herself as a great skater or fizzle like a dud.
 

mskater93

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So if she has a OK season this year, then she's lost you? Sheesh! What if she totally kills it next year?
 

Jammers

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Let me put my two cents in.

The first time I saw Gracie on the scene, she never struck me as a future champion of some sort. IMMENSE talent yes, but initially I thought- maybe it was just that she was young. But then you think of the greats like Kwan, Slutskaya, Ito and Chen and the younger icons Kim, Asada, Carolina- all burst onto the scene with enough pizzazz and cool nerve and ofc talent that immediately you just KNEW that they would leave their mark on the ice as icons of the sport. Gracie, despite the talent, left/leaves me cold every time. In one senior season she has shown potential and the tendency to fizzle quicker than you can say Elene Gedevanishvili.

I'm not hating, but I agree that she has been overhyped (still is, the fact that this thread is up) but that may be down to the fact that post-Kwan, the US has not had a consistent or dominant figure to bear the cross of such expectation. In comparison to Asada (and the deep field of Japanese skaters), Kim and Kostner who had dominated the generation since 2007, Gold simply hadn't made that much impact on the sport. Not really. Apart from maybe the press and her name lending itself to headlines- but even then it's not all good. Gold has yet to take Gold.

Maybe it's a tall order to meet such a bar, but that is the bar set for true champions. The US is fortunate that it now has a seemingly rich field of young up and comers- Polina, Hicks, Ashley Cain, Karen Chen, hell even Cesario (who I'm not really fond of but she's interesting). It may be premature but I'm not even certain that Gold will stay as US no.1 after Wagner retires. Maybe she's just not my cup of tea, but she has to step up and serve something good this Olympic season- at least pull a Sarah Hughes kind of artistry to make the season palatable.

Bottom line is, Gracie Gold has this season to show me if she can sustain herself as a great skater or fizzle like a dud.

How do you figure Carolina was going to become a icon of the sport back when she was about Gracie's age when she has only got it together in the last couple years? She didn't really become a champion until she was almost 25. Only because she had no competition in her country was she not dumped in Italy because there were no other decent skaters to challenge or take over. You don't have that luxury in the US.
 

TheCzar

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How do you figure Carolina was going to become a icon of the sport back when she was about Gracie's age when she has only got it together in the last couple years? She didn't really become a champion until she was almost 25. Only because she had no competition in her country was she not dumped in Italy because there were no other decent skaters to challenge or take over. You don't have that luxury in the US.

Well beating Michelle in 2005 was a feat for a teen IMO. Talk about making a splash. She's not my favourite but having that and a steady following in Europe helped.
 

Jammers

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Well beating Michelle in 2005 was a feat for a teen IMO. Talk about making a splash. She's not my favourite but having that and a steady following in Europe helped.
She beat a injured worn out aging Michelle Kwan. And then the next year Carolina finished 12th at Worlds and bombed at the Olympics. Maybe people should have given up on her too considering how weak the field was at Worlds in 2006.
 

FlattFan

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She beat a injured worn out aging Michelle Kwan. And then the next year Carolina finished 12th at Worlds and bombed at the Olympics. Maybe people should have given up on her too considering how weak the field was at Worlds in 2006.

consider how caro skated at that world, she should beat everyone after the SP. Yes, Caro was lowballed, too.
People saw her and said she was the most exciting skater out of europe since witt. That said something.

Compare caro at 15 and 16 and gracie now, the difference in musicality is huge
 

tulosai

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Dec 21, 2011
Let me put my two cents in.

In one senior season she has shown potential and the tendency to fizzle quicker than you can say Elene Gedevanishvili.

Elene :cry::cry: She is the skater who I am saddest never reached her 'potential' at a major event.
 

Icey

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As fragile as Alissa seems, her team might be worried about her return coming to a screeching halt from a practice and training injury.
 

bump

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Yes, as of right now, she is overhyped. Perhaps compared to the other AMERICAN ladies (with the exception of Ashley Wagner) she is the cream of the crop, but if you go international, she REALLY doesn't have the total package the way some of the other ladies do. I get that she's supposedly a good jumper (too bad she's so inconsistent), but her artistry is still severely lacking. There's something about her demeanor and her arms and hands that telegraph "fake." It's not that she seems intentionally artificial...it's almost as though she can't help herself. The musical arrangements she's chosen don't really help, but I just get the feeling that she never really feels the music.
 
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