Can Gracie win the gold in Sochi? | Page 14 | Golden Skate

Can Gracie win the gold in Sochi?

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
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Dec 29, 2013
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I don´t know, in this sp I prefer Gracie´s but probably Gracie can win over Julia, she has bigger 3-3 with a true lutz, very good spins, Julia´s spins are better but Gracie´s are good, both step seq are a little mediocres. May be after Sochi Gracie can get better scores, because is obvious that right now Russians are trying prop up to Julia and Adelina.
I really like Julia's step sequence and she always scores well on them....even outside of Russia and especially in the free skate. Gracie has the jumps IF executed but Julia has amazing consistency. True, lower scores per jump but way more consistent. Lipnitskaia and Gracie to me is a good battle. Sorry though I'll always tip to Julia do to her IMHO superior steps and spins. Gracie would have to go pretty clean in BOTH programs to win I think. We will see in a few weeks. I'm pretty excited about Sochi!!!!!!!
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Off topic, but Gracie will be on Jay Leno's show, I think Thursday night.

Ooh, that should be fun! She has a bubbly personality and it could be an amusing interview. :)

Hah, also waiting for sky_fly and BlueBonnett to chime in about how Gold should stop seeking so much attention by doing all these talk shows, and should focus on her competition. :rolleye:
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Back to Gracie well she is literally Gold and I do think she has what it takes to win gold but probably 2018 though this could be a Sara Hughes moment it would also take a lot of faltering from everyone else as well. And right or wrong, one would think between Caro, Mao, Yuna and Suzuki that someone would keep it together and beat Gold for gold. This is assuming she is already clearly better than the Russian baby ballerinas.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Lol should there be a can "Kim close the gap on Gold?" thread now. :biggrin:



I don't think Gracie can win gold. However, I think she is the most capable of skating two clean programs than anyone besides Yuna. The problem is that a lot of skaters can beat Gracie if clean: Adelina and Julia (home country score inflation), Mao, Ashley (significant PCS edge from international judges), Carolina, and Akiko (who gets great PCS when clean). All of the skaters do 3 triple shorts (except Mao) and 7 triple longs (except Yuna) so Gracie won't have too big of an edge in BV.

Mao does have three triples in her SP. (3A, 3F, and a 3lo combo). I think she has one of the highest BV, if not the highest, out of the top contenders.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
But Gold doesn't even have a world medal. It would be an even bigger upset than Hughes 2002.

No one expects the Americans to be a factor in the women's event. I expect Gold to be the highest placing finisher but also wonder if she can handle the Olympic pressure especially being the reigning national champ.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
But Gold doesn't even have a world medal. It would be an even bigger upset than Hughes 2002.

No one expects the Americans to be a factor in the women's event. I expect Gold to be the highest placing finisher but also wonder if she can handle the Olympic pressure especially being the reigning national champ.

You look at Kim and Asada, the top 3 and how they skated in the Europeans SP, and how Suzuki and Murakami skated at their Nationals, and the U.S women are in tough no matter how you put it. That includes Gold despite how impressive she was at U.S Nationals.
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
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Dec 29, 2013
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You look at Kim and Asada, the top 3 and how they skated in the Europeans SP, and how Suzuki and Murakami skated at their Nationals, and the U.S women are in tough no matter how you put it. That includes Gold despite how impressive she was at U.S Nationals.

I think Gracie is going to have to skate A LOT better than she did at nationals to be anywhere near a medal in Sochi. I'm not saying she can't but her body language after her FS was not one of confidence and assurance but IMO an attitude of " OMG, I can't believe I just did that". If this girl gets off the emotional roller coaster and begins to exude the confidence of a champion then maybe she could squeak in there for something. Thats a lot to expect in less than a month, even with Frank. I unfortunately think there is a better chance that the commentators will shut up and let me enjoy the full body of a skaters performance and then talk during kiss and cry. If only we got Eurosport in the states.

Probably my first Julia free post.
 

Ilvskating

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
I love Gold. I said that she has everything to be the champion someday, and now she really has everything with Frank by her side. That being said, it's difficult for her to get OGM in Sochi. Her sleeping beauty is not as good as Zijun Li's in 2013. A recent practice video shows that Zijun has more power and speed. It is not clear how much Li recovered;4CC will give some indication. I see Zijun, Julia, and Gracie as the next crop of stars, in that order at the moment. Julia is still a bit juniorish but she has home court advantage. They could all be on the podium if they skate the lights out and if the judging is fair if the top ones have errors. Yuna has the lowest difficulty but what she does do is great. I don't like her programs this year, don't do anything to me, but if she skates clean, I don't think anybody can touch her except Mao. Mao has nice programs and if she skates clean she should win, but it is not likely she's going to be clean. Caro could be on podium if she skates clean for Bronze. Akkiko has a shot to any colour but she tends to bomb under pressure. So it's going to be an interesting game, anything can happen.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
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Jun 16, 2010
Zijun will not be scored anywhere near as highly as Gold, Julia, and Adelina if all skate well. She probably wont even be scored over Osmond. Just look at how she was scored at Worlds last year when she skated perfectly and still placed behind a faulty Gold, and being injured all season she has had no chance to build her rep up more.
 

NYscorp6

On the Ice
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Oct 23, 2005
Country
United-States
It is possible though perhaps a long shot, she has the jumps, spins and skates with speed.
Besides if Sarah Hughes can win (granted in 6.0 era), Gracie certainly has a chance!
 

Ilvskating

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
That's right. I'm not sure how well Zijun is now and how she's been training. I think Gold improved a lot. She's really lovely and has the it factor. Her basic skating is still lacking though. However she could pull out a surprise. Zijun should really have placed higher last year. It was perfect. Hopefully she's going to skate at the same level or even better. I have a feeling one of the youngsters will upset the podium favorites.

Zijun will not be scored anywhere near as highly as Gold, Julia, and Adelina if all skate well. She probably wont even be scored over Osmond. Just look at how she was scored at Worlds last year when she skated perfectly and still placed behind a faulty Gold, and being injured all season she has had no chance to build her rep up more.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
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Jun 16, 2010
I agree a youngster could upset but it wont be Li. I agree she was undermarked last year and she needed to compete this year in the grand prix and build her rep up, and wasnt able to do that, so no chance for her for this year, but possibly in the coming years.
 

Chrissy

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Of course Traci can win the Gold medal! She is a gorgeous skater and I will be rooting for her! She has it all! Let's hope and pray she skates like she did at Nationals! Love her new short program!
 

Ilvskating

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Realistically, yes, it could be Julia or Gracie. Zijun just had a bad timing.

I agree a youngster could upset but it wont be Li. I agree she was undermarked last year and she needed to compete this year in the grand prix and build her rep up, and wasnt able to do that, so no chance for her for this year, but possibly in the coming years.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Please be a little kinder to each other?

or as Hamlet says: Use all kindly.

I'm concerned Gracie is letting herself become distracted by too much extracurricular stuff: the Today Show, now Jay Leno. She needs to stay in rhythm .

Prediction: by the time of the Olympics the lutz will become problematic.
 

millie

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
or as Hamlet says: Use all kindly.

I'm concerned Gracie is letting herself become distracted by too much extracurricular stuff: the Tokryday Show, now Jay Leno. She needs to stay in rhythm .

Prediction: by the time of the Olympics the lutz will become problematic.


Fame is going to her head. Too many distractions before the Olympics.....she is counting her chickens before they hatches. Probably her manager is hoping that all this media exposure will build up her self esteem going into the Olympics and that she won't be do nervous when she hits Sochi.
 
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