The latest on Gracie Gold

[solani]

Just to add onto this from a former athlete's perspective (and I'm not saying that this is absolutely the case with GG, just a personal anecdote):

When I was younger and still competing, I absolutely felt pressure from my parents to do well. They invested tens of thousands of dollars into a sport because they had been told since I was a child that I was "Olympic material." I really wish coaches would stop telling parents that because it changes the way they interact with their child's sport. Once they had these expectations of me and my abilities (and invested a ton of money into developing them), the pressure was on and it really sucked out any bit of joy I had in the sport. I was never free of it because when I got home it was a topic of conversation at the dinner table.

In my experience, most of the parents of elite athletes (gymnasts in this case) that I saw were overly invested emotionally in their kids' outcomes. I've seen parents outright yell at their kids for not being on the podium. I once got the cold shoulder from my mom because I was in 4th place AA. This made my performance anxiety so bad that I started bombing more often than not, making my home life more difficult and creating more anxiety.

I'm not saying these types of parents are bad, and I'm not saying every parent of an elite athlete is like this, but it is way more common than most people would like to believe. My wish is that (if, big IF) this is the case for Gracie, that she finds it in herself to make a decision about her future without feeling pressured by familial expectations. If she continues in the sport, perhaps moving away from that would be helpful.

/possibly unhelpful anecdote, haha.

It's an interesting anecdote. I think Gracie does feel the pressure from everyone, family, fans, federation, coach, team etc. and she doesn't want to let them down and she's not a quitter. She was in great shape at Worlds last year and I think that could be the cause of her motivation problems, she wasn't good enough when she was at her best physically.
Anyway, I have a little anecdote as well: A friend of mine has a son who's doing cross country skiing, very competitive young boy, he's 10 years old. His father is waxing his skis. I was at a race once, the boy finished 5th, vomited and then he started screaming at his father, complaining that he did a bad job with his skis. My point is - it's not possible to be competitive if the parents aren't really into it as well. It's not easy for the families.

 

[Mathman]

Wow! It's like people never say BS about themselves to the media!

This wins the prize for best post.

The Detroit Lions, to a man, said that they could beat the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL playoffs.

 

[mrrice]

At this point, Gracie needs to "Zip It" and get in the rink and WORK. Nothing else will impress me, or change my opinion that it has been her lack of hard work that is at the core of her recent slide. She's still a talented and intelligent young woman but, there is something going on with her and if she doesn't look in the mirror for cause of her struggles, it will be her downfall. This is very much like "the tortoise and the hare" and I guess it has hit Gracie that the tortoises have all caught up and passed her. I hope she learns a lesson or this will be sad ending to her career. As we all witnessed, Karen and Mariah are both young and hungry. When you add that to Ashley's tenacious and dogged work ethic, you have an Olympic team with NO Gracie.....She still has the goods but, they don't come in a can and she needs to start fast out of the gate next year.

 

[andromache]

At this point, Gracie needs to "Zip It" and get in the rink and WORK. Nothing else will impress me, or change my opinion that it has been her lack of hard work that is at the core of her recent slide. She's still a talented and intelligent young woman but, there is something going on with her and if she doesn't look in the mirror for cause of her struggles, it will be her downfall. This is very much like "the tortoise and the hare" and I guess it has hit Gracie that the tortoises have all caught up and passed her. I hope she learns a lesson or this will be sad ending to her career. As we all witnessed, Karen and Mariah are both young and hungry. When you add that to Ashley's tenacious and dogged work ethic, you have an Olympic team with NO Gracie.....She still has the goods but, they don't come in a can and she needs to start fast out of the gate next year.

I appreciate this post because it is critical of Gracie without passing negative judgment about her as a person.

ETA: BUT it's pretty hard to zip it when you're surrounded by media at a competition. Let's not blame skaters for talking about themselves when they are asked questions about themselves .

 

[Mrs. P]

This wins the prize for best post.

The Detroit Lions, to a man, said that they could beat the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL playoffs.

Sorry MM. I was kind of rooting for Detroit just cause they had such a incredible rising underdog story.

 

[Tolstoj]

Your reading comprehension is astoundingly selective. She said "ONE OF the best in the world" and if you look at the world standings and her stats, she's not wrong.

She also compared herself to Liza in order to say that all skaters have ups and downs. What's wrong with that? It's the truth.

Liza won GPF and Worlds, she can have some lazy moments after that, it totall makes sense especially if you consider how she won Worlds (with the 3A, a jump so tricky and unreliable for a woman) I can't remember Gracie's up moments: even at her best she has always a good short and a terrible long program or viceversa. Also Liza's "NOTHING" is still better than Gracie's outing this season.

The point is: she is comparing herself to someone who won the major titles and it's not her case yet, she should be instead keeping a low profile for now.

Instead of Pogo i would say she reminds me a lot Ashley in the Sochi Olympic cycle where she was always complaining on everything especially in the KnC, and look how humble she is now, mostly thanks to Rafael who showed her that this is the only way to succeed in figure skating.

 

[andromache]

Liza won GPF and Worlds, she can have some lazy moments after that, it totall makes sense especially if you consider how she won Worlds (with the 3A, a jump so tricky and unreliable for a woman) I can't remember Gracie's up moments: even at her best she has always a good short and a terrible long program or viceversa. Also Liza's "NOTHING" is still better than Gracie's outing this season.

The point is: she is comparing herself to someone who won the major titles and it's not her case yet, she should be instead keeping a low profile for now.

Instead of Pogo i would say she reminds me a lot Ashley in the Sochi Olympic cycle where she was always complaining on everything especially in the KnC, and look how humble she is now, mostly thanks to Rafael who showed her that this is the only way to succeed in figure skating.

Really, like all the humility Evgeni Plushenko had? The complaints about his results sure hurt his success in skating.

Liza did a lot. Gracie acknowledged that. Liza also just happens to be a great example of a skater who has had a lot of ups and downs across the course of several seasons - just like Gracie. You're not some sort of all-powerful who gets to decide who someone should or shouldn't compare themselves to.

I can have a really awesome week, and then have a really bad week, and say "Wow, this is just like when Liza won the World Championships and then lost to Ashley Wagner at Skate Canada the next season." In a sense, it's true. In another sense, it's not true. It doesn't mean I'm saying I'm as good at figure skating as Liza, or that I have accomplished as much as her. Same goes for Gracie. People have ups and downs. Skaters can have pretty extreme ups and downs. Liza is a great example of that, and I think her example can be motivating for Gracie moving forward.

And I'm lucky enough that I can remember plenty of Gracie's up moments, even if they were only program-to-program instead of season-to-season, they mean a lot to me as a lover of figure skating and I hope I never forget them. Especially her Nationals Firebird last season. I hope to see more performances like it in the future.

 

[yuna]

IMO people are making too many excuses for Gracie. Aside from her interview, she threw her jacket at her coach and yelled at him. How is this not disrespectful? Shes 21, young yes, but shes not a teenager. She should be respectful to her coach (who has coached her for years), no matter what her emotions are. Imagine if one of the Russian skaters did that? Especially Medvedeva (who gets the most hate here for whatever reason)? There would be a war on here blaming her and calling her evil. I dont blame Frank one bit for leaving her. It wasnt right to announce it before discussing it with her but yeah I dont blame him for leaving her.

I also dont blame people for thinking that she comes off as arrogant in her latest interview. How can she consider herself one of the best in the world and in the US when she came 6th at US nationals (which would put her in 12th at Russian nationals and 11th in Japanese nationals like someone said)? Before, maybe yes, but this season? Absolutely not. She hasnt skated a single clean program this season and she still expects herself to be named to the world team. I think she should have taken this season off right after her disastrous GP events.

 

[andromache]

Too many people in this thread are deliberately taking what she said in her interview about the Worlds team out of context no matter how many times they've been informed what the context is. Wow.

 

[Mathman]

About the reference to Liza Tuktamysheva, Gracie should have turned it around the other way. "Tuktamysheva had some ups and downs early in her career, but then suddenly and gloriously she pulled herself together and won everything in sight, including the world championship. That is my goal and inspiration for next year."

(Why don't these skaters hire me as a speechwriter? )

 

[bytheriver]

About the reference to Liza Tuktamysheva, Gracie should have turned it around the other way. "Tuktamysheva had some ups and downs early in her career, but then suddenly and gloriously she pulled herself together and won everything in sight, including the world championship. That is my goal for next year."

(Why don't these skaters hire me as a speechwriter? )

Yeah, that's where I thought she was going too! It's a bit of an odd comparison given the lack of optimistic turnaround at the end of the story. "Well, Tut did really well for a season and has had hard times recently too" vs. "Well, Tut had a rough year and won a World championship title." But that's just semantics, haha.

 

[silverfoxes]

IMO people are making too many excuses for Gracie. Aside from her interview, she threw her jacket at her coach and yelled at him. How is this not disrespectful? Shes 21, young yes, but shes not a teenager. She should be respectful to her coach (who has coached her for years), no matter what her emotions are. Imagine if one of the Russian skaters did that? Especially Medvedeva (who gets the most hate here for whatever reason)? There would be a war on here blaming her and calling her evil. I dont blame Frank one bit for leaving her. It wasnt right to announce it before discussing it with her but yeah I dont blame him for leaving her.

I keep reading this thread thinking of all the times posters here have called Kovtun a spoiled brat, and much worse. Nobody defends him. He's the same age as Gracie. And for all his bad performances you never see anyone showing concern for his well-being, just mockery. Nobody is wringing their hands over other skaters who never fulfilled their potential, apart from a few devoted people in their fan threads. She's not the first skater to go through hard times. If people want to be empathetic toward Gracie, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but it's not something that can be demanded from everyone else. I just wonder why she is given this kind of special treatment and others never are. It's like this forum is turning into "Graciegoldskate.com" with all the never-ending discussion and drama.

 

[TwinnerA]

I hope she had a giant burger and french fries. :agree: Benefits of not going to Worlds.

Don't forget a chocolate milk shake and some apple pie! Okay, now I'm hungry.

 

[solani]

About the reference to Liza Tuktamysheva, Gracie should have turned it around the other way. "Tuktamysheva had some ups and downs early in her career, but then suddenly and gloriously she pulled herself together and won everything in sight, including the world championship. That is my goal and inspiration for next year."

(Why don't these skaters hire me as a speechwriter? )

I'm sure you'd be a fine press agent.
The thing is that Gracie didn't take her time after her skate, she immediatly answered questions. That was brave and unwise. I'm sure she would have said more level headed things if she'd took her time to cool down a bit. We know that she also retrieved her jacket. But she gave as all a pure and raw moment of herself at her lowest.

 

[Tolstoj]

Really, like all the humility Evgeni Plushenko had? The complaints about his results sure hurt his success in skating.

Liza did a lot. Gracie acknowledged that. Liza also just happens to be a great example of a skater who has had a lot of ups and downs across the course of several seasons - just like Gracie. You're not some sort of all-powerful who gets to decide who someone should or shouldn't compare themselves to.

I can have a really awesome week, and then have a really bad week, and say "Wow, this is just like when Liza won the World Championships and then lost to Ashley Wagner at Skate Canada the next season." In a sense, it's true. In another sense, it's not true. It doesn't mean I'm saying I'm as good at figure skating as Liza, or that I have accomplished as much as her. Same goes for Gracie. People have ups and downs. Skaters can have pretty extreme ups and downs. Liza is a great example of that, and I think her example can be motivating for Gracie moving forward.

And I'm lucky enough that I can remember plenty of Gracie's up moments, even if they were only program-to-program instead of season-to-season, they mean a lot to me as a lover of figure skating and I hope I never forget them. Especially her Nationals Firebird last season. I hope to see more performances like it in the future.

The point is: it's totally normal a bad season for a skater who won everything including Worlds, it could a lack of motivations, lack of training... we've seen this in so many sports even outside figure skating.

While Gracie has never really seen the peak: at GPF she was a real mess, 4CC always a disaster, at Worlds a good short and a bad long or a bad short or a good long but never got a medal. She won medals at Nationals, but she was also clearly pushed in the past.

It seems like she's talking as someone who has already proven everything but that's not case in my opinion: we are all waiting to see her delivering two clean performances at the same event since 2013.

I'm watching TSL Nationals recap and they're saying the same thing: we've never seen her that strong, she had some bright moments, but we've also never seen her that low as she is now...

 

[andromache]

I keep reading this thread thinking of all the times posters here have called Kovtun a spoiled brat, and much worse. Nobody defends him. He's the same age as Gracie. And for all his bad performances you never see anyone showing concern for his well-being, just mockery. Nobody is wringing their hands over other skaters who never fulfilled their potential, apart from a few devoted people in their fan threads. She's not the first skater to go through hard times. If people want to be empathetic toward Gracie, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but it's not something that can be demanded from everyone else. I just wonder why she is given this kind of special treatment and others never are. It's like this forum is turning into "Graciegoldskate.com" with all the never-ending discussion and drama.

If it seems that I am one of the posters demanding empathy for her, then I apologize. That is not my intent. It is, however, very disheartening to see how many people are relishing her struggles and insulting her based on something she said just after she bombed her LP. People can critique her skating all they want, but regarding who she is as a person? If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all, unless you know her personally. Same goes for Kovtun.

 

[andromache]

The point is: it's totally normal a bad season for a skater who won everything including Worlds, it could a lack of motivations, lack of training... we've seen this in so many sports even outside figure skating.

While Gracie has never really seen the peak: at GPF she was a real mess, 4CC always a disaster, at Worlds a good short and a bad long or a bad short or a good long but never got a medal. She won medals at Nationals, but she was also clearly pushed in the past.

It seems like she's talking as someone who has already proven everything but that's not case in my opinion: we are all waiting to see her delivering two clean performances at the same event since 2013.

I'm watching TSL Nationals recap and they're saying the same thing: we've never seen her that strong, she had some bright moments, but we've also never seen her that low as she is now...

To me, it sounds like you are trying to say that Liza has a good excuse for having lackluster seasons after winning Worlds, whereas Gracie doesn't. It's true - Gracie is going through something else. Doesn't mean they don't have anything in common.

 

[islandiceskater]

The problem is also that she didn't take time to compose herself after the lowest point of her career before going to the media. People are reading too much into a press interview that she was by all accounts barely keeping it together for. Of course her wording isn't going to be perfect, I'm surprised she managed to look as collected as she did. It seemed she wanted to just get it over with, but there is nothing wrong with what she said and no point in dissecting how she said it.

And everyone has always referred to gracie as a very hard worker, in fact several comments were made about how crazy focused she seemed to be when she visited alex and how dedicated she was to restoring her jump technique. And this was recent, so any comments of shes lazy or entitled and if she just worked harder she'll be fine are a bit much. She has done and tried that already and yet were still here. No sense in trying to fit an easy solution into a complex problem, it's not going to work.

 

[Manitou]

No sense in trying to fit an easy solution into a complex problem, it's not going to work.

Very often easy solutions are the most effective ones ...

 

[Mathman]

... something she said just after she bombed her LP....

I am waiting for the day that Andrea Joyce asks a skater, "So, what were you thinking when you fell on that triple Lutz, costing you the championship?"

And the skaters says, "I was thinking about how much better I will feel when I shove that microphone up your nose."