Gracie Gold's prospects for 2018 season?

[skylark]

Goodness me. I was AWOL from goldenskate due to Real Life. And now :eeking:

I love Grant's tweet. #Be Kind.# If he was referring to TSL tweets about Gracie, I have to agree. When I read them just now, I found them a bit shocking. The posts here, though, were mostly people asking what would happen if she plans to go to competitions without triples, and others answering. It's speculation as to Gracie, but it's natural to wonder. We haven't seen anything like it. I guess the difference is, GS posts aren't like tweets in terms of exposure.

The previous tweets about Gracie not doing an SP at CC and about Ashley, also at CC, not skating to LLL and returning to Moulin Rouge, I took as unconfirmed bits. They're the kind of inside information that TSL often has and turn out to be true, and I didn't mind those tweets.

But now, as an Ashley:luv17: Uber, I'm going to be awfully : : : if the tweet about her turns out to be complete BS.

 

[Moxiejan]

I missed the tweet about Ashley. Was it about her changing her long program? Or something else?

 

[apgold]

I take lots of TSL/Dave's tweets with a grain of salt, even if he turns out to be correct. Usually I wait for IN or Jackie Wong to confirm any rumors/program changes.

Like many others here, I wish Gracie and all other skaters the best. (Still, I can't help but be concerned when all reports point to her not returning to the form she had pre- Worlds 2016 and wearing heavy sweatshirts in the summertime)

 

[jenaj]

Unless Gracie is injured, it is hard for me to believe she has lost her triple jumps. She was doing an axel in the opposite direction in that clip--that isn't easy! If she is working with Alex, I expect her to be ready for the Grand Prix, jump-wise.

 

[jenaj]

I missed the tweet about Ashley. Was it about her changing her long program? Or something else?

Supposedly, she is returning to Moulin Rouge, which would mean both programs are a repeat of 2016. It really isn't a bad move for her if true, even if it is disappointing for her regular fans not to see something new from her.

 

[SnowWhite]

Goodness me. I was AWOL from goldenskate due to Real Life. And now :eeking:

I love Grant's tweet. #Be Kind.# If he was referring to TSL tweets about Gracie, I have to agree. When I read them just now, I found them a bit shocking. The posts here, though, were mostly people asking what would happen if she plans to go to competitions without triples, and others answering. It's speculation as to Gracie, but it's natural to wonder. We haven't seen anything like it. I guess the difference is, GS posts aren't like tweets in terms of exposure.

The previous tweets about Gracie not doing an SP at CC and about Ashley, also at CC, not skating to LLL and returning to Moulin Rouge, I took as unconfirmed bits. They're the kind of inside information that TSL often has and turn out to be true, and I didn't mind those tweets.

But now, as an Ashley:luv17: Uber, I'm going to be awfully : : : if the tweet about her turns out to be complete BS.

Well, he said that a top dance team was going to skate to Moulin Rouge in the next tweet and Tessa Virtue basically confirmed that she and Scott are using Moulin Rouge today. Not necessarily the same source of course, but it does make me believe that more.

 

[Barb]

But now, as an Ashley:luv17: Uber, I'm going to be awfully : : : if the tweet about her turns out to be complete BS.

I think if this was not true, Ashley or Jackie would have said something about it, when TSL quoted a controversial article or phrase from P / C, Jackie immediately came out in their defense and I think he has made it clear that he does not hold them (TSL) in high esteem. So the best we can hope for is that Ashley is undecided to use La land or MR.

 

[bevybean]

Unless Gracie is injured, it is hard for me to believe she has lost her triple jumps. She was doing an axel in the opposite direction in that clip--that isn't easy! If she is working with Alex, I expect her to be ready for the Grand Prix, jump-wise.

At this point, I'm inclined to believe the reports from Ic3Rabbit that Gracie was not looking good at Sun Valley. As a Gracie fan, I feel it's necessary to prepare myself for a another bad season from her. This way I'm not further disappointed when I actually see her skate. And if she does pull it together in for her GP assignments, then I can just be surprised and happy.

As for the TSL quotes...even a blind squirrel can find a nut eventually. Just because TSL was right about Tessa and Scott doesn't mean they are right about everything. I'll wait for confirmation from a better source for the others. Where Ashley is concerned, if there was anything even remotely off about the LaLaLand program, I could see her switching. In Sochi she did a last minute replacement of her long program because it wasn't working well for her. I'm sure she is extra sensitive to NOT repeating that kind of thing.

 

[Jammers]

Whether people want to admit it or not TSL more often then not get's it right when they come out with information Dave Lease does have contacts in the skating world.

 

[Seren]

A good friend of mine was in Sun Valley last week for Adult Skaters Week. She also saw Gracie and essentially repeated Ic3Rabbit's report. She said that Gracie seemed very stiff and struggled with jumps (just singles and doubles). I like Gracie and wish her the best but in terms of being ready for the Grand Prix it doesn't look good. And I don't think it's a good idea for her to compete if she isn't ready- I think it would hurt her confidence even more. She has tremendous natural talent- but I hope she can either find the joy in skating again or realize there is more to life than skating.

 

[skylark]

I missed the tweet about Ashley. Was it about her changing her long program? Or something else?

The only one I've seen is about changing LP back to MR. I was only : because I've written a number of posts about it. So I'll feel funny if it turns out not to be true.

 

[andromache]

I think if someone HAD seen Gracie doing a triple jump, we would've heard about it by now, or seen one posted on social media somewhere.

Is TSL being kind? No. But in this situation, they are 100% "keeping it real," which isn't always kind, as much as we might wish it to be. If Gracie makes it to the Olympics having had no triple jumps all summer, it will be a miracle. She was out of shape last year, but at least she had triple jumps.

Sure, Dave has made nasty, obviously untrue insinuations about a few Russian skaters in the past, but in general his gossip about North American skaters tends to be correct. Skating is a small world, people like to gossip and know each other's business, and evidently enough people in that small world gossip to Dave, too.

 

[sheetz]

I like Gracie and wish her the best but in terms of being ready for the Grand Prix it doesn't look good. And I don't think it's a good idea for her to compete if she isn't ready- I think it would hurt her confidence even more.

This was mentioned earlier, but it may be the case that Gracie has to enter a Grand Prix event in order to receive a bye to Nationals. If she doesn't then she will likely have to enter Sectionals and finish in the top 4.

 

[skylark]

I think if someone HAD seen Gracie doing a triple jump, we would've heard about it by now, or seen one posted on social media somewhere.

Is TSL being kind? No. But in this situation, they are 100% "keeping it real," which isn't always kind, as much as we might wish it to be.

Good points.

 

[gravy]

It would depend on how USFS considers her team Olympic medal from Sochi. Reigning Olympic and World medalists have automatic byes to Nationals, but I do not believe USFS ever announced whether the team Olympic medal counts. Otherwise, you have to be top 5 at the previous Nationals to have a bye to the current Nationals, or have GP/ other events that conflict with Regionals/ Sectionals. At any rate, I do not think double jumps will get anybody through Sectionals anymore, though the Pacific Coast can be a fairly weak section. Two years ago, two of the ladies who qualified through PC sectionals did not have triples.

@sabinfire and I had this discussion some months ago and we came to the conclusion that a team medal probably doesn't count. Byes are only valid for the disciplines in which they were earned--in this case, an Olympic medal in the team event. Since Gracie will compete in the women's event and not a team event at Nationals, it probably won't carry over. But who knows.

 

[karne]

I would just like to say that I hope all of the people that have made snide and gross comments in here about Gracie's "shape" have read the article about Lipnitskaya's retirement and are taking a good, long look at themselves in the mirror right now.

 

[leafygreens]

I think if someone HAD seen Gracie doing a triple jump, we would've heard about it by now, or seen one posted on social media somewhere.

Is TSL being kind? No. But in this situation, they are 100% "keeping it real," which isn't always kind, as much as we might wish it to be. If Gracie makes it to the Olympics having had no triple jumps all summer, it will be a miracle. She was out of shape last year, but at least she had triple jumps.

Sure, Dave has made nasty, obviously untrue insinuations about a few Russian skaters in the past, but in general his gossip about North American skaters tends to be correct. Skating is a small world, people like to gossip and know each other's business, and evidently enough people in that small world gossip to Dave, too.

Could not agree with you more. I want Gracie to succeed, but we have to prepare ourselves for anything. All we have to go on at the moment are her backslide last season, the warmup at Sun Valley, baggy clothing and lack of other current videos. You have to ask yourself why someone is hiding like this. Skaters like to build pre-season buzz about themselves, and I have never seen this approach used before.

I can see how someone may have video (like at Sun Valley) but not want to put it out there to protect Gracie. Other people were excited to meet her and post photos, but nobody has a video other than warmups? I remember when Alissa had the hip dislocation on ice and the video was quickly pulled by a fan who just felt bad about it. I don't think Dave would act so sure about this unless he had strong evidence. I do hope he is wrong though. No fan wants to see such a thing happening.

 

[pjskater]

I would just like to say that I hope all of the people that have made snide and gross comments in here about Gracie's "shape" have read the article about Lipnitskaya's retirement and are taking a good, long look at themselves in the mirror right now.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Skatingcat]

I won't speculate about Gracie's weight. But a person's weight and their stamina/physical fitness does not correlate. I've known scrawny athletes and zaftig athletes who have amazing stamina and physical strength. It truly depends on the body/metabolism/proprioception/dedication, and whatever athletic gifts they've been graced with.

If something is bothering Gracie, or if she has lost the desire to skate, then by all means she should do something else. It seems that the USFS no longer has confidence in her. Gracie should do what is best for Gracie, and I believe she will.

 

[KatGrace1925]

I would just like to say that I hope all of the people that have made snide and gross comments in here about Gracie's "shape" have read the article about Lipnitskaya's retirement and are taking a good, long look at themselves in the mirror right now.

Thank you karne, this is absolutely true.