2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

[MarinHondas]

I for one, am just excited to see Gracie’s new programs and see her again. Whether she ends up in last place or has a very messy competition is pretty much irrelevant. I mean look, she’s going in to the GP with no summer shows under her belt, no small competitions, nothing. We cant expect a lights out performance.

 

[mrrice]

Agreed!

100%.....I just want to see her out there and I'll worry about scores later in the season. I don't care if Gracie does a Sal Combo and a Triple Toe as long she does them well and enjoys herself. She's been through a lot and the fact she's coming back at all is a big deal.

 

[figurefan0726]

Maybe she’ll do a 3Lz+2T?

 

[momrk]

Hopefully she has set a reasonable goal for herself, and her evaluation of how successful she is will be based on that- coming back from the struggles she has had is a process, not a single event, and the voices she needs to listen to are hopefully guiding her as such. This is a step of the process.

 

[MarinHondas]

Maybe she’ll do a 3Lz+2T?

Possibly ... or possibly something simpler.

 

[macy]

has anyone else seen Diva Wagner's instagram story?? she said she will be commentating this weekend for the GP!!!

 

[StitchMonkey]

I'm a little disappointed that she did not even do a club comp domestically first.

I mean, look at how many Cricket Club skaters had issues with spins early in the season. Rules change and it can take some time to adapt and local club comps are a way to get the program under the eyes of a tech panel and make sure there are no issues. If issues can crop up for TCC skaters they can for Gracie as well and a warm up comp before the GP would have been nice.

Ohh well... still hoping she does well, I just would hate to see her get a zero on a spin that was easily fixable before hand.

 

[andromache]

I'm under the impression that Gracie is just avoiding putting herself under scrutiny until her GP event. Competitively it may not be the best decision, but I can understand wanting to avoid what the public thinks while she works on her comeback. Maybe she just wants to focus on her and her team's evaluation of her ability/progress instead of worrying about what everyone else is saying?

Of course once she competes at her GP event, people are going to talk. But it might be desirable to put all of that off until the last possible moment?

Most of all, I like to think that Gracie is doing her comeback for herself and not for anyone else, so keeping a low profile and avoiding attention could be part of that.

 

[brightphoton]

has anyone else seen Diva Wagner's instagram story?? she said she will be commentating this weekend for the GP!!!

She's been commentating "unofficially" on her Instagram, ie, she plays a clip from the competition and says what she thought of the performance. Do you know if she's still doing the Instagram commentating or is she going to do a guest appearance on the Tara and Johnny show?

 

[macy]

She's been commentating "unofficially" on her Instagram, ie, she plays a clip from the competition and says what she thought of the performance. Do you know if she's still doing the Instagram commentating or is she going to do a guest appearance on the Tara and Johnny show?

i took it as she's actually commentating for real, not just on instagram. but since she's been doing it on instagram every weekend, i guess it wouldn't suprise me if it was only that but i'll take that over nothing!

 

[concorde]

When do sectionals start?

Nov. 13-17.

 

[hippomoomin]

I just wish Gracie at skated at a local club competition or even a show, just to get a feeling of skating in front of the public again. She mentioned in an interview even before her eating disorder came up that she felt uncomfortable when she knew so many people were "watching" her. I cannot remember the exact language but she said something like she felt like an object of some sort that spectators were examining her (at least it's my interpretation).

I can understand that she does not want to "expose" herself to the public but it does not help address the underlying problem, because as long as she wants to be a good competitor, she will show up under the public's eyes. I think she really love skating but needs more mental preparation for competitions.

 

[oatmella]

I don’t really know what’s going on with Gracie, the state of her jumps, etc.

But I respect her choices and only wish her the best! She deserves it and I wouldn’t think anything negative at all even if she ‘only’ jumps doubles. Though I suspect that is probably not the case.

 

[champs]

Skating fans going on endlessly expressing publicly what she should be doing/should have done is probably what she doesn't want to hear for her healthy state of mind.

 

[evasorange]

Skating fans going on endlessly expressing publicly what she should be doing/should have done is probably what she doesn't want to hear for her healthy state of mind.

The coddling of Gracie Gold is so confusing and ridiculous to me. No other US lady gets this treatment. In fact most every us lady gets way more harsh/speculative comments then any I’ve seen Gracie get. It’s not wrong to comment, speculate or gossip on a public skating forum about the condition a skater is in. Nobody is forcing her to read this or even bringing it to her. Its certainly a bit strange and probably a bad call to not do ANY kind of public competition when you’ve taken a year off from competition, and to just jump right back in to a high profile event. Especially when the last time we saw her skate she struggled to hit a double. People are just stating the obvious at this point.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Skating fans going on endlessly expressing publicly what she should be doing/should have done is probably what she doesn't want to hear for her healthy state of mind.

Maybe that's true, but she has to accept it. She is choosing to make herself a public figure by going out and competing in internationally-televised figure skating events. It's normal for people to express their opinions about famous athletes, so she has to be prepared for whatever scrutiny that comes with it.

 

[mrrice]

Skating fans going on endlessly expressing publicly what she should be doing/should have done is probably what she doesn't want to hear for her healthy state of mind.

It's not the fans I'm worried about, it's the judges. It is very rare that a skaters programs aren't adjusted or "Re-worked" after the first event. With Gracie having a relatively late start to the season, she won't have much time for adjustments. Hopefully, her programs will be great even if she doesn't land her jumps perfectly. All I really hope for this season is that she's happy and skates well at Nationals.

 

[andromache]

Maybe that's true, but she has to accept it. She is choosing to make herself a public figure by going out and competing in internationally-televised figure skating events. It's normal for people to express their opinions about famous athletes, so she has to be prepared for whatever scrutiny that comes with it.

I agree with this. Public figures draw speculation and criticism. Given the trajectory of Gracie's career, she's obviously facing a lot of scrutiny.

That said, I also respect that Gracie is working on her comeback in as private a manner as possible and that is her prerogative.

Competitively, it might be foolish to debut at a GP event after taking so much time off. But Gracie is capable of setting realistic expectations for herself and I wouldn't be surprised if part of what she is working on, mental health wise, is being able to cope with disappointing results. She's going to be skating at the GP to get herself back out there. Putting together two programs on competitive ice is her first step, even if they're bad ones.

 

[el henry]

The coddling of Gracie Gold is so confusing and ridiculous to me. No other US lady gets this treatment. In fact most every us lady gets way more harsh/speculative comments then any I’ve seen Gracie get. It’s not wrong to comment, speculate or gossip on a public skating forum about the condition a skater is in. Nobody is forcing her to read this or even bringing it to her. Its certainly a bit strange and probably a bad call to not do ANY kind of public competition when you’ve taken a year off from competition, and to just jump right back in to a high profile event. Especially when the last time we saw her skate she struggled to hit a double. People are just stating the obvious at this point.

Respecting an athlete’s choice to deal with recovery from a serious illness is far from “coddling”

Whether or not it was the correct choice for Gracie as a competitor, we will see when she competes.

 

[evasorange]

Respecting an athlete’s choice to deal with recovery from a serious illness is far from “coddling”

Whether or not it was the correct choice for Gracie as a competitor, we will see when she competes.

What I mean by “coddling” is how many posters are so quick to do the “respect her privacy and stop speculation guys it’s harmful!!” scolding to other posters who aren’t even doing anything wrong by wondering what kind of shape she is gonna be in after a year plus off. When other US ladies don’t get even half of that kind of concern. I just don’t understand what it is about Gracie that prompts that kind of response out of people.