- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
I was in the negative years LOLI was 2..
2021-2022 US Women's Figure Skating
- Thread starter Minz
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I think only Yuna did that. Michelle very likely would have taken advantage of professional opportunities had she won in Nagano.
I agree about Michelle. I believe Mao stayed on till 2017, Mirai till 2019, Satoko is still going. I think it is much easier to make money now and still compete than it was, especially in Japan.
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2014
I think people sometimes forget that Michelle was only 17 at Nagano and it wouldn't have been much different than Tara had she won. I guess technically Michelle was on her second cycle, being that she nearly went to the Olympics in 1994.
- Joined
- May 19, 2011
Agreed. The truth is Gracie should not be given the SA slot, regardless of whatever popularity pull she still has. As much as people would like to see her get the opportunity, she hasn't earned that spot. Her skating is admirable from a fighting back standpoint but, given the evidence from her past performances, she's not competitive enough to participate in a Grand Prix event. Had she put out stronger performances at Cranberry, she'd have a case for the spot. I feel like if she could have managed a 160-170+ for a total score, there would be an argument for her; unfortunately, she didn't crack 140.
There are up-and-coming skaters who need the senior international experience and exposure who are also outperforming Gracie; they deserve the spot. Besides, Gracie doesn't need a big stage right now. I can't imagine getting dusted by skaters she used to be able to beat in her sleep feels good or does anything positive for her psyche. I'd love to see her compete at smaller competitions--as many as she can. Gracie needs to get her stamina up and get more comfortable with putting out her programs.
Also, double medalists Lu Chen and Carol Heiss.
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
I have to agree. And i´m not sure she wants the spot either. Because I think she wants to be in better shape before she attends such an event again.
I´d also love to see her in smaller competitions, a couple where she even can go on the podium and build up her self-esteem. My wish is for her be at Nationals and get a top 5 placement or so. I´m not saying it´s realistic, but I say there is a chance, if she goes to Nationals, she place around top 5 - maaaybe she even can get the spot for WC this season. You all know it´s OG-season and a lot usually happens right after. The skaters going to OG might not won´t to go WC for different reasons. If Gracie happens to have a good result at Nationals, there might be a spot available for her. Well it´s not a very big chance, but it´s possible.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
I was 3 when she won Gold in 68
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
I think this is a very key point. Look at her scores since she's started her comeback - Eastern Sectionals in the 2019-2020 season was her best total. And her lowest (other than Rostelecom in 2018) was Skate America last year.
At Cranberry, her image was used heavily to promote the event (her face was even on the Zamboni!) and truthfully it made me uncomfortable on her behalf. I can only imagine that she feels at least some pressure to be "the" Gracie Gold that everyone knew and loved in past seasons, and I wonder if at times all of the love and cheering and support she gets from fans might be a double-edged sword for her.
No matter how good it might feel to know that you are loved and admired for all you've accomplished and all you've been through, I'm sure there are times that it feels like pity. Having struggled with anxiety and depression myself, I know that it can be easy to second-guess people's intentions towards you when you feel like you aren't worth the attention and support they're giving you.
I think sending her to Skate America would add a lot of pressure without really being worth it. As people have rightfully pointed out, she's a ways off from being ready for the Grand Prix circuit, or to be competitive for the top spots at Nationals. I feel like it would be best for her to go to Senior Bs and other smaller competitions where she has a decent shot at placing well. Let her have some competitions where she's actually in the top five - where even if she's not skating as well as she wants to, she's still achieving something that feels good. Sending her to Skate America where she's under the big spotlight of the Grand Prix, and also likely to place pretty low, feels like the law of diminishing returns to me.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
Very happy to see that Kate Wang 
is assigned to JGP Russia. Also Maryn Pierce.
And good luck to Clare Seo and Lindsay Thorngren this week at the first JGP Courchevel.
I believe that you are referring to the beginning of the 2017-18 Olympic season, when Mariah put her new SP aside and instead returned to Chicago/Roxie.
I hope that Mariah's outlook is that making or missing the Olympics is not going to define her or her skating career.
Off topic, but if she does have this outlook
, I highly doubt that Adam should be credited.
I don't claim to be an expert on Adam, but seems to me that he persevered until reaching the Olympics largely because he did think in terms of it being a defining achievement.
Plus it is hard to ignore that Adam's participation in the Olympics [including earning a team medal] was literally life-changing as a starting point leading to major post-competitive opportunities galore.
Agree. And Bradie is a great example of the potential importance of the Skate America TBA slot to an up-and-comer's career.
At Champs Camp in Aug 2017, Bradie was a newbie who originally sat down alone in the OTC dining hall because she didn't know anyone. (Remedied by Ashley Wagner, who reached out to invite Bradie to join Ashley's table.)
At Skate America in Nov 2017, Bradie made her GP debut and won bronze.
Within weeks, she won her first U.S. senior title at 2018 Nats ... and then within weeks of that, she earned 2018 OWG team bronze. She has continued to be one of Team USA's leading ladies (leading women?
) ever since.
(I'm not saying that the current Olympic season will have another "Cinderella"-type progression of this extent.
But I do believe that the Skate America TBA assignment should not be given lightly. I would hate for the possibility of extra ticket sales to be a motivation for USFS officials who make the selection.)
Are you talking about 2020 Skate America during the pandemic?
It had eleven U.S. ladies total, nine of whom could be considered (IMO) to be equivalent to host picks for what normally would have been the "third" Team USA slot.
Plus 2020 Skate America had no ticket sales.
Agree. I can't imagine that Gracie herself would want to be picked for Skate America on the basis of popularity or favoritism.
I'm sure that Gracie hasn't forgotten what it was like to be an up-and-comer who hoped that good skating results would be rewarded with good assignments.
is assigned to JGP Russia. Also Maryn Pierce.And good luck to Clare Seo and Lindsay Thorngren this week at the first JGP Courchevel.
I believe that you are referring to the beginning of the 2017-18 Olympic season, when Mariah put her new SP aside and instead returned to Chicago/Roxie.
(ETA: I don't have an opinion about her new SP this season.)
I hope that Mariah's outlook is that making or missing the Olympics is not going to define her or her skating career.
Off topic, but if she does have this outlook
, I highly doubt that Adam should be credited.I don't claim to be an expert on Adam, but seems to me that he persevered until reaching the Olympics largely because he did think in terms of it being a defining achievement.
Plus it is hard to ignore that Adam's participation in the Olympics [including earning a team medal] was literally life-changing as a starting point leading to major post-competitive opportunities galore.
Agree. And Bradie is a great example of the potential importance of the Skate America TBA slot to an up-and-comer's career.
At Champs Camp in Aug 2017, Bradie was a newbie who originally sat down alone in the OTC dining hall because she didn't know anyone. (Remedied by Ashley Wagner, who reached out to invite Bradie to join Ashley's table.)
At Skate America in Nov 2017, Bradie made her GP debut and won bronze.
Within weeks, she won her first U.S. senior title at 2018 Nats ... and then within weeks of that, she earned 2018 OWG team bronze. She has continued to be one of Team USA's leading ladies (leading women?
) ever since.(I'm not saying that the current Olympic season will have another "Cinderella"-type progression of this extent.
But I do believe that the Skate America TBA assignment should not be given lightly. I would hate for the possibility of extra ticket sales to be a motivation for USFS officials who make the selection.)
Are you talking about 2020 Skate America during the pandemic?
It had eleven U.S. ladies total, nine of whom could be considered (IMO) to be equivalent to host picks for what normally would have been the "third" Team USA slot.
Plus 2020 Skate America had no ticket sales.
Agree. I can't imagine that Gracie herself would want to be picked for Skate America on the basis of popularity or favoritism.
I'm sure that Gracie hasn't forgotten what it was like to be an up-and-comer who hoped that good skating results would be rewarded with good assignments.
ETA:
Gracie has my full respect for speaking out re mental health, and for returning to competitive skating.
I was glad to take part in the standing ovation for her at 2020 Nats.
But as a sample of one, I would have traveled to Greensboro whether Gracie had qualified or not. For me, she was not at all a factor in my desire/decision to attend Nats.
I was glad to take part in the standing ovation for her at 2020 Nats.
But as a sample of one, I would have traveled to Greensboro whether Gracie had qualified or not. For me, she was not at all a factor in my desire/decision to attend Nats.
Last edited:
Gracie should not even be in the mix for SA and that's not a knock on her but GP's are not charity cases but for skaters who deserve them. I remember around a decade ago when SA always seemed to assign Caroline Zhang SA when she probably didn't deserve it and she wasn't competitive with the top skaters either but i think even Caroline was skating a little better then Gracie at the time but other US ladies should have gotten the spot that SA always seemed to give her.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
I am REALLY happy and encouraged that she’s doing multiple small competitions. This tells me she really does want it. Maybe she used to do a Senior B as a tuneup in the past, like Alysa and Mariah and Amber here, but I doubt she’s skated at anything as small as Philly since she was a Novice. It’s just not “on brand” for her.
Going to say one more thing and I’ll take the rest to her Fan Fest. I started listening to the Ice Tea podcast, since they were so kind as to give me a shoutout, and they were saying that people who have struggled with mental illness or eating disorders feel they have some representation on the ice now. That really resonates with me.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
Hopefully she can make some changes that would help her earn more points at the smaller events. She should not be doing any triples in the second half of her LP. Instead, she should front-load everything and maybe plan her 2A's and a 2-2-2 combo in the latter half of her program. Unlike Eteri's skaters, Gracie is not trained to to make-up points if she misses an element so she must get those attempts on fresh legs when she's most likely to land them. I just find it perplexing that she plans her programs to maximize points with the assumption that she will be doing seven triples, including the 3Lz-3T, and will have the energy to land difficult jumps late. Is her team even having realistic discussions about her current form and abilities?
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
Not sure what you mean by "as small as Philly" (Philadelphia/Liberty historically being one of the higher-profile U.S. club events) and not a big deal one way or the other, but FWIW, Gracie was not a stranger to U.S. club competitions in her pre-comeback Senior/Junior years.
By no means an exhaustive list, but some random examples:
2016 Golden West
2015 Glacier Falls, 2014 Glacier Falls, 2011 Glacier Falls (article mentions that Gracie competed at 2011 Liberty too)
2013 Skate Milwaukee, 2012 Skate Milwaukee
2012 Skate Detroit, 2011 Skate Detroit
2011 Northern Blast
2015 Glacier Falls, 2014 Glacier Falls, 2011 Glacier Falls (article mentions that Gracie competed at 2011 Liberty too)
2013 Skate Milwaukee, 2012 Skate Milwaukee
2012 Skate Detroit, 2011 Skate Detroit
2011 Northern Blast
Anyway, I wish Gracie well.
And I think it's great that she has been touching a lot of lives with her coaching in recent years, both at IceWorks and on frequent visits to clubs further afield.
p.s. Happy Birthday to Gracie and Carly.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Yes. Happy birthday!!! And I should have known someone would know. She did say in a podcast she’d never skated at a Regionals or Sectionals until the one at Iceworks and she was the most nervous there she’d ever been. More than Worlds or Olympics. I thought that was odd - surely as a Novice?Not sure what you mean by "as small as Philly" (Philadelphia/Liberty historically being one of the higher-profile U.S. club events) and not a big deal one way or the other, but FWIW, Gracie was not a stranger to U.S. club competitions in her pre-comeback Senior/Junior years.
By no means an exhaustive list, but some random examples:
2015 Glacier Falls, 2014 Glacier Falls, 2011 Glacier Falls (article mentions that Gracie competed at 2011 Liberty too)
Anyway, I wish Gracie well.
And I think it's great that she has been touching a lot of lives with her coaching in recent years, both at IceWorks and on frequent visits to clubs further afield.
p.s. Happy Birthday to Gracie and Carly.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Not sure what to say. Should I not clap or cheer for her? I can’t imagine that.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
Why in the world would you not clap or cheer for her? Aren't you a fan?!?!?! I'd clap and cheer and show my support. And I'm not really a fan.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
I will clap and cheer for ANY skater who has the guts, will, and desire to be out there trying. I think of all the lonely hours they spend in a freezing rink and the least I can do is clap for them.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Because the post I was responding to said that the love and cheering and support might be a double edged sword.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked