The point is that she learned how to compete quickly; that's all I was trying to say.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Lipinski#Eligible
She was 4th at Jr. Worlds in 1995, 5th at Jr. Worlds in 1996, 15th at Senior Worlds. She had not quite got the hang of this competing thing in her debut year on the Senior Circuit.
The 1996-1997 season, she figured it out and never looked back.
She was, indeed, one tough cookie, but it didn't mean she won everything she entered. And strange, but true, she never medalled at Jr. Worlds in 2 tries.
Right. The fact is that just because Gracie struggled this year doesn't meant she'll suffer forever. I think it's part of her career arc. I think it's crazy to expect that skaters will never struggle in their careers -- the key thing is what they learn from it. And the fact is that sometimes you will fall down again and have to get up again.
Consider the fact that two seasons ago, Gracie ended her season with a dismal sixth place finish at Midwestern sectionals. With in a few months, she was dominating summer comps and having a breakout junior season. Competing in seniors is obviously a different animal than being a junior, so though she is going through similar struggles as a senior, how to work through those issues is different than what she had to do when she was a junior.
And honestly, I really think her poor performance at 4CC was very much a timing and less so on nerves. Let's fact is after that killer LP at Nationals, it's hard to motivate yourself that quickly and do it all over again.