Is Gracie Gold overhyped right now? | Golden Skate

Is Gracie Gold overhyped right now?

koatcue

Medalist
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Country
Russia
I feel as if North Americans try to make her a new Kim already. But in my eyes she is NO better than Lipnitskaya, Li and so on...Your thoughts?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Cracie certainly isn't being overhyped right now. Maybe at the end of last season she was. Now everyone is backing off, with a wait and see.
 

koatcue

Medalist
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Country
Russia
Cracie certainly isn't being overhyped right now. Maybe at the end of last season she was. Now everyone is backing off, with a wait and see.

I mean Sotnikova was also overhyped..Gracie is better than her, but other new girls...Not so sure. Even last year I wondered why there was so much talk..
 

BlackPack

Medalist
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
I actually think Gracie is underhyped. I don't think she is the robot people claim she is, especially since the current ladies' field isn't filled with profoundly, naturally artistic skaters. Good skaters at simulating emotions, yes, but I don't think she is worse off than someone, say, Wagner. With a bit more refinement and artistic exploration, Gracie can be the new Kostner but with much stronger nerves, especially with her long limbs.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I actually think Gracie is underhyped. I don't think she is the robot people claim she is, especially since the current ladies' field isn't filled with profoundly, naturally artistic skaters. Good skaters at simulating emotions, yes, but I don't think she is worse off than someone, say, Wagner. With a bit more refinement and artistic exploration, Gracie can be the new Kostner but with much stronger nerves, especially with her long limbs.

I'm sorry, but it would take way more than a bit of more refinement and artistic expression for Gracie to come close to even being compared to Kostner, much less the new her. She has big jumps like Carolina, and her skating skills are good enough that with time, they might be as good as Carolina's, but for me, that's it right now.

I do not think she is being overhyped currently, and I enjoy watching her and wish her well. However, she will never be Kostner. I think she has more potential to be a Slutskya type- very strong jumps and technical skills, and a firecracker out there, but without much range of expression or refinement. I think that she just is not an artist, and I think it is very unlikely that she will miraculously become one. I don't think exactly that you're 'born with it' or not, but I think that not everyone can do it, and I think that at her age and at this stage in her career, Gracie is past the point where she can become one of the 'greats' artistically. (That is not to be interpreted to mean I don't think she can improve, just that I don't think she will ever be a Kostner, Asada, Kwan). However, I don't think she has to be. Her biggest mistake at this point, IMO, is her denial of the fact that artistry is not a strength and her longing to package herself as sleeping beauty (crazy comments about power witch aside) when she should be packaging herself as dynamite.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
She doesn't necessarily have to become a great artist to be a great skater. However, it is certainly possible for her to become a better performer and to have better choreography. Skaters such as Debi Thomas and Midori Ito weren't great artists in my opinion, but they performed really well and had programs that highlighted their strengths.
 

bigsisjiejie

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
I think maybe the hyping has died down a bit. Is it my imagination, or since the announcement of her association with Frank Carroll, has the publicity machine gone silent? I can't help but think that this is a good thing, and she + Frank can focus on the job that needs to be done on improving her programs, her execution of same, and her competition nerves.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I think maybe the hyping has died down a bit. Is it my imagination, or since the announcement of her association with Frank Carroll, has the publicity machine gone silent? I can't help but think that this is a good thing, and she + Frank can focus on the job that needs to be done on improving her programs, her execution of same, and her competition nerves.

I do not think that it is your imagination. Perhaps the previously excessive (IMHO) public relations push was toned down also because Gold's performance and placement at the Salt Lake City Classic put her fallibility front and center.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
She doesn't necessarily have to become a great artist to be a great skater. However, it is certainly possible for her to become a better performer and to have better choreography. Skaters such as Debi Thomas and Midori Ito weren't great artists in my opinion, but they performed really well and had programs that highlighted their strengths.
Midori and Thomas skated with power and energy like Slutskaya. However, Midori had an enduring personality not so much with Thomas or Slutskaya (thomas the weakest of the bunch). They skated with speed and confidence but Gracie has more potential. One skate who had speed, power and strength but a certain elegance and grace is Joannie Rochette and even Nancy Kerrigan who really learned how to work her outfits and spiral - really not that flexible but so well done. Gracie has power and is developing more style.
 

Selene

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Maybe it would be good for Gracie if the hype died down. These past two seasons, she has been a headcase who cannot handle the pressure of competition. Perhaps if less is expected of her, she wouldn't feel as much pressure when she competes. She needs to let go and stop rushing & overthinking everything when she skates, and let just her muscle memory take over. She is too good technically to make as many errors as she does when she competes. She needs to pull herself together soon, or she will lose her pretty much guaranteed ticket to Sochi to a skater like Courtney Hicks (who has better technical content than Gracie does and has delivered it with more consistency.)

I only hope that her programs can be salvaged. I have no idea what she was thinking when she accepted the awful choreography and musical selections/cuts from Zoueva. The packaging for her this season is 100% wrong. Her programs give me the sense that her team is pushing her to be a skater she is not (graceful and artistic), rather than giving her programs that highlight her strengths as skater (power and speed.) She looks ridiculous skating to Sleeping Beauty, with her totally unrefined upper body movement and lack of grace. And her SP isn't any better, with the frantic choreography that only highlights her arm windmilling. Honestly, the programs are such a mess, in concept and execution, that I wish she would just scrap them and start over, this time selecting musical selections that are suited to her skating.
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
I actually think Gracie is underhyped. I don't think she is the robot people claim she is, especially since the current ladies' field isn't filled with profoundly, naturally artistic skaters. Good skaters at simulating emotions, yes, but I don't think she is worse off than someone, say, Wagner. With a bit more refinement and artistic exploration, Gracie can be the new Kostner but with much stronger nerves, especially with her long limbs.

Does Gracie even have stronger nerves, let along much stronger nerves than Carolina?
And long limbs? Really? Who has long limbs?

I dont think it is possible for gracie to become carolina. Be someone else, be herself.
 

BlackPack

Medalist
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
Does Gracie even have stronger nerves, let along much stronger nerves than Carolina?
And long limbs? Really? Who has long limbs?

I dont think it is possible for gracie to become carolina. Be someone else, be herself.

Is it just me or does no one else think she skated a pretty good LP in 2013 Worlds????? :confused:
 

penguin

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
I think her Worlds LP was a pretty good showing. I feel like Gracie was hyped a bit more her than abilities merited, but she has also been blasted far worse than she has merited. She's not as good as maybe her early buzz projected, but I really don't think she's anywhere near as terrible as her detractors say.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
I don't necessarily feel she is overhyped. She is 6th (?) in the World, which is quite a feat for your first Sr.Worlds. She can be hit or miss, she's not a sure thing yet. Her programs this season are not showing her to her best, but I've been disappointed in others' programs this season too. When she's on and lands her elements it is pretty spectacular.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Gracie Who? Since the die down about the coaching situation, she is very much under the radar and not really being talked about much as far as I can tell.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
She probably likes being under the radar after all the hype of the last 20 months or so. Now she can do the work that needs to be done and make the Olympic team which should be her one and only goal this season.
 

Li'Kitsu

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
penguin said:
I feel like Gracie was hyped a bit more her than abilities merited, but she has also been blasted far worse than she has merited.

This is actually a very true thing to say, and not even just for Gracie - probably this fits more skaters then not. Hyping and hating seem to be more fun than just sticking to the simple truth ;)
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
She probably fuels the hype a little with her posted videos doing crazy difficult jump combinations in practice. People expect this level and when she doesn't deliver it is especially disappointing, in that it makes her errors even more inexplicable.
 
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