Gracie Gold Announces Withdrawal from US Nationals | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Gracie Gold Announces Withdrawal from US Nationals

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
That's true but it will only be slightly easier. Kaetlyn, Gabby and Carolina are out but Japan has their 3rd spot back and all 3 women are capable of top 5 placements. For the past two years only 2 of the 3 Russians have placed top 10. This year that may change if Alina, Liza T and Sofia (most likely) are there. You've also got Eunsoo Lim who should make the top 10 for Korea.

So that's 3 Japanese, 3 Russians and 1 Korean. Bradie or Mariah will have to be good enough to get by at least 3 skaters in that top 7 to place 5th. It's a tall order but it's doable if they can deliver. Unfortunately, they will likely have to rely on a few slip ups from those 7 in order to have a chance. I don't quite know where the US women would fall in an "all skate clean" scenario.

One or both might be able to beat Sofia (her top score is about 204+ this year)...but I don't see a clean Bradie or Mariah beating a clean Eunsoo or the other Russians or any of the Japanese.
I can't find the annoucement that Gabby is out can you share?
 

chuckm

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Gabby is not out. She is competing for sure at Canadian Nationals. As they have 3 ladies slots, there is no way Gabby will NOT be at Worlds.
 

drivingmissdaisy

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Feb 17, 2010
That's true but it will only be slightly easier. Kaetlyn, Gabby and Carolina are out but Japan has their 3rd spot back and all 3 women are capable of top 5 placements. For the past two years only 2 of the 3 Russians have placed top 10. This year that may change if Alina, Liza T and Sofia (most likely) are there. You've also got Eunsoo Lim who should make the top 10 for Korea.

So that's 3 Japanese, 3 Russians and 1 Korean. Bradie or Mariah will have to be good enough to get by at least 3 skaters in that top 7 to place 5th. It's a tall order but it's doable if they can deliver. Unfortunately, they will likely have to rely on a few slip ups from those 7 in order to have a chance. I don't quite know where the US women would fall in an "all skate clean" scenario.

One or both might be able to beat Sofia (her top score is about 204+ this year)...but I don't see a clean Bradie or Mariah beating a clean Eunsoo or the other Russians or any of the Japanese.

Liza is the big wildcard. If she's not able to return with the 3A I don't think she would be competitive with Alina and the Japanese women, which would put her within reach of Bradie. If Liza comes back with her full arsenal of jumps, there's little hope of Bradie and Mariah finishing high enough to regain three spots. Any realistic scenario for the US to get three spots requires Bradie to beat a couple of the Russian women.
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
Gabby is not out. She is competing for sure at Canadian Nationals. As they have 3 ladies slots, there is no way Gabby will NOT be at Worlds.

Okay, thanks. This makes more sense, Still things look good for the American ladies at least against Canada. Russia and Japan may be a different story.
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
Liza is the big wildcard. If she's not able to return with the 3A I don't think she would be competitive with Alina and the Japanese women, which would put her within reach of Bradie. If Liza comes back with her full arsenal of jumps, there's little hope of Bradie and Mariah finishing high enough to regain three spots. Any realistic scenario for the US to get three spots requires Bradie to beat a couple of the Russian women.

Never say never. Imagine Alina crashes as she has shown at worlds and nationals; the other two Russians without Liza are really volatile and even prone or could be out of the top 12. One Japanese lady having a bad day though not desirable is possible. No Canadian threat. Kostner out or if she skates may be rusty. So say Bradie sneaks in at 4th or 5th. And then well Mariah could be like 8th or 9th. 3 spots! They can beat the French, Kaz, Swiss,China and S. Korea. Even if 3 Japanese and a Russian are ahead they could still do it.
 

Jammers

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To be honest i'm happy that Gracie withdrew from Nationals. To see her at COR get a lower SP score then when she was a Novice at Nationals nearly 9 years ago was painful to see. While i didn't expect her to be anywhere near her prime to see her get beat by skaters that she would have beaten by 30 points just a few years ago was tough to watch. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to compete and i'd rather remember her as someone who at her best could compete with anyone in the world. Better to have seen her retire then see her be at the level she was at COR.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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Oh, & how about Paul Wylie? What a way to finish his Olympic eligible career in 1992, & then have such a successful pro career! :gclap:

Rudy Galindo and Paul Wylie are such an interesting contrast, to me.

Rudy was 26 years old at 1996 nationals, and it was a big deal, mentioned all over the place, because if (when) he won, he'd be the oldest US Men's Champion in many, many years. His win at nationals was one of the most thrilling of all time. Even more so after I realized, many years later, that he'd been one of the top at Worlds in pairs with Kristi.

Paul was so boyish that in 1992 I had no idea that he'd competed with Scott Hamilton at the senior level, 8 and more years before, and was 27 years old. But maybe I didn't pay attention, and maybe his age was talked about at the time. And he'd barely gotten to skate in the free program at the previous worlds.

Two such glorious examples of why it's fun that figure skating is unpredictable.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
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May 19, 2011
When has this ever happened?

2014 Olympics comes to mind. All 3 medalists were very nearly clean. Last year's Olympics too come to think of it...

Obviously all 7 skating cleanly is very unlikely to happen...that's why I threw it out there as a "scenario." Several are likely to mess up but that also means that Bradie and Mariah are going to have to be as close to clean as possible if they want to capitalize on any mistakes. Those top 7 have a little bit of wiggle room. The US women do not.
 

Amei

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Nov 11, 2013
Never say never. Imagine Alina crashes as she has shown at worlds and nationals; the other two Russians without Liza are really volatile and even prone or could be out of the top 12. One Japanese lady having a bad day though not desirable is possible. No Canadian threat. Kostner out or if she skates may be rusty. So say Bradie sneaks in at 4th or 5th. And then well Mariah could be like 8th or 9th. 3 spots! They can beat the French, Kaz, Swiss,China and S. Korea. Even if 3 Japanese and a Russian are ahead they could still do it.

Who are the 2 Russians you are talking about being volatile? Stanislava I agree she is a little volatile but Sofia Samodurova has been the iron lady all season, I don't think she's fallen at all and I think she's gotten only few under-rotations . Sofia is probably Russia's safest bet for clean programs, Zagitova's been struggling with clean skates and Liza's 3A can be hit or miss before she was recovering from a serious illness.
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
To be honest i'm happy that Gracie withdrew from Nationals. To see her at COR get a lower SP score then when she was a Novice at Nationals nearly 9 years ago was painful to see. While i didn't expect her to be anywhere near her prime to see her get beat by skaters that she would have beaten by 30 points just a few years ago was tough to watch. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to compete and i'd rather remember her as someone who at her best could compete with anyone in the world. Better to have seen her retire then see her be at the level she was at COR.

I hear you. I wouldn't say I am happy she withdrew and I really want to believe like some poster she just had a bad day but I too would hate to see if she skated a shadow of her former self.
 

drivingmissdaisy

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Feb 17, 2010
I hear you. I wouldn't say I am happy she withdrew and I really want to believe like some poster she just had a bad day but I too would hate to see if she skated a shadow of her former self.

I actually find it encouraging that she wants to present a stronger version of herself before she returns to competition again. She's improving little by little, and it's probably good she's going about this slow because she needs to avoid any setbacks resulting from injuries.
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
I wish Gracie well. Sadly in this era all the athletes are busy presenting images and trying to spin things positively. I really hope first she is happy and second she does what she wants. On that note, maybe she could get like a Mirai gig and watch nationals with us plebians, mere mortals. This would help pay for more training? I wonder what she woudl go for - more or less than Mirai and Scotty?
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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I wish Gracie well. Sadly in this era all the athletes are busy presenting images and trying to spin things positively. I really hope first she is happy and second she does what she wants. On that note, maybe she could get like a Mirai gig and watch nationals with us plebians, mere mortals. This would help pay for more training? I wonder what she woudl go for - more or less than Mirai and Scotty?

I'd take out a car title loan to do that. So perhaps it is best she doesn't.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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Oh moonvine you need to find a rich husband or something.

I know right? Know any men who like crazy sports obsessed women who like velvet and sparkles? Sorry, not crazy. I’m “of a certain age” so I get to be “eccentric” now. That’s a rule. I just made it up. If I ever win the lottery I’m joining Friends of Figure Skating on the $3,000 plus level. I’ve talked to a couple of them and they get some serious, serious bennies. My nail game is very strong though. Got at least 6 compliments yesterday, some from guys.
 

RobinA

On the Ice
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Nov 4, 2010
That smoke must have blown far because I got that info too plus I had someone who said she really wasn't landing triples which made her appearance in Russia and Nats kind of surprising.

I know she has a lot of vocal fans but I wish Gracie could TRULY step away and ask herself some questions and answer truthfully - forget about expectations, forget about she seemed the it girl, she seemed to have it all the grace, the power, the judges, the money, the beauty, the musicality and popularity, forget about what has happened. 1. Does she want to skate? If so at what level? 2. Who is Gracie Gold? Does she really need competitive skating? Objectively look at how she is skating? Is the physical issues real or mental? Money may be tighter I don't know without the endorsement, USFA funding and her family/dad employment situation. Is this worth it? Is it realistic? Why does she really want this comeback or does she? What are her real goals? Is a medal really the end all be all.

I completely agree. However, I think it is very hard to contemplate completely changing your life. The one you've had since you were a child. The one you don't know anything but. The one you have been more successful at than 99% of the people you started that life with. I can't imagine. I hope she has guidance from outside of figure skating to help her along.
 
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