- Joined
- Sep 21, 2016
Who knows guys? She might be a completely different skater! I loved her La La Land FS and she had a chance to perform it at Worlds but declined. 
2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating
- Thread starter Spirals for Miles
- Start date
Ashley will be 28 if she returns next season. I'm sure she will be a completely different skater, and not necessarily in the best possible way. Michelle Kwan thought she'd try to come back after recovering from her hip surgery, and like Ashley, she'd been away from competition for over a year. She tried hard for about 6 months, then decided to go to school for a masters degree instead.
Who knows guys? She might be a completely different skater! I loved her La La Land FS and she had a chance to perform it at Worlds but declined.
Not sure about the program (she only perform it once and I don't think did it justice) but LOVED the dress!
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
I would say that Gracie has far better basic skating skills and jump technique (she was also a better spinner than Ashley when they were both at their prime) to depend on in terms of a potential comeback.
Ashley would do great on a pro circuit. There's not enough popularity for it to happen in the US, but Japan should really get a pro-circuit going.
Ashley would also struggle with TES more than ever due to the new UR rule.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I wondered what happened there. IIRC she announced at 2009 Nationals that she was attempting a comeback, but then we never heard anything more about it. I always assumed it was because she quickly figured out she wasn't going to get to a level that would compete with Yuna and Mao.
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2014
I agree.
:luv17:Ashley WON the bronze medal at Skate Canada last year, and it was her FS that made the difference, so she had competition-worthy skills in both programs. But it's nothing new that some posters here (not you) have always downplayed Ashley's accomplishments as well as her potential.
The thing is that Ashley is a fighter, and if she were to return to competition for the love of skating, she'd still be capable of wowing live audiences at competitions. (Around here is quite a different story.)
The skater Ashley can be compared to in all respects is Alena Leonova. She's 28 now, can still come through with credible technique at a GP, and absolutely has an original "voice" on the ice that audiences adore, applaud, and appreciate. And she skates at Russian nationals.
I would love to see Ashley return to Greensboro in 2020 to nationals, and I don't think it's out of the bounds of possibility. But if you read what Ashley has actually said, you realize that she doesn't need any of chuckm.'s lectures. She's well aware of how much hard work she'd have to put in to do it.
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018...tive-future-role-as-coach-and-upcoming-shows/
My tablet isn't letting me copy the quote, but she addresses this in the very last paragraph of the article.
@drivingmissdaisy I don't think Michelle ever gave any definite answer. I remember she was asked by Terry (?) and she answered all coy ("Well you never know." small laugh). I think she even made a joke about her age and being grandma compared to the other girls or something like that. And the internet being the internet of course ran with it. But I don't think there was anything official ever.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2015
Positive - Ting did pretty well in her short at Talinn. I know we can't discuss specifics, but her scores with a fall are solid.
TSL interview with Lisa McKinnon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O27x2ypy_O8
Love the La La Land costume she designed for Ashley:luv17:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O27x2ypy_O8
Love the La La Land costume she designed for Ashley:luv17:
Alena Leonova skated at NHK and scored 194.15. She finished 7th, behind Mariah Bell in 5th. Yes, Alena can still skate well at 28, but then she trains and competes in her home country daily and hasn't taken a year off to do other things. Although she gets decent marks, Alena isn't competitive with the current crop of skaters.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I thought she did say she was coming back, but it's been so long and I haven't seen any video since then, so you're probably right.
Perhaps she used to, but at this moment, no, she does not. I don't think any of the old technique is in Gracie anymore. Ashley who has not been training skating much better in a exhibition than Gracie in official practice and competition.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
Whoever said it would be around 12-18 months before Gracie could get herself back into top form (maybe TSL?) was probably right. So many things aside from the jumps (i.e. spins, speed across the ice, etc.) are not where they were in the past. Karen looks like she won't be back at her best by Nationals, either. It's looking like the second Worlds spot is indeed Mariah's to lose.
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
Man it’s not worth arguing this point here. There’s a ton of overlap between touchy overly sympathetic Gracie fans and fans who can’t stand Ashley. I knew the hypocrisy would be strong the second Ashely gave any kind of hint of competing again. “But her skating skills!” Is not a compelling or worthwhile argument when comparing to a skater who just came out and only managed to score a 37. And had to withdraw from the long. Anyway.
I used to really want Ashley to come back but now I almost hope she doesn’t. She was dumped by her fed in favor of a skater who has had like three solid competitions her whole career and earns urs like candy being thrown at a parade. In fact her whole career it always seemed like the fed was always ready to push the next big thing over Ashley who was out there getting the best results. Most Fans can’t stand her and look for any little reason to discredit her achievements, and act like she has the talent of any random 9 year old at a rink in the middle of nowhere. Internationally, “women’s” skating keeps moving more and more towards completely becoming “teenage girl” skating. Why throw yourself back into such a mess? When you’ve already achieved so much, more then almost any fan thought possible. The only regret and thing that makes me wish she would compete, even just once more is that her swan song was so rudely taken from her by unfair and biased messy judging.
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
Ashley was given very low pcs, lower then any of her international scores, Karen Mirai and Bradie were given generous boosts. This has been proven many times, by crunching the numbers and past results, in this thread and others all over this forum. But thank you for proving my point that figure skating fans love to try and discredit Ashley’s skating any way they can!
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Gracie is quite a bit younger.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2018
Karen's SP is... shockingly bad. It was probably choreographed for her when she was in peak condition before the injuries so maybe she left a lot out? Still, it wasn't good and the judges clearly agreed. Regardless, I'm glad she's back and hopefully she has time to work out the sloppiness before nationals.
Ashley was used in some of the promo materials for the Greensboro announcements. I think that’s what she was reacting to. I don’t think it meant she was announcing a comeback. She’s dropped some pretty big hints that she’s done. Saying things like forming a new relationship with the sport, etc. She’s not training much (on or off ice). My guess is she will never make a formal announcement. Many don’t. She’s been very open about owning her shortcomings (hating spins, lack of transitions, under rotated jumps). She was successful because of sheer grit and determination. She’s realistic about her talent. She knows she’s not competitive anymore. If for some odd reason she decided to keep going it would be for the love of it all, not because she thinks she can keep up anymore.
