It's something TSL said at some point. Alysa herself has said that she wants to make it to the 2026 Olympics in Milan, although she was 13/14 at the time and she does seem focused on getting into college now.
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2021-2022 US Women's Figure Skating
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It's something TSL said at some point. Alysa herself has said that she wants to make it to the 2026 Olympics in Milan, although she was 13/14 at the time and she does seem focused on getting into college now.
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- Sep 25, 2021
Alysa can do both (college and skating) just like Karen and Nathan.
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- Feb 27, 2012
How is it fair to claim that USFS "chose to count" Gracie Gold out????
The entry deadline for Golden Spin was Nov 12.
Gracie did not compete in Alpharetta until Nov 18 (SP) and Nov 19 (FS).
Or ... if you are saying that USFS should have made assignments to Golden Spin based on Leesburg results from Oct 29-30, then Jill Heiner and Rena Ikenishi should have been line in well ahead of Gracie.
Leesburg scores: Heiner 172.62; Ikenishi 169.75; Gold 163.62.
Unless you think it also would be fair to complain first that USFS counted Heiner and Ikenishi out, then how would it be fair to complain that USFS counted Gold out?
The reality is that we do not know how much earlier Gracie would have been capable of her scores in Alpharetta.
Three weeks earlier in Leesburg, what she was capable of was 163.62.
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You’re right. It’s just awful timing.
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I wanted to expand on my answer. I don’t think Gracie has been working her tail off for what, 4 years? to be the Gold Medalist at the US Championship Series in Alpharetta, Georgia and end her career.
If that is her desire I support her in it.
She did have a couple of years completely off where her body wasn’t getting banged around skating day after day.
Paul Wylie and Rudy Galindo are examples of skaters whose best skating came after people had written them off.
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I was under the impression she wanted to have a “normal” college experience. But I could be wrong and/or she could have changed her mind.
Not everyone can effectively combine college and elite level skating.
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To be honest, I have no idea who Viktor Pfeifer is. Drew Meekins sounds vaguely familiar. In any event, I'm very worried now for Alysa. I think it was a terrible idea to change coaches this late in the game. I don't have a good feeling about this at all.
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That’s why I was like “who now?” I wish her the best.To be honest, I have no idea who Viktor Pfeifer is. Drew Meekins sounds vaguely familiar. In any event, I'm very worried now for Alysa. I think it was a terrible idea to change coaches this late in the game. I don't have a good feeling about this at all.
Based on Instagram sleuthing it seems that:To be honest, I have no idea who Viktor Pfeifer is. Drew Meekins sounds vaguely familiar. In any event, I'm very worried now for Alysa. I think it was a terrible idea to change coaches this late in the game. I don't have a good feeling about this at all.
- Drew Meekins is a fairly prominent choreographer (having choreographed programs for Young, Vincent, Karen, Yelim, to name a few) and also seems to have some part in Vincent's training.
- Viktor Pfeifer is one of the jump specialists at Colorado. He accompanied Audrey to Cup of Austria last week, and also coaches Emily Zhang who, IIRC, was attempting (downgraded) 3As at competitions this summer.
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As was noted above, Drew has been a successful choreographer. Viktor was a competetive skater for Austria (two or three Olympics) and coached until recently at the Skating Club of Wilmington. He coached Nick Hsieh, Peter Liu and Joseph Kang, who were promising juniors, but have since retired (at least Nick and Joseph have) for college.
All of this said, we have no idea if Alysa is moving or why. I am not a proponent of “Send them to Raf! Send them to Brian!” for every skater ever
(And FWIW the social media I have read seems to think that Alysa wanted to train with Brian and he said no. But unsupported, as far as I can tell, that she wanted to go either place).
if Alysa wants to train with other coaches, whoever they are, then she should, and I hope it works out for her.
All of this said, we have no idea if Alysa is moving or why. I am not a proponent of “Send them to Raf! Send them to Brian!” for every skater ever
(And FWIW the social media I have read seems to think that Alysa wanted to train with Brian and he said no. But unsupported, as far as I can tell, that she wanted to go either place).if Alysa wants to train with other coaches, whoever they are, then she should, and I hope it works out for her.
Of course, it's Gracie's choice, and many of her fans want her to continue. Most top skaters retire after an Olympics cycle, which we are at now. Gracie wanted to be on the 2018 team, and now the 2022 team, and its 4 years until the next opportunity. She's been to one Olympics, already has an olympic team bronze, and I think been to 4 Worlds. She's had a great career by any standard, and remains one of the most popular American skaters. If I am reading your post correctly, you think she will continue another year. That is what I was asking, people's opinions.
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Thank you for the info! I still don't have a good feeling about this. And I sincerely hope that they don't change Alysa's programs at this stage.
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To be honest, I have no idea who Viktor Pfeifer is. Drew Meekins sounds vaguely familiar. In any event, I'm very worried now for Alysa. I think it was a terrible idea to change coaches this late in the game. I don't have a good feeling about this at all.
And
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- Apr 2, 2009
Interesting, but I'm sorry to say I don't remember either of them at all. But then, I really didn't follow men's skating after Yagudin won the Olympics in 2002. I didn't even watch them at the 2014 Olympics. My interest picked up again with tiny Nathan at 2010 Nationals. I followed his progression but didn't pay much attention to the older men. I guess this is why Pfeifer and Meekins draw a blank. I can't think of any programs that I might have enjoyed which was choreographed by Meekins.
I still say that it's a terrible idea to have a major coaching change just before a Nationals and the Olympics.
I hope that at least Alysa is happy, and I wish her the best.From my perspective, Alysa changing coaches makes a lot of sense. Based on the showings so far this season, the primary problem she’s facing is not her components, but her jumps. Jeremy is going on tour and her primary technician, Lorenzo Magri, is based in Italy. There’s not much an ice dancer such as Massimo can do for her regarding triple axels, quads, and rotation issues.
I think Colorado is the best environment Alysa can be in—bar Raf, Orser, or Italy. Colorado offers her an immersive skating environment, free of distractions, and the chance to be surrounded by a multitude of technical specialists from now on until nationals and the Olympics.
I am not excited at the prospect of either Tom Z or Tammy G training her as they are both notorious for coaching skaters with rotation issues, some of which who seem to never get better. The only saving grace being Mie Hamada, albeit her infamous reputation at the moment.
I also want to commend Massimo and Jeremy for all that they did for Alysa. Every aspect of her component marks vastly improved with them. They also seemed really caring and nice.
I think Colorado is the best environment Alysa can be in—bar Raf, Orser, or Italy. Colorado offers her an immersive skating environment, free of distractions, and the chance to be surrounded by a multitude of technical specialists from now on until nationals and the Olympics.
I am not excited at the prospect of either Tom Z or Tammy G training her as they are both notorious for coaching skaters with rotation issues, some of which who seem to never get better. The only saving grace being Mie Hamada, albeit her infamous reputation at the moment.
I also want to commend Massimo and Jeremy for all that they did for Alysa. Every aspect of her component marks vastly improved with them. They also seemed really caring and nice.
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She could have gone to Italy though. Lorenzo Magri was officially added to her coaching team just a few weeks ago.
The timing of everything and the claim that she doesn't even have a coach lined up in Colorado (something I've seen floating around the forums) leads me to believe that there was some sort of fall out with her current coaches, although I hope that isn't the case.
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I remember from reading Adam's book that he said training at the Olympic training center came with serious perks including free ice time. Among other things. Free gym, free personal training? I wonder if that is an incentive for certain athletes. Not so much Tammy Gambill.
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- Dec 18, 2014
I concur. And also 25 really isn't that old. Elizaveta T is 24. Carolina competed until she was at least 30. Gracie has sponsorships so $$ for training is probably not an issue. I don't think we should write her off for being ancient just yet.
I would also add that Adam Rippon and Mirai Nagasu did pretty well for themselves after everyone wrote them off.
As long as Gracie is getting joy from competing then she should compete.
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