About Gracie Gold - Phil Hersh

[sk9tingfan]

Phil's recent interview with Gracie Gold.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...64,full.column

[DickButtonFan]

Roger Glenn, longtime international judge: "She should start Russian lessons."

What does he mean here? A Russian coach for choreography? Seemed like an odd way to put it.

[AYS]

The quotes from Alissa's former coach Berlin come off as thinly veiled insults toward her former student, IMO, whether or not you agree with her. Bad sportsmanship.
Eg,

Gracie is our shot for Sochi.

She is the only U.S. woman I can think of who can compete with the upcoming Russian girls," Berlin said

[Sylvia]

I also posted this article/video link last night in the US Ladies thread in the Trash Can and mentioned that I like this quote:

"I know the expectations are there," Gold said, "but I'm not a robot, so I can't do it every time."

[Aceon6]

Roger Glenn, longtime international judge: "She should start Russian lessons."

What does he mean here? A Russian coach for choreography? Seemed like an odd way to put it.

I interpreted it as "she should start Russian lessons as she is probably going to Sochi"

[sk9tingfan]

The quotes from Alissa's former coach Berlin come off as thinly veiled insults toward her former student, IMO, whether or not you agree with her. Bad sportsmanship.
Eg,

I saw Julieanne Berlin in the airport after the 2010 Nationals and my first reaction was that I wanted to punch out her lights! She was the worst thing to happen to Alissa. Her coaching style obviously obliterated all confidence that Alissa ever had in herself.

[Frau Muller]

I don't know why but when I see Gracie I think of the late comedian George Burns.

[AYS]

I don't know why but when I see Gracie I think of the late comedian George Burns.

It's not exactly hard to figure out why.

[DickButtonFan]

I interpreted it as "she should start Russian lessons as she is probably going to Sochi"

Oh, ok I get it.

[jiggs]

I wish people would not push her too much and let her develop at her own speed. Sochi is so close, and we have all seen what early pressure can do to young skaters (for example Carolina - she was so hyped for Turin and it backfired). Gracie hasn't even entered senior ranks yet.

[peibeck]

Gracie is an amazing, amazing young talent. But I don't like all this pressure being put upon her, let alone as "our best hope in Sochi." That is several years away, and she hasn't even skated as a senior yet. Our U.S. desperation for a new female skating star is showing.

[kwanatic]

The quotes from Alissa's former coach Berlin come off as thinly veiled insults toward her former student, IMO, whether or not you agree with her. Bad sportsmanship.
Eg,

I don't know, that sounds pretty accurate. It's not an insult if she's just stating facts and it's true. I like Alissa, but she's not the strongest skater the US has right now. She was last year but this year, going by her performances (not necessarily results), I'd put her 3rd behind Mirai and Ashley.

As for me, I'm not on the Gracie bandwagon yet. Why? It's too soon. Yes, she has big and awesome jumps and looks promising...but so did Agnes Zawadski and Christina Gao. Gracie's only done one JGP event; she did well, but we have to see how she's able to perform with the added weight of expectation. The jump from junior to senior is a treacherous one...we have to wait to see how Gracie handles it. She has wonderful jumps but the second half of her skating (artistry, interpretation, connection with the music, etc.) is lacking. Hopefully we'll see that improve over the next two years...

But I do agree with Berlin; she's one of the handful of girls who has a consistent 3-3...none of the top US skaters have a consistent 3-3...

[Frau Muller]

Uh-oh...here comes the Kiss of Death and a guarantee that Gracie Gold will be the next NBC Commentating-Booth Dahling, following in the footsteps of Caroline Zhang's hyping ca-2007/2008:

The things people are saying about figure skater Gracie Gold.

Scott Hamilton, 1984 Olympic champion and TV commentator: "She is incredible."

[winterone]

I wish people would not push her too much and let her develop at her own speed. Sochi is so close, and we have all seen what early pressure can do to young skaters (for example Carolina - she was so hyped for Turin and it backfired). Gracie hasn't even entered senior ranks yet.

I agree completely with this. Last year she delt with disappointments and had to regroup. Let her be a kid. Plus imagine her sisters state of mind.

[overedge]

"She has great line and posture and is a very pretty girl on the ice," Hamilton said. "Her only weakness is she tends to skate through the music (rather than to it). … Time should take care of that."

After all the years he has been around skating, Scott should know that a lot of skaters who "tend to skate through the music" never get past that problem, even after a lot of "time".
Not to say that Gracie won't, but really, learning to skate with and to the music is not something that magically happens just because you keep skating.

[Stormy]

I agree I don't like all the pressure and hyper on Gracie right now, al la Caroline Zhang a few years ago. However, Gold has already gone through a big growth spurt and her jumps are still+ freaking MASSIVE. When Caroline was being hyped as the next be all and end all of skating, she hadn't gone through puberty yet and had a lot of bad technique issues as well that you really could see probably wouldn't hold up as she got older.

If she can handle the pressure and skate up to the expectations....even with some lack of artistry, this girl will be phenominal. I haven't seen jumps like that in a long, long time.

[euterpe]

Miki Ando has skated through the music for her entire career, but it didn't stop her from winning two World Championships.

[kwanatic]

Having big jumps is great but there are people with big jumps and solid technique who still can't skate a clean program in pressure situations. There has to be a combination of technique and consistency, plus focus and mental toughness, not to mention other elements and components that have to come together at once.

I'm not saying she can't do it; I just think people are getting a little too excited because she can jump well. That's only half the battle...there are a lot of other things that have to line up in order for this girl to make it to the top.

I don't want to sound cynical or anything, but I've seen this show too many times: promising junior jumping bean is expected to take the world by storm...then puberty and/or pressure snaps them like a twig, they crumble and yet another name is added to the list of over-hyped skaters who didn't live up to the expectation. She seems to have dodged the puberty monster but the pressure of expectation is a very heavy burden that only a handful of skaters are capable of carrying.

Let's give her time and see where she ends up...

[luenatic]

Some people thrive on pressure. Most champions usually are the pressure loving type. I'm crossing my fingers for Gracie.

[ChibiChibi]

I think with Gracie's situation, she and her team are somewhat starting this hype...I mean, after all it's them who keep posting her videos on her YouTube account...