Gracie will CRUSH the Russians in WJC!

[Mayra]

Wheee!! Gracie will rule the world then the UNIVERSE!!!

[victoriaheidi]

Don't have a dog in the race but after all the online hype and all, I have to say I was underwhelmed with Gold's exhibition at Nationals. First time I've seen her at all. She does seem to have great use of the blade but her connection with the audience lacks a lot.

I'll wait and watch.

I felt the same way, but I've been watching her for a while now. I was like, "this is her first National TV appearance? NOOOOOO!"

[Jammers]

Gracie knows what she has to do. I think her coach made it a point this year to work on her jumps because without them you are not going anywhere as a figure skater in competition. As for the triple axel we saw what that got Mao as she basically ignored her other triple jumps and depended on the 3axel.to much. If she can land it in competition fine but i hope she doesn't worry about it to much.

[Tinami Amori]

According to Andrea Joyce, Gracie WILL CRUSH THE RUSSIANS.... WITH HER APPLES.

By the way, Andrea Joyce had NO business suggesting to Gracie that she should drop her apples on Russian girls heads (to slow them down).

That is advocating violence against the Russians, and NBC-Sport/Universal, ISU, and US figure skating federation WILL BE MADE AWARE OF THIS.

[chipso1]

This post reeks of someone who is anti-Gracie Gold and is merely looking to piss off people and create backlash again her. Jealous competitor or competitor's mom perhaps?

Exactly.

I'm a huge Gracie fan, but I also appreciate the talents of skaters like Sotnikova, Tuktamisheva, etc. ALL of these young skaters from EVERY country have their faults. Luckily, they have plenty of time to work on them.

[Holley Calmes]

I don't know skating technical issues, but I will say this: I hope Gracie doesn't get pushed into being the next "wonder girl" before she's ready and tries to live up to the hype. I hope her parents and her coaches can keep her head on straight and allow her to develop in her own good time so she will have the chance to reach her best and not have high expectations and publicity make her a head case or a monster. It would take a very mature adult to deal with this kind of pressure, and the child is only what-16?

Who cares if the Russian junior stars win this year or next? It doesn't mean that in ten years that folks won't look back and say "Gracie wound up being the best of the decade" or whatever. Maybe she will and maybe she won't, but we can't predict the next 5 years today. Let the Russian girls, who are wonderful in themselves, enjoy victories if they are developing ahead of Gracie. Let her become the best skater she can be and peak properly in her own time. She who laughs last....

[doubleflutz]

She lacks artistry but her technique is SO good.That's all I have to say..And I said that SHE IS SIMILAR TO TUKT!

That's an insult to Tuk. She's been skating at her senior nationals since she was 11 years old.

[FunnyBut]

This post reeks of someone who is anti-Gracie Gold and is merely looking to piss off people and create backlash again her. Jealous competitor or competitor's mom perhaps?

ITA. A real fan wouldn't be so over the top with hyperbole. I'm loving Gracie too, but I hate threads like this one.

[demetriosj]

I felt the same way, but I've been watching her for a while now. I was like, "this is her first National TV appearance? NOOOOOO!"

what do you mean?

[victoriaheidi]

what do you mean?

Her EX was badly done. Like, as I said, it showed all of her bad spots and she just wound up looking like a really lousy skater. If I weren't a fan, that would have made me even less convinced.

[onedge]

Jeez..she's a nice kid who's had a great season after a disappointing one. She said she thought she could skate with the Russians, nothing more. Half of her team is from Russia or the Ukraine. She clearly focused her attention on her competitive programs, and rightly so. Can't you ease up a little....

[Nomad]

No! She is the Annointed One! She MUST win everything - practices, exhibitions, warm-ups, pilates sessions, everything!

[julieann]

Yes, clips exist on youtube of Gold doing 3-3-3 in practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjWrN5LHG9A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrnyABvzdiM

Whether she would ever do it in a competition program and what else she might or might not do in that performance are another question. One combination alone doesn't win titles.

Thanks, even though it's in practice it's impressive, but like you said doing it in competiton is another thing and even if she does, its not everything. I would like to see more speed with it.

[victoriaheidi]

Jeez..she's a nice kid who's had a great season after a disappointing one. She said she thought she could skate with the Russians, nothing more. Half of her team is from Russia or the Ukraine. She clearly focused her attention on her competitive programs, and rightly so. Can't you ease up a little....

That's not really what I meant. I just meant that, if that were my first exposure to Gracie, I wouldn't have been so into her. A similar example: Courtney Hicks. Last year, my mom and I saw her churn out a weak performance at a show. Since I'd seen her skate before and knew that she was excellent, I was frustrated when my mom kept insisting that she'd had dumb luck one time at Nats and was probably not that great. I'm pretty confident that's what my sister thought about Gracie when she watched her this morning, and it's a shame. I wish she'd been able to give a stronger performance there, and it's frustrating, but whatever. I wasn't insinuating that she's screwed or anything.

[Nomad]

But would there be a point to doing it in competition? Sure, it would make skating history, but she'd only get a bonus if she did it after the halfway mark, and that's a lot to ask.

[doubleflutz]

But would there be a point to doing it in competition? Sure, it would make skating history, but she'd only get a bonus if she did it after the halfway mark, and that's a lot to ask.

In terms of points, there's almost no advantage at all for a woman to do a 3-3-3, unless she also has a combination like 3A-2T or can do solo 3A + quad. Otherwise, you get the same amount of points in less risk to do two different 3-3s and repeat the hardest two triples.

For example, 3-3-3 without 3A/quad:
3LZ-3T
3F-3LO
3S-3T-3LO
---> Suddenly done with all allowed repetitions of jumps, but there are still 4 more jumping passes to fill! So she has to fill the rest up with doubles, and can only repeat the 2A once. That's a 7 triple skate in 3 jumping passes, very impressive, but points-wise, especially because of the bonus and the way GOE is calculated, it's probaby significantly worse in base mark, vs:
3LZ-3T
2A-3LO
3LZ
<stuff until halfway mark>
3F
3F-2T-2LO
3S
2A

7 triple skate, less risk, probably higher TES once you add in +GOE and bonus mark.

For a woman, a 3-3-3 is completely useless. All it does is use up jumping passes too quickly, even if she also has a 3-3LO and 3-3T. A solid 3A is much more useful. Being able to do 3A, 3A-2T, and a 3-3T-3LO all in one program would be very good, though. Because then you can do:
3A-2T
3A
3S-3T-3LO
<--- halfway mark
3LZ-2LO
3LZ
3F
2A

Seven triple skate with two 3A and 3LZ, plus three triples in the bonus period. For guys it's much the same, only they would use it to make up triples they'd lose out doing easier combos to repeat their quads and 3A.

But hey, 3-3-3 on Oly practice ice may have won Shizuka the gold on the basis of intimidating her rivals/impressing the judges, so it could be useful just for that!

[Yazmeen]

I also saw what others saw in the exhibition; it wasn't so much that she had jump trouble, she really had no connection with the audience, her presentation was somewhat lacking, it was just very JUNIOR looking, not at all surprising for a Junior skater.

Yes, her jumps are amazing, she has great potential. But this "crush all the Russian babies, invincible, she should be sent to Senior Worlds" crap, is just that. She has had one really good season. That does not, an Olympic Champion, necessarily make. Let's see how she does at JW and in the future before we start building the display case for her medal from Sochi...

[victoriaheidi]

I also saw what others saw in the exhibition; it wasn't so much that she had jump trouble, she really had no connection with the audience, her presentation was somewhat lacking, it was just very JUNIOR looking, not at all surprising for a Junior skater.

Yes, her jumps are amazing, she has great potential. But this "crush all the Russian babies, invincible, she should be sent to Senior Worlds" crap, is just that. She has had one really good season. That does not, an Olympic Champion, necessarily make. Let's see how she does at JW and in the future before we start building the display case for her medal from Sochi...

THIS is what I meant.

[Sylvia]

I just posted in the US Nationals Exhibition thread in the TV Alerts forum that I wish NBC had shown Gold's winning Junior FS instead.

ETA link to a "fan cam" version of her Nationals FS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpi7bxSvfTA

[krenseby]

No! She is the Annointed One! She MUST win everything - practices, exhibitions, warm-ups, pilates sessions, everything!

She also has to win the fluff pieces! Is she cute and charming enough to make it?