Gracie Gold in treatment for eating disorder, depression

[skatepixie]

Eating disorders don't always involve not eating enough, or having a "restrictive diet". They can also be in the form of eating way more food than is healthy, or eating mostly unhealthy foods. Don't assume that if someone looks heavier than before they don't have an eating disorder.

Agreed. That's exactly what I'm saying, in fact. I doubt she's got anorexia or the like -- more likely a binge eating disorder, despite what most posters seem to have assumed (restrictive eating because of pressure to be thin, etc).

 

[skatepixie]

Wow! Talk about being part of the problem.

That would all depend on what the problem is. There's been a lot of assumptions about it, but she never said what sort of eating disorder -- which is, of course, for her to say or not say as she sees fit.

 

[bardtoob]

Edit

 

[skatepixie]

I would say that being depressed is a medical crisis.

I would also say that it is the coach's job to tell the parents (not the media) that their daughter is depressed. (I have no idea if he realized she had an eating disorder.)

And when the coach says that the skater is depressed, I have to wonder what on earth the parents are doing paying for another coach instead of dealing with the issue at hand, particularly when tone parent (1) is a physician and (2) has just lost his license.

It's hard to know what was said and not said behind the scenes. Or how much denial the parents were in. It's possible he DID tell them, and they refused to hear it, thinking it was an excuse on his part to blame her or blame some other cause (depression) rather than work harder to help her improve her skating.

It's also possible they (and their ADULT daughter) thought that she was simply "down in the dumps" rather than truly depressed, and that a change of scene and coaching would be a good move, which, if things were more mild, can indeed work. Sometimes symptoms of depression are caused by factors in your environment that can resolve when you make a change.

We weren't there, we don't know.

 

[WanderlustTO]

Obviously you never truly know someone from afar, but she's seemed to me like a very unhappy person for a long time, so while I was sad to have my suspicions confirmed, I wasn't surprised.

I worry about the combination of dealing with mental health issues + preparing for the US nationals...but realize in the Olympic year it's hard to just walk away.

She seems to have such a 'high achiever' mentality, even for a figure skater - i really hope she's being gentle with herself through all of this.

 

[nimi]

I think this is the skater @Japanfan is referring to. I really enjoyed her skating too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BzVSSFLP8A

Sorry for being off-topic but is this Mexican skater with the same surname maybe her sister or something? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmpuOlzqK6g

 

[Japanfan]

Sorry for being off-topic but is this Mexican skater with the same surname maybe her sister or something? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmpuOlzqK6g

IIRC there were indeed two sisters the competition, one the sister of Loretta Hamui, the skater being discussed. I'm not 100% sure about that that, but it's unusual for there to be two sisters in one competition, which is why i remembered this scenario.

 

[AxelAnnie]

With some of these replies I feel like people think any eating disorder manifests itself only in being extremely thin. That is untrue. A lot of bulimics look fairly normal weight wise. And the best figure skating example I can think of is Lisa Ervin. She would starve herself for days and then binge eat and it didn't cause her to lose any weight, but to gain it because it threw her metabolism way off. I am not trying to school anyone-it just the fact the eating disorders come in many forms. Overeating is an eating disorder.

I am not saying Gracie has any of these problems we don't know. She was under no obligation to tell the public any of the info she has. Anyone who has even vaguely followed figure skating knew Gracie was struggling with more issues than just weight. To speculate and judge what type of ED she is dealing with is just plain unfair. And anyone who is judging her weight should feel bad now knowing what she is going through. Being thin isn't everything. Being healthy and happy is a lot more important.

Adam Rippon was spot on with his lovely words. Gracie Gold is a role model and a true champion. And I hope she gets well soon.

Quite right. There is one other ED
...binge eating. Not binge and purge just binge
With that one you put on weight.

I would say that being depressed is a medical crisis.

I would also say that it is the coach's job to tell the parents (not the media) that their daughter is depressed. (I have no idea if he realized she had an eating disorder.)

And when the coach says that the skater is depressed, I have to wonder what on earth the parents are doing paying for another coach instead of dealing with the issue at hand, particularly when tone parent (1) is a physician and (2) has just lost his license.

There is being depressed as in I broke up with my boyfriend, and being clinically depressed as in don t want to get out of bed.

Depression is not straight forward and a diagnosis not in the pervue of a coach

The parents have a lot invested in Gracie.

My grand daughter has suffered with depression for years. She called me in the middle of the night because she was afraid she might harm herself. We talked. I made her put her wake her mom
..who she didn't want to bother
.and talk to her...and I stayed on the phone until I heard her mom. Her parents are divorced...and her father's answer to her problem was if she was in happy just put on a smile and enjoy!

This same and very wise granddaughter called
..on another night...her doctor to have her admitted on a 5150 hold.

Her group wanted her to reach her potential. Only Gracie knew how broken she was. I am just glad she is getting help.

Remember Jaime Silverman? She healed but could not do it while skating.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I hope that by Gracie making her circumstances public, other skaters, or indeed, young women in a similar situation, give themselves permission and a voice to reach out and seek help as well.

 

[Frau Muller]

http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2017/10/13/gracie-gold-figure-skating-withdraw/

Good for Gracie for being honest. Wishing her a peaceful recovery & happiness in her future endeavors.

 

[Frau Muller]

Not to offend you - but this sounds a lot to me like putting your head in the sand. It's no secret that EDs are somewhat of an epidemic in both figure skating and gymnastics. ?

Not to forget the adult profession of ballet.

 

[Vagabond]

And it's pretty easy to keep going while starving, when one is in one's twenties.

When I was in my early twenties, I knew a woman my age who was anorexic. She was so sick she had to be hospitalized. More than once, I believe.

 

[LilJen]

I was hospitalized for anxiety and depression earlier this year. Sending lots of love to Gracie, it is so scary fighting your own mind. <3

((((hugs)))) I hope you are in a good, healthy place right now.

Some clinicians have also referred to "orthorexia," meaning an obsession with eating ONLY healthy foods. An obsession that can completely take over one's life. Even eating healthily can become unhealthy if it rules every second of your life and you beat yourself up (literally or figuratively) over slip-ups.

 

[pinky166]

Sorry for being off-topic but is this Mexican skater with the same surname maybe her sister or something? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmpuOlzqK6g

It's hard to tell from a video, but I would say it's pretty likely that this girl is not clinically, medically overweight. For a woman of about average height, a healthy weight range spans about 30-40 pounds. And this is just based on BMI, which we know does not take into consideration how much muscle and fat a person has. Even still, the metrics doctors use determine a healthy weight for a 5'5" female to be between 112 and 149 pounds. Just because most high level skaters are near or below the bottom end of that range does not mean that someone considerably heavier than her competitors is necessarily overweight. My guess is that the girl from Mexico is the healthy weight range medically speaking, and people openly calling her overweight is part of the problem in sports like this. Unless her height and weight are posted publicly, we have no way of knowing for sure.

Further, it frustrated me when people were talking about how Gracie was heavy or overweight, out of shape, etc this summer when it was all relative. Medically speaking, I highly doubt Gracie was ever close to being overweight, at most she was probably in the middle of a healthy weight range which is why this stuff is frustrating. To say she gained weight is accurate, but if she had been at her recent size and been skating well, or if she was just a normal young adult and not an elite athlete it would really be irrelevant. To perform at her best it's probably correct that she should be closer to the low end of a healthy weight range, but to body shame her and say she's fat or out of shape when she really isn't just superficial and naive. There is a big difference between "I would like to lose some weight (within a healthy range) to improve my self-esteem, confidence, and athletic performance" and "I need to lose weight because my current weight is putting my health at risk". Gracie is probably the type that feels better about herself and her skating when she is on the thinner side, and that's totally fine, but keeping perspective of reality and what's actually healthy and normal is important too. Hopefully Gracie realizes this and can have a positive body image moving forward.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Not to belabor the point, Gracie was hefty this summer, (for a skater) and she did not skate well. Obviously Gracie wasn't going to appear on "My 600 lb life" but she was not in skating form, and the skating showed it.
The gal in Mexico is a bit big through the girth, it would appear. But it is good to remember the the camera LOVES some people and it does not love others.

I wish Gracie all the best. Perhaps her ed was a way to get people to let her out of something (skating) that was killing her inside. I know, btw, that I put that together on my own........it does not come from some secret source who knows Gracie. She just looked so miserable out there.

 

[giselle23]

Let's get real. A woman's body has to be light and lean to be competitive. Aerodynamically it is physics. For skaters to land those jumps they can't be carrying an extra 5 lbs and trying to going it in the air for 3 rotations. It is an is. Also it is my understanding that eds are a result of needing an area of their life that they can control. Gracie hasn't looked happy on the ice in a long time. Food she could control . Ice
..not so much.

Where is it proven that an extra five pounds can hinder jumping ability? I think a lot of the push for extreme thinnness is aesthetics. Models and actresses try strive to be thin, too, because they(and a large portion of our society, unfortunately) think it looks better. Gracie was actually a better jumper before she became stick thin while working with Frank. Two of the best ladies jumpers of all time--Midori Ito and Tonya Harding--weren't very "light and lean." A lot of jumping ability has to do with strength. That is why men are better jumpers than women, even though they are taller and heavier.

 

[skateboy]

I will not add anything regarding depression and eating disorders, as they are complex issues and I am no expert there.

But I will say, as a former skating competitor, that there was a certain ideal weight for me, when I was in my best athletic shape. I hated dieting but did a fair amount of it. If I gained, say, six pounds or more, it definitely showed up in my skating... my jumps were totally thrown off kilter and my skating just did not "feel right." I have no doubt that weight does affect jumping (especially) and spinning, too.

Now, post skating life, I put more emphasis on my Body Mass Index (BMI), which I measure regularly at the gym... as opposed to what the scale tells me.

I wonder if there should be more emphasis on BMI for elite skaters? Any thoughts?

 

[nimi]

Now, post skating life, I put more emphasis on my Body Mass Index (BMI), which I measure regularly at the gym... as opposed to what the scale tells me.

I wonder if there should be more emphasis on BMI for elite skaters? Any thoughts?

Do you mean LBMI (Lean Body Mass Index) or the regular BMI?

 

[briancoogaert]

So sad to read this. She needs a lot of courage (and such a fantastic skater has a lot of courage in her mind). And I guess a lot of people will try to help her.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Jumping is physics. When you are tall, an bad air position is worse to manage than if you are short. When you are tiny you can jump more easily. Hence the problem many girls have with puberty. Their center is no longer their center. Any sport is harder to do with extra weight . But Gracie said it best.

and Here

A journalist picked up immediately on her use of the word “overweight,” saying correctly and appropriately that Gold looks slim.

“Oh, that’s lovely, thank you,” she replied. “It’s just not what’s required for this sport. It’s a lean body sport and it’s just not what I have currently, but, thank you.”

 

[screech]

Where is it proven that an extra five pounds can hinder jumping ability?

When I quit figure skating at 18, I was 5'4 and weighed 94 lbs. Within just a few weeks, I gained about 10 lbs (luckily it went to the boobs and butt. I had looked like a 10 year old boy to that point). I went on the ice, not even a month after I quit, and could not land anything higher than a double salchow, despite the fact that just weeks earlier I'd been consistently landing all my triples up to the lutz. My centre of balance was so off it was ridiculous.

"Ideal weight" is very different for different people. As I've already said, I'm considered 'underweight' for my height of about 5'5. The heaviest I've ever been is 117 lbs, which is at the very low end of 'normal' for my height. I've never really watched what I eat (which I know will make people think 'bitch'). Even when I was competing, I ate a lot of unhealthy carbs. I'd go through the Tim Horton's drive thru and get multiple donuts for breakfast before early morning practices. I'd get McDonald's before afternoon practices. I'd order steak with potatoes at restaurants. I'd eat junk food. I'd also eat a lot of fruit, salads, and vegetables.

For some people, their "ideal weight" is not the actual medical "ideal". My body has decided that its 'ideal weight' is around 110 lbs. It regularly fluctuates between 105-115. I do not look unhealthy. My bones are not protruding from my body.

For someone else with the same height, their ideal weight may be 130 lbs. For someone else who is a 5'5 thirty-something female, 110 lbs may make them look sickly. On me, 130 lbs would probably make me look overweight, but would look amazing on someone else.

Weight on the ice appears similar to height on the ice. Someone like Carolina Kostner looks extremely tall on the ice. She's only about 5'6-5'7. Someone who is 120 lbs would look overweight on the ice. That is definitely not an overweight person.

 

[MacMadame]

I wonder if there should be more emphasis on BMI for elite skaters? Any thoughts?

BMI is a ratio of weight to height. Since the height of adults doesn't change significantly, it's still just measuring weight.

I go by my body fat and lean mass percentages. I want to lose fat but not muscle.

As far as skaters are concerned, gaining weight does throw off their jumps and spins. However, it's not as simple as "lose 5 pounds" because it matters what those 5 pounds are made up of. If they lose 5 pounds of fat, their skating most likely will improve. If they lose 5 pounds of muscle, that's another story. This is why the emphasis on weight is misplaced IMO. It should be on body composition and healthy eating.

 

[giselle23]

Jumping is physics. When you are tall, an bad air position is worse to manage than if you are short. When you are tiny you can jump more easily. Hence the problem many girls have with puberty. Their center is no longer their center. Any sport is harder to do with extra weight . But Gracie said it best.

and Here

Jumping may be physics, but all anyone ever cites is anecdotal evidence. Speaking about weight, where is the evidence that being stick thin helps with jumping? And centers of gravity may change with growth, but clearly some skaters are able to adjust. Otherwise, they would all have to quit at 13-15, when they hit their growth spurt.

 

[pinky166]

Ideal weight is different for every person but there are plenty of women who would look fine at both 110 and 130 lbs at a height of around 5’5”. I think Jennifer Aniston said something about that in a magazine once. She’s always looked great to me. A lot of it comes down to what a person is most comfortable with.

 

[wickedwitch]

Jumping may be physics, but all anyone ever cites is anecdotal evidence. Speaking about weight, where is the evidence that being stick thin helps with jumping? And centers of gravity may change with growth, but clearly some skaters are able to adjust. Otherwise, they would all have to quit at 13-15, when they hit their growth spurt.

But it is just physics.

There are three ways to get a jump higher. (This ignores rotation speed, which of course still matters, but I'm simplifying things.)
1) Improve the jump technique. This is the hardest to quantify, but it's like changing the placement of the picking toe on toe pick jumps.
2) Add upward force. The more upward force, the higher the jump. Basically, get stronger.
3) Reduce weight. Assuming the upward force and weight are identical, reducing the weight will increase the height of the jump.

Now, the question becomes is it possible to reduce weight without negatively impacting the other two factors. For someone who is severely overweight, it's almost certainly possible. It becomes trickier when someone is close to a healthy weight.

I don't have the reference on hand, but several years ago, Ashley Wagner said that losing a few pounds helped her jumps.

It's important to have an honest and open conversation about healthy eating and skating, but doing so without acknowledging that losing weight can help jumps in certain circumstances is naive and pointless.

 

[bladesofgorey]

Ok, look.

It's easier to rotate jumps if you are built like a beanpole because alignment is easier. That doesn't then follow that heavier people have a harder time getting full rotation on jumps, because more muscular and trained athletes who are heavier will often be more powerful than a tiny beanpole. The larger skater fit skater with excellent technique will often not need to rotate as quickly because they'll be getting greater airtime and height.

It really depends on the skater and that's why, once again for the back row, thinness does not correlate directly to fitness/skill in skating. Yes there is an optimal weight range for each athlete, and that range is aslo going to be modulated by what that particular athlete's muscular make-up and natural strengths and genetic set-point is, and that range is going to be a very individual thing that none of us in the peanut gallery are going to be able to determine.

For all of the anecdotes about skaters struggling once their weight changes due to puberty or gain/loss:

OFF COURSE THINGS WILL BE OFF until the skater adjusts to their new center of balance (and also timing, if increased strength/speed has also occurred). I think too many times skaters think that the "before" (smaller) is better than the "after" (bigger) because they might lose some jumps during the transition and that can cause panic and frustration. And "omg end of the world" black and white thinking by the skater and the people around them.

Also the level of ignorance by a few of the posters about the causes, clinical presentations, signs, and functional levels of people suffering from EDs is kinda breathtaking. Maybe not spout off like an expert on things you really know nothing about, particularly when those pronouncements do a complete disservice to people in recovery or friends/families/coaches of skaters who may be at risk of developing an ED.

 

[cmk]

The best us female jumper ever was Tonya Harding and while she was short, she definately wasn't lean. She wasn't fat when she was skating either (despite media reports to the contrary). The best Russian skater ever, Irina Slutskaya wasn't a stick either, and Surya was also a great jumper as well.

 

[jenniferlyon]

One thing I've noticed from seeing elite skaters up close is that nearly all of them are small boned. I remember once when a friend introduced me to a female ice dancer, I went to shake her hand and she had the teeniest little wrist. I am a petite person myself, but I felt BIG (not fat) next to her. My bones are simply not that small and never will be, no matter how skinny I might get.

 

[giselle23]

But it is just physics.

There are three ways to get a jump higher. (This ignores rotation speed, which of course still matters, but I'm simplifying things.)
1) Improve the jump technique. This is the hardest to quantify, but it's like changing the placement of the picking toe on toe pick jumps.
2) Add upward force. The more upward force, the higher the jump. Basically, get stronger.
3) Reduce weight. Assuming the upward force and weight are identical, reducing the weight will increase the height of the jump.

Now, the question becomes is it possible to reduce weight without negatively impacting the other two factors. For someone who is severely overweight, it's almost certainly possible. It becomes trickier when someone is close to a healthy weight.

I don't have the reference on hand, but several years ago, Ashley Wagner said that losing a few pounds helped her jumps.

It's important to have an honest and open conversation about healthy eating and skating, but doing so without acknowledging that losing weight can help jumps in certain circumstances is naive and pointless.

But again, it's just anecdotal evidence (what Ashley said). And the problem with your number 3 is that reducing the weight may also reduce the strength. There are a lot of factors that go into an individual's jumping ability, some of which is just innate talent. Who can otherwise explain why two people the same age, height and weight may have wildly different athletic ability.

 

[coppertop1]

The best us female jumper ever was Tonya Harding and while she was short, she definately wasn't lean. She wasn't fat when she was skating either (despite media reports to the contrary). The best Russian skater ever, Irina Slutskaya wasn't a stick either, and Surya was also a great jumper as well.

Kaetlyn Osmond is also taller, same height as Gracie and curvier and she has gorgeous jumps. Elena Radionova is taller but thinner and struggles with the jumps.

In all honesty, some comments on here make me grateful that I was never a figure skater. Seeing comments about a healthy, athletic woman being hefty or how it's physics tha small=better jumper. Imagine being a skater and seeing those comments. Is it any wonder Gracie is struggling?