Gracie Gold set to return

[Bonita]

The Skating Lesson shared the above link on Twiiter that Cleo posted above.

 

[rhapsody]

I watched the interview last night and was really impressed with Gracie. Can't be easy talking about depression and flirting with death. She seems to be in a great space mentally. Whether that will translate to doing well in skating... I don't know but I'm rooting for her.

I did feel uncomfortable though when the guy went on about how incredibly strong people who commit suicide are. I'm glad Gracie just dodged that comment.

 

[CaliSteve]

I saw the interview.

Why does everyone have their knickers in a twist?

I bet the stoppage of the interview here was because there is a Skating Magazine article (a USFS membership magazine, so not applicable to how many non-American foreigners on this board?).

And to me, some of the things being talked about here were most definitely not the thrust or focus of said interview.

As I said upthread, Gracie seems to me to be in great shape mentally:



But I bet she would want us to talk about her present and future and not her past.

So, can we find something/someone else to talk about for the next month, and whatever it is, can it be more specific than all of this very random speculation?

I think her agent stopped the interview.

 

[floridaice]

I watched the interview last night and was really impressed with Gracie. Can't be easy talking about depression and flirting with death. She seems to be in a great space mentally. Whether that will translate to doing well in skating... I don't know but I'm rooting for her.

I did feel uncomfortable though when the guy went on about how incredibly strong people who commit suicide are. I'm glad Gracie just dodged that comment.

That bothered me too. He was also pushing stuff about helping people start businesses and mental strength. I assume that is part of his business.

Gracie seems to be in a good place and I respect her motivations for returning to competitive skating. I hope she is continuing her therapy and recovery.

 

[Sylvia]

NoBullBiz has posted these comments under the re-uploaded YT video:

Please respectfully take down this video. You were not given permission to use this video by me personally, Jeremy Crawford, and/or No Bull Biz Group, and/or Gracie Gold and/or her management. We have asked YouTube to have this video taken down due to copyright issues - this is my video and property. Please respect our request before YouTube has to remove it. Thank you.

I know it is disappointing - but we were asked to have the video taken down by Gracie's management. They wanted it to release after some additional commitments that have been made with other media. We have respected that request and only want the best for Gracie. It will come back on YouTube permanently once these commitments have been met and we have the permission again from both Gracie and her management. Thank you for understanding!

 

[CaliSteve]

I viewed the interview before it was taken down. Gracie was excellent but wished the interview was conducted by someone else and done in a far more professional manner with better exposure.

 

[WillyElliot]

Yes, I was like "Who the H is this person? And why is Gracie opening up to HIM?". No wonder Suki had it taken down. She still wants a perfect princess Yama type. Can't blame her, it's made her $$$$.

 

[CaliSteve]

Yes, I was like "Who the H is this person? And why is Gracie opening up to HIM?". No wonder Suki had it taken down. She still wants a perfect princess Yama type. Can't blame her, it's made her $$$$.

I think they met while Gracie was in Arizona and his daughter was training at the same rink. Gracie may have done some coaching. My gut tells me this guy paid her for the interview.

 

[RoseRed]

I think they met while Gracie was in Arizona and his daughter was training at the same rink. Gracie may have done some coaching. My gut tells me this guy paid her for the interview.

I doubt Gracie would open up to someone and do a really in depth interview just because he payed her. She clearly trusted/felt comfortable with him and they'd talked about this stuff before off camera.

 

[CaliSteve]

She probably trusted him but she could have also received compensation for the interview. BTW- not slamming her for that but trying to make sense on why she chose him to do the interview. She could of had a much better forum to tell her story that could reach more people and have a greater impact.

 

[insideedgeua]

He seems like a ‘want to be’ motivational coach, business entrepreneur type, who hasn’t yet made it ( I don’t think he will either but that’s besides the point). He’s clearly no professional interviewer.

He talks at the start of the interview about his daughter taking some lessons from Gracie while in Arizona and shows a small clip of her skating.

I don’t know why she opened up to that family in particular but they clearly formed some sort of friendly relationship. At one point during the interview he mentions something about remembering the time we were in the car driving to XYZ and we talked about ‘insert whatever it was’.

I did watch it all but I don’t remember exactly the words. It was enough to show that the family may have struck up a bit of a friendship with Gracie.

 

[BittyBug]

Gracie was excellent but wished the interview was conducted by someone else and done in a far more professional manner with better exposure.

Her interviewer may not be a network-level professional, but he succeeded in getting Gracie to be extraordinarily candid and revealing, which is no small feat considering how guarded - and by her own admission, "plastic" - she has been in the past.

 

[CaliSteve]

Her interviewer may not be a network-level professional, but he succeeded in getting Gracie to be extraordinarily candid and revealing, which is no small feat considering how guarded - and by her own admission, "plastic" - she has been in the past.

Gracie was fantastic which is the reason I wish she had a better forum with more exposure to share her story.

 

[analia]

GG was only ever plastic on the outside. I recall her saying things USFS desperately wants to censor every Nationals.

 

[cheremary]

From Gracie’s perspective, I can completely understand why she would’ve gone with someone like this for the interview. It sounds like she knows and trusts him, which is helpful for an interview that is quite personal in nature, and doing something lower profile might feel more comfortable as it’s the first time she’s talking about this candidly. Higher profile outlets may not give her as much time to speak in a more casual way, and sometimes quotes are taken out of context for a sound bite and the meaning then becomes different than what was intended.

As a listener, I sort of wish the interviewer had been more knowledgeable about how things work in the skating world, but the fact that he wasn’t may have been an advantage in having her open up as well. He’s less likely to scrutinize the things she said or want to find out specifics of things she mentioned, so she was free to reveal as little or as much as she felt comfortable with.

 

[kwanatic]

Gracie was fantastic which is the reason I wish she had a better forum with more exposure to share her story.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar interview done with Gracie and someone from NBC as a special or fluff piece. It's an important story that sheds light on Gracie as well as the pressures of the sport so I'd imagine her management would want to make sure it's presented in the right way.

 

[Frau Muller]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar interview done with Gracie and someone from NBC as a special or fluff piece. It's an important story that sheds light on Gracie as well as the pressures of the sport so I'd imagine her management would want to make sure it's presented in the right way.

There’s no way that an NBC interview would be this candid, honest and long. Expect scripted sound bites. AND I bet that we won’t have to wait until Rostelecom for it. I’m sure that NBC will find a way to milk and s-t-r-e-t-c-h the story across the entire GP series, beginning with this weekend. (Preview on Friday’s TODAY Show, I bet.) It will cut into what’s supposed to be the Skate America ladies LPs Show.

It’s an important story but I shudder to think of how NBC might trivialize it, just for marketing of its skating shows, in general. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Any news on homegurl? Are we really gonna see her in 2 weeks???

 

[AxelAnnie]

There’s no way that an NBC interview would be this candid, honest and long. Expect scripted sound bites. AND I bet that we won’t have to wait until Rostelecom for it. I’m sure that NBC will find a way to milk and s-t-r-e-t-c-h the story across the entire GP series, beginning with this weekend. (Preview on Friday’s TODAY Show, I bet.) It will cut into what’s supposed to be the Skate America ladies LPs Show.

It’s an important story but I shudder to think of how NBC might trivialize it, just for marketing of its skating shows, in general. I hope I’m wrong.

I don't think it is an "important story". It is a girl's life spiraling out of control. (good pun!) It has no place in the NBC coverage. Leave Gracie alone. The "fame" and "pressure" is what got her into the soup in the first place.

 

[Frau Muller]

I don't think it is an "important story". It is a girl's life spiraling out of control. (good pun!) It has no place in the NBC coverage. Leave Gracie alone. The "fame" and "pressure" is what got her into the soup in the first place.

Well, so far my prediction has NOT come to pass. As far as I’ve seen, NBC has not touched the story. May it stay that way. They (NBC and other media) are a lot more decent than I had given them credit.

 

[Japanfan]

I don't think it is an "important story". It is a girl's life spiraling out of control. (good pun!) It has no place in the NBC coverage. Leave Gracie alone. The "fame" and "pressure" is what got her into the soup in the first place.

Ever the compassionate one, AxelAnnie, aren't you? The mental and physical well-being of young women/skaters is not an important story? When one's life 'spirals out of control', it's nothing?

Gracie had mental health issues and an eating disorder to deal with. Young women in general are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders. Young female figure skaters are all the more vulnerable because of the feminine ideal in figure skating. Even if the skaters are not routinely weighed, there is an emphasis on diet and weight in the sport. And quite a few female figure skaters have reported that others have been critical of their weight.

Lipnitskaya and her powder diet comes to mind - which put her in a hospital for anorexia (which is life-threatening) and pretty much ended her career. I forgot the name of the other female Russian skater who had a similar experience (and the same coach).

Not important, right? Just suck back your power drink, go hungry and get thinner, girl, it's the name of the game! And you better land that 2X, otherwise we'll take away the cookie you get for an afternoon snack. (This is not a joke. I read about how Qing Pang would load her purse up with carb snacks, which would be taken away from her if she skated poorly.)

I think Gracie's situation has put a spotlight on mental health and eating disorders. And as such, given other skaters permission to admit their own issues.

For example, Gabbie Daleman is taking time off to take care of her mental health and address eating disorders. She may not have mentioned eating disorders in any of the articles posted here, but did mention dealing with one in a TV interview during Skate Canada. Good for her, it took courage for her to be so honest.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Me Too Movement generally signals advances in issues pertinent to women, in general. At its core, it asserts that women's voices and experiences matter, and that's a message that resonates beyond the specific issue at hand.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Ever the compassionate one, AxelAnnie, aren't you? The mental and physical well-being of young women/skaters is not an important story? When one's life 'spirals out of control', it's nothing?
--
Not important, right?

Don't use AxelAnnie's post to for your ideology propaganda of yet another lets feel sorry for the underdogs and their "weight, women, sports image"... AxelAnnie is right, all these issues are important, but Gracie should NOT be the focus of them in the public news, because she has FEELINGS and is dealing with those PRIVATE issues, and needs PRIVACY..

AA's post is about Gracie's PRIVACY and not the value of the issues. Go find "an underdog to defend" someplace else.. and for your own sanity, find a WINNER to side with for a change..

 

[Sylvia]

Gracie's a winner in my book, whether or not she skates/competes.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Gracie's a winner in my book, whether or not she skates/competes.

She actually is a winner... of several major competitions...

 

[AxelAnnie]

Ever the compassionate one, AxelAnnie, aren't you? The mental and physical well-being of young women/skaters is not an important story? When one's life 'spirals out of control', it's nothing?

Gracie had mental health issues and an eating disorder to deal with. Young women in general are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders. Young female figure skaters are all the more vulnerable because of the feminine ideal in figure skating. Even if the skaters are not routinely weighed, there is an emphasis on diet and weight in the sport. And quite a few female figure skaters have reported that others have been critical of their weight.

Lipnitskaya and her powder diet comes to mind - which put her in a hospital for anorexia (which is life-threatening) and pretty much ended her career. I forgot the name of the other female Russian skater who had a similar experience (and the same coach).

Not important, right? Just suck back your power drink, go hungry and get thinner, girl, it's the name of the game! And you better land that 2X, otherwise we'll take away the cookie you get for an afternoon snack. (This is not a joke. I read about how Qing Pang would load her purse up with carb snacks, which would be taken away from her if she skated poorly.)

I think Gracie's situation has put a spotlight on mental health and eating disorders. And as such, given other skaters permission to admit their own issues.

For example, Gabbie Daleman is taking time off to take care of her mental health and address eating disorders. She may not have mentioned eating disorders in any of the articles posted here, but did mention dealing with one in a TV interview during Skate Canada. Good for her, it took courage for her to be so honest.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Me Too Movement generally signals advances in issues pertinent to women, in general. At its core, it asserts that women's voices and experiences matter, and that's a message that resonates beyond the specific issue at hand.

And you made my point. The spotlight needs to stay on mental health...NOT on Gracie. Give the girl peace. Don't use her to drive home a point. I hope NBC leaves her struggle alone. It is Gracie's story to tell...not anyone else's to exploit

 

[PDilemma]

@Japanfan Eating disorders are common in a number of sports and have nothing to do with a "feminine ideal". It has to do with many sports having an optimum body type for success. Less body mass makes rotations easier. That's not a feminine ideal. We don't see 300 lb male skaters who could drop skating for being an offensive lineman at their local university, either.

A sport notorious for eating disorders is wrestling which is male dominated. As a high school teacher for 16 years, I saw eating disorders in wrestlers every single season. Bulimia is the most common according to a quick google search, but I often saw boys wrestling in the lowest weight categories with anorexic behaviors. One boy would eat three bites of food a day for the four days before each meet, then eat small meals only (fat free yogurt for two meals and like an ounce of meat and some vegetables for the third) for three days off. He would be pale and lethargic for the entire season.

Framing eating disorders in sports as an exclusively female issue is problematic for several reasons. It ignores reality, first of all, as statistics as of 2017 suggested that as many as 33% of male university athletes had eating disorders including sports no one would suspect like football (binge eating is also an eating disorder that people often dismiss since on the surface it is not dangerous)--but since the assumption is that that is a female problem, they are less likely to be diagnosed or treated. It also contributes to the still pervasive notion that sports may be too much for young women to handle, that they are too fragile. That is the reason that while interscholastic sports for men flourished in the U.S from the time high schools and colleges were established, women's sports only began to do so after Title IX in 1972. Responses to female skaters who have struggled with any mental health issues often read that the poor things are fragile, too. In reality, sports often has a positive influence on the confidence and well-being of young women. The Women's Sports Foundation reports that girls who participate in sports have better academics, higher graduation rates, a much lower rate of unintended pregnancies, lower levels of depression, and are more likely to report a positive body image.

Finally, though both are cause for concern, there is a difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating. And more people have the latter than we like to acknowledge. Yo-yo dieting is considered disordered eating as are food restrictions that are not medically necessary, preoccupation with diet that interferes with normal life, using fasting or purging to "make up for bad foods". When my sister-in-law has to "do a detox" after eating a steak, she is engaging in disordered eating behavior. Compulsive eating, guilt about what you eat, preoccupation with weight or body image, rituals around eating, meal skipping...all disordered eating behaviors. Likely many people a lot of us know have engaged in disordered eating behaviors if we haven't ourselves. An athlete in any sport who has disordered eating behaviors is often not going to be doing much different than a lot of non-athletes in the world.

 

[Willin]

@PDilemma I disagree that it has nothing to do with the feminine ideal, at least in skating. While yes, you do have to be a certain body type to do the jumps, there's a definite "ideal" some coaches espouse.

There's plenty of female skaters who are more muscular (not long and lean) and complete(d) the jumps just fine: Tuktamysheva, Flatt, Osmond, Daleman, Harding, Higuchi, Vanessa James, Ito, Duhamel, etc. etc.
And yet, at least Flatt and Duhamel have said they were criticized for being "too heavy." Idk if Tuktamysheva herself revealed this, but I know that she was criticized for her weight during the season she won everything. As Duhamel told TSL, the critiques about her weight - from international-level judges - were less about her ability to do jumps and more about how the muscle made her look "less artistic" and "have no lines" to the judges. So yes, I do think this is about the "feminine ideal" or the "ideal skater body" than technical ability.

 

[PDilemma]

@PDilemma I disagree that it has nothing to do with the feminine ideal, at least in skating. While yes, you do have to be a certain body type to do the jumps, there's a definite "ideal" some coaches espouse.

There's plenty of female skaters who are more muscular (not long and lean) and complete(d) the jumps just fine: Tuktamysheva, Flatt, Osmond, Daleman, Harding, Higuchi, Vanessa James, Ito, Duhamel, etc. etc.
And yet, at least Flatt and Duhamel have said they were criticized for being "too heavy." Idk if Tuktamysheva herself revealed this, but I know that she was criticized for her weight during the season she won everything. As Duhamel told TSL, the critiques about her weight - from international-level judges - were less about her ability to do jumps and more about how the muscle made her look "less artistic" and "have no lines" to the judges. So yes, I do think this is about the "feminine ideal" or the "ideal skater body" than technical ability.

Yet we still generally see very slim male skaters and male skaters have talked about food and weight issues (Adam Rippon most recently) and some have clearly exhibited disordered eating at the very least (Johnny Weir living on one Starbucks drink a day). So are you saying that there is a "feminine ideal" for male skaters, too? Odd since skaters like Weir struggled with judges for being too femme.

Or it could be that there is an ideal body type for jumping and a more ideal body type for creating the lines in disciplines like pairs because of the influence of ballet.

Of course, this is America in 2018 and if we can attach the word "feminine" to anything, it becomes evil and we can hate on it, so I get you. And God forbid you have a slim body type naturally as a woman because clearly it isn't natural and you have an eating disorder. Been there, done that. My favorite life moment was being accused of it by an employer.

 

[wickedwitch]

Of course, this is America in 2018 and if we can attach the word "feminine" to anything, it becomes evil and we can hate on it, so I get you. And God forbid you have a slim body type naturally as a woman because clearly it isn't natural and you have an eating disorder. Been there, done that. My favorite life moment was being accused of it by an employer.

Literally nobody here is saying this.

There are a lot of factors that go into eating disorders and not every factor applies to every person with an eating disorder. But just because some factor isn't universal doesn't mean that it can be ignored.

 

[bardtoob]

She actually is a winner... of several major competitions...

Yes, there is a difference between talent or potential and executing the winning performance. Gracie has executed the winning performance in the past, so she is a winner.