Gracie Gold withdraws from 2019 US Nationals, looks ahead to future

[Sylvia]

"Even after an intense off ice, her least favorite jump [2A] is getting sharper": https://www.instagram.com/p/BsnwPyzHjwP/

 

[arakwafan2006]

I am breathing a sigh of relief. I don't know who's decision it was or who was involved but this is awesome. Gracie is SO damn capable but she was NOT ready to compete and most didn't expect her to. I cannot wait to see her next year. I PRAY she goes to a top choreographer. I keep saying, I think that Evgenia's Orange Colored Sky would look good on Gracie... Sandra...Sandra...Sandra!!!!

 

[peibeck]

I keep saying, I think that Evgenia's Orange Colored Sky would look good on Gracie... Sandra...Sandra...Sandra!!!!

Sorry, I despise that song.

Yeah for Gracie hitting that beautiful 2a in the video though! She has a long road to travel, but I'm most concerned that she stay mentally healthy and find happiness.

 

[Japanfan]

If any skater is to return to competitive skating or show skating, it is based in performing programs. The only way to be in this realm of skating is to do run throughs as a major part of training, actually, the cornerstone of training. Off ice conditioning is needed is improve the skater's ability to complete multiple run throughs every day they practice.

A return to skating alone only requires time at the rink, working on elements and maybe a program is not even necessary. The 3 loop we saw her do may have been one of maybe 20 attempts that day, who knows without details? We aren't given any details.

Gracie and her team would know that.

From the look of her skating and her recent run-throughs, it does not appear that doing run throughs, even with doubles and singles, has been a cornerstone of her training at this point. Maybe she needs to choose what she is returning to, or she needs to change the training focus.

BTW - multiple run throughs a day, even with singles and doubles, will help a skater shed unwanted pounds, make the program into muscle memory and give the skater a chance to later add the revolutions. Maybe her coach never thought of this and went straight to to training for triples with the intent on doing programs after the triples "came back." Who knows?

Gracie and her team are very likely following a plan and tweaking it along the way.

They wouldn't judge her weight or conditioning or training methods or coach.

Not everyone here is judging Gracie. I certainly am not. I am neither her therapist nor her coach.

That in itself is ok but when you observe her body language and general energy at the event, it did not appear at all like this was a performance from which to build (as the Twitter narrative later seemed to suggest), but instead yet another experience from which she'd need to emotionally recover. Huge difference that raises a lot of questions about the purpose of competing there.

How would Gracie know what kind of performance it would be if she didn't at least try?

And don't you think Gracie and her team know the purpose of her competing?

All this criticism of Gracie is

Plenty of skaters have a bad season, as Gracie is. And/or fall down the rankings - some who do this will move up again, some won't. And some skaters never fulfill their promise or potential.

In sport, as in life, people fail and get knocked down. After which they often just dust themselves off, get up, and try again.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

"Even after an intense off ice, her least favorite jump [2A] is getting sharper": https://www.instagram.com/p/BsnwPyzHjwP/

She looks good in this clip, too.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Gracie and her team would know that

Plenty of skaters have a bad season, as Gracie is. And/or fall down the rankings - some who do this will move up again, some won't. And some skaters never fulfill their promise or potential.

In sport, as in life, people fail and get knocked down. After which they often just dust themselves off, get up, and try again.

Love ya dearly Japanfan, but Gracie did not have a bad season she had a catastrophic meltdown that landed her in a treatment center.

I wish her well. I would fear that "coming back" as anything less than "Gracie Gold"
would be hard for someone so gifted and with the results she has under her belt. She has a lot on her plate to deal with. Skating is great, and obviously she loves it. But it was a minefield for her....one she could not navigate.

I just hope the people around her are realistic in their expectations, and that Gracie can be realistic.
Just the eating disorder piece is huge.

Eating Disorders

There is a commonly held view that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. Obsessions with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.

Figure Skating - looking at it from a physics POV - requires a certain weight to mass ratio.
Figure Skating is a judged sport.....and part of what is being judged is YOU.

So, not even taking her skating into consideration, she would be going into an environment that can trigger eating disorders. And they are VERY difficult to overcome.

 

[Japanfan]

Love ya dearly Japanfan, but Gracie did not have a bad season she had a catastrophic meltdown that landed her in a treatment center.

I'm talking about her GP event this season. I don't know about the meltdown that you say landed her in a treatment centre - but suspect that the one one may not have been the primary reason for the other.

Plenty of skaters have catastrophic meltdowns and do not end up in treatment for mental health issues.

Figure Skating - looking at it from a physics POV - requires a certain weight to mass ratio.
Figure Skating is a judged sport.....and part of what is being judged is YOU.

But a lot of female skaters want to maintain a weight that is probably lower than necessary for optimal performance. It's possible that in some cases, they could probably skate just as well, or maybe better, with a few more pounds. Less weight could mean less strength, which could compromise jumping ability.

And the harsh judgments of women's weight is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Most skaters are lean, male and female both.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I'm talking about her GP event this season. .

And the harsh judgments of women's weight is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Most skaters are lean, male and female both.

I did not realize you were calling this a season. I thought you were referring to the last two years.

I agree with you about the judgments on weight. If you can get the jumps around, then it shouldn't matter what your weight is.

 

[Japanfan]

I did not realize you were calling this a season. I thought you were referring to the last two years.

Yes, thinking only in terms of this season and Gracie's GP.

I've not followed Gracie's story closely these past two years, only know about the ED and the depression.