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

[Sylvia]

Here's her IG post yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsbhs2QntNk/

Since my return to competitive skating, I’ve had one mantra: Trust the Process. While difficult at times, coming back to skating has been the best decision I could have made. A large part of trusting the process has me looking more at the big picture of my career. My goal is the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. With that being said, I have decided it is in my best interest to withdraw from the 2019 championships. This was an incredibly difficult decision, but ultimately the right one.
I have already begun preparations for next year. This is a great opportunity for me to get a jump start on the season. I want to thank everyone for their support this past season, as the feedback I have received has been quite tremendous. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I wish everyone the best of luck at the Championships. See you all soon.

Vincent Restencourt's IG practice clip of Gracie landing 3Lo ("Gracie and I know she is so far from where we want to and that the jumps aren’t perfect. ... Gracie and I decided to share more videos and updates from her training, both on and off the ice probably every Wednesday"): https://www.instagram.com/p/BsbPvQ0nEsB/

ETA - I for one am not interested in dwelling on the past and 'what if' scenarios so if anyone wants to discuss Brennan's opinion piece the link is posted in the U.S. Ladies thread (where there is ongoing discussion about it) here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ed-classification.104857/page-19#post-5499828

 

[rfisher]

Sometimes things just don't work out like you want, no matter how much you want them to do so. I wish her the best of luck and hope to see her back on competitive ice next season. Good luck, Gracie.

 

[LilJen]

((((Gracie)))) I just want her to stay healthy, physically and mentally.

 

[Vash01]

Not too unexpected, but I hope she gets healthy and happy.

 

[Sylvia]

It's nice to see support being given from fellow/past skaters including public comments on Gracie's IG post by her choreographer Jeremy Abbott ("So? When do we start?! "), Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner, Yuka Sato, Madison Hubbell, Kitty Carruthers Conrad, Christopher Caluza (making his own competitive comeback after a long hiatus), Mark Ladwig.

ETA: I hope she keeps her "She Used To Be Mine"/Sara Bareilles FS that we never saw in competition this season.

 

[Rock2]

There's no surprise here.
She's on a journey to regain her skating and her mental health; it's good for her to make sensible choices to optimize her outcomes on both fronts.

Watching what happened at her GP it very much appeared from the outside that her skating wasn't ready, and probably wouldn't be by nationals. 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.

As for nationals, again, it matters less what her skating would be like. I think it's once more making sure you're competing with emotional readiness for all the pressure and media that comes with it. If you can't make it a constructive experience overall, then she's definitely making the right long term decision for herself. I wish her well.

 

[Kasey]

Good for her. I hope that she continues to put her health and her needs first, and is successful in returning to competition in the manner that she wants, when she is ready.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Moving forward, I wonder if Gracie and her team will build up her competitive mindset with smaller steps this time, starting with local competitions first. It must have been a daunting process for her coming back to an important Grand Prix event such as the Rostelecom Cup, after having been away for so long.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Moving forward, I wonder if Gracie and her team will build up her competitive mindset with smaller steps this time, starting with local competitions first. It must have been a daunting process for her coming back to an important Grand Prix event such as the Rostelecom Cup, after having been away for so long.

I really, really hope so. I thought it was a horrible idea for Gracie to show up at any GP event after what’s she’d been though without first doing any shows or smaller competitions like Philly Summer or a Challenger Series and doing well enough there. I thought it was a bad sign that USFS didn’t even assign her to something like the U.S. Classic in Salt Lake City.

 

[Sylvia]

As I mentioned in the U.S. Ladies thread yesterday, in order to be included in USFS' International Selection Pool (ISP) for next season, Gracie will have to compete in the spring/summer and attain a certain score that will be set by USFS. I am hoping that with the training she is currently doing now (landing 3Lo in practice, as her coach's recent IG clip showed), she will compete more rather than less in preparation for 2019-20.

 

[skatesindreams]

Good for her. I hope that she continues to put her health and her needs first, and is successful in returning to competition in the manner that she wants, when she is ready.

You spoke for me.

 

[Simone411]

I commend her. She's already showing courage with making that post on Instagram. She's only human just like the rest of us, and it looks like to me that she's conquering her battle, hanging in there no matter how much she may have been criticized and judged by her piers, by the skating community or by anyone that has presented negativism toward her.

She's going to continue what she loves best, and I have a feeling she'll succeed and be ready by 2022. I look at what she's accomplished so far, and I'm so proud that she did give it shot at the Grand Prix competition. She's already having the confidence to speak up, and that I find awesome.

It's not easy to find that type of confidence, and she's not hiding it. I used to be the same way. I was sort of shy and wouldn't post when I felt something should be said. That changed when I nearly died. I find that I have more confidence now than I ever did before. It's because I learned how short time really is on this earth.

I still have friends that don't quite understand my situation, and they have approached me about it. They don't quite understand that I can no longer do some of the things I used to do. A couple of friends couldn't understand why I didn't come to see them anymore, and stayed at home most of the time. It wasn't obvious to them that I could no longer go up steps or a flight of stairs. It wasn't obvious to them that I could no longer drive long distances. It was right in front of their eyes why I couldn't, and yet, they were blind as a bat when it came to such matters.

Gracie now has some of the confidence and courage that I had to find. And with time, I feel she'll definitely be ready especially when it comes time for the 2022 Olympics. If she isn't, that's okay, too, because she will find out what she needs to do and what she's capable of doing.

 

[StasiyaGalustyanLove]

This is a "Great" thread but my wife and me both think it belong's in the trash can.

 

[Carolla5501]

This is a "Great" thread but my wife and me both think it belong's in the trash can.

No the thread is in the right place...

Now perhaps you and your wife can find some friends in the trash can

 

[paskatefan]

Gracie, do what's best for you! Take all the time you need to heal properly & completely!

 

[Jaana]

That was to be expected after her skating at the GP. There was no possibility she would manage to be ready for the 2019 Nationals, just too little time. Hopefully she and her team will be more realistic about her abilities this year.
Some small competition in USA would be a good idea as posted earlier, maybe at fall she could be ready for something like that?

Wishing her happiness in what ever she will be doing in future!

 

[AYS]

This is a "Great" thread but my wife and me both think it belong's in the trash can.

This is the definition of a news thread.

Best of luck to Gracie as she trusts "the process".

 

[Spiralgraph]

Gracie is on a long road toward recovering her health. Surely her expectations and hopes were high that she would heal quickly but things didn't go as she wanted and hoped. So she made the right decision and withdrew. Skating is only one aspect of her life, her mental and physical health is far more important and I hope she ignores any criticism from so called fans and does things in her best interest. If and when she's ready she'll decide whether she should skate again. Be well, Gracie.

 

[LarrySK8]

All this talk and chatter about Gracie, her conditioning, her mental status, is what it is, but what is NOT documented or reported are, a) any physical injuries, and b) details of training. One thing she documents herself is that she is trying to return to competitive skating.

It is one thing to return to skating, go to the rink with a coach, and skate working on elements and skating skills. It is quite another thing to return to competitive skating. Apart from that, it is quite another thing all together to return to show skating.

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.

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 training for triples with the intent on doing programs after the triples "came back." Who knows?

Without information, there is no way to do anything but speculate.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

All this talk and chatter about Gracie, her conditioning, her mental status, is what it is, but what is NOT documented or reported are, a) any physical injuries, and b) details of training. One thing she documents herself is that she is trying to return to competitive skating.

It is one thing to return to skating, go to the rink with a coach, and skate working on elements and skating skills. It is quite another thing to return to competitive skating. Apart from that, it is quite another thing all together to return to show skating.

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.

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 training for triples with the intent on doing programs after the triples "came back." Who knows?

Without information, there is no way to do anything but speculate.

Gold has posted the first in what may or may not be a series of clips documenting her journey.

Keep in mind that this is her process, and to do this at all, is potentially out of generosity to her supportive fans.

She doesn't actually owe anyone anything.

 

[StasiyaGalustyanLove]

All this talk and chatter about Gracie, her conditioning, her mental status, is what it is, but what is NOT documented or reported are, a) any physical injuries, and b) details of training. One thing she documents herself is that she is trying to return to competitive skating.

It is one thing to return to skating, go to the rink with a coach, and skate working on elements and skating skills. It is quite another thing to return to competitive skating. Apart from that, it is quite another thing all together to return to show skating.

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

Many of the word's here are leaning to the right, I don't know if that is on purposely but I have to say I think politics and men are both better when tilted right ward but words not so much.

 

[LarrySK8]

She doesn't actually owe anyone anything.

My post addressed skating theory, more in general than even applies to this skater. It addressed the differences in training for different types of skating. It brings up areas where we have no specific information, thus leading to so much speculation, opinion and media chatter about her.

For example, let's say she declared a return to skating ONLY. Not competitive or show skating. Her progress until now would be viewed quite differently. People would be in awe that she can do triples now. They wouldn't judge her weight or conditioning or training methods or coach. They would encourage her to go onto show or competitive skating because she can do her edge triples. There would not be this aspect of being judged compared to her past-self or the current group of skaters. It's all for discussion, not a demand from her for information or a personal bias or opinion as to what she should/will do.

Point is - goals and training must be in synch for satisfaction and efficacy. Doesn't matter if it's Gracie Gold or Ida Know.

 

[LarrySK8]

Many of the word's here are leaning to the right, I don't know if that is on purposely but I have to say I think politics and men are both better when tilted right ward but words not so much.

If you look at the Tower of Pisa from the north, it leans one way; if you look from the south it leans the other way. Right, left, up, down is all relative, Comrade.

In the spirit of ESTA - "Skating is best with smoke and drink, EYS?"

 

[Simone411]

If you look at the Tower of Pisa from the north, it leans one way; if you look from the south it leans the other way. Right, left, up, down is all relative, Comrade.

In the spirit of ESTA - "Skating is best with smoke and drink, EYS?"

If you were to see me, you would see that I lean both ways depending on using my walker or my wheelchair. When you're handicapped, you learn which way to lean that will help you out the most.

This is what Gracie is doing so to speak. She's learning which way she needs to lean and when. Sometimes it may be both ways, and in time, she'll know which way is the best.

 

[slicekw]

Good luck to Gracie.

While LarrySK8 is correct, that Gracie needs to have a goal to COMPETE if she plans to be a competitive skater, I exhort you to please bear in mind that rebuilding a mental state from the ground up is much like rebuilding a physical state. You have a clear grasp of the physical from your writing. Please bear in mind that rebuilding a mental state is the same thing and while she can skate and re-skate her programs in and out, day after day, the fact is that rebuilding her physical capabilities (which she's been working on less than a year) will be ahead of rebuilding her mental capabilities.

This is mostly because she needs to a) develop her skills b) gain physical confidence in her skills c) develop deep competence with her skills. All while simultaneously working on her mental resiliency, her mental confidence in her skills, and setting her "head on straight" to be able to compete. That will be followed by rebuilding her desire to be the best, plus her ability to handle things if she falls short.

I, for one, have never been a Gracie uber (she's an excellent skater just not my taste), but I've always respected her work ethic. I was surprised she was aiming for a return this year, so I'm glad she's pacing herself. I hope she gets some good shows in this summer - it'll give her confidence in performing again. It's not the same as a competition, but every performance in front of an audience that is completed will add to her confidence and help her adjust her headset. Frankly, I would love to see her do sectionals/regionals next year if she's ready - those competitions might be exactly what she needs for confidence.

 

[bardtoob]

My days for playing woodwinds were over. I moved on to singing while pursuing a career in healthcare.

My days for singing were over. I moved on to mathematics then statistics ... And this became my 2nd career.

Sometimes there is no going back, so it is better to look forward.

 

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Ah, one's always torn when news like this happens. I was always a fan of Gracie, like her skating, her personality and her beauty. But.....health (both physical and emotional) and safety must come first. I sincerely hope she can make a comeback, but it will have to be on her own terms.

 

[Jammers]

To be honest i'm happy that Gracie withdrew from Nationals. To see her at COR get a lower SP score then when she was a Novice at Nationals nearly 9 years ago was painful to see. While i didn't expect her to be anywhere near her prime to see her get beat by skaters that she would have beaten by 30 points just a few years ago was tough to watch. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to compete and i'd rather remember her as someone who at her best could compete with anyone in the world. Better to have seen her retire then see her be at the level she was at COR.

 

[DimaToe]

To be honest i'm happy that Gracie withdrew from Nationals. To see her at COR get a lower SP score then when she was a Novice at Nationals nearly 9 years ago was painful to see. While i didn't expect her to be anywhere near her prime to see her get beat by skaters that she would have beaten by 30 points just a few years ago was tough to watch. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to compete and i'd rather remember her as someone who at her best could compete with anyone in the world. Better to have seen her retire then see her be at the level she was at COR.

It is not about you though, maybe those skaters she would have beat in the past have improved. She should quit competitive skating when she wants to, not when it’s convenient for a fan.

 

[GullyGirl84]

It is not about you though, maybe those skaters she would have beat in the past have improved. She should quit competitive skating when she wants to, not when it’s convenient for a fan.

THIS. People are so entitled. Plus, even under normal conditions a lot of shifting can happen in 2 years, only 4 out of the top 10 finishes at 2016 worlds even made the 2018 Olympics (and only 2 out of the top 10 in 2015).