Gracie Gold is not "the one"!  She has been very disappointing on the senior curcuit.  At skate detroit she was beaten by hannah miller.  At nelborhorn she was beated by caroline zhang and at skate canada she was beated by just about everyone.   her short program is very juniorish.  why was she not told at champs camp. she is a beautiful girl and I am  sure a wonderful role model, but can not keep pace with her foreign peers who are around her age.  I hope USFSA can get it right.  I like Christina Gao!

Give the girl a break. What did you expect the next Yuna or MK?  She's a inexperienced 17 year girl who struggled in her first major Senior event.  Like most skaters do. Do you think Ashley Wagner was brilliant in her first year on the GP circuit?  It took Ashley until her sixth year on the GP to win her first event.  Look at Carolina Koster. I guess she should have hung it up years ago since she never could get it together right? Amazing how people are ready to dump someone because of one bad event.

I am not ready to dump her, I just do not think she is "the one" and I am hoping USFSA is not just looking at the way she looks and her perfect name. 

Gracie did not have a good start in Canada, but she still had a lot of good qualities to be positive about.  I like her speed on the ice, she has good edging, lots of height on her jumps, as well as distance.  I think she needs to work on her posture a bit and her artistry, however, she is very musical.  And her 3lutz3toe is awesome. 

 

Caroline Zhang really needs to work on her speed, and that double axel technique is unacceptable.  There's no jump into it, and lands it at a stand still.  Just not good.

 

Christina Gao is a great jumper but also needs to work on her speed and transitions.  Her 2axel technique could also use some work.  She does not jump into it as well as she does with her other jumps.  Same problem as Zhang's; lands it with no speed or flow.  Christina could also work on the technique of her 3salchow.  It's a bit awkward.

 

I think the top American lady currently is Ashley Wagner.  She has become the complete package skater.  And if Agnes Zawadski got herself together, she'd be pretty tough to beat and probably the best skater in North America.

 

Gracie has not been beaten by Caroline Zhang.  Ever.  Gracie was not at Nebelhorn.

At Skate Detroit, the long program was a couple weeks old.  SLC, she rushed the pick on the 3F in the SP, otherwise she would have won there.

If you saw her practices at SC, they were awesome, amazing!  She was hounded incessantly by the press at SC - the brightest spotlight was on her.  She's never been in that situation before.  Who's to day this didn't throw her off her game?  Just because she had ONE had international outing doesn't make her a bust.  Sheesh!  Give the kid a break!

Was it Finlandia then when she was beaten by Zhang.  At any rate, I am not ready to "bust" her.  I just do not feel she is "the  one".  I also do not feel she is a kid as far as ladies figure skating goes.  The kids are the girls skating seniors at 14.  At 17 her skating should be mature.  She is no younger than Kanako, or the Russian girls(lipniskai, tuktemisheva, polina) or the new canadian girl who all show maturity in their skating.  We make excuses for the american girls. 

Age doesn't mean a thing.  Kanako is in her third year on the Senior GP compared to Gracie being a rookie. And last i looked the Russian girl like Adelina and  Elizaveta Tuktamysheva are struggling also. They are not winning every competition like when they were in Juniors. As for Julia Lipniskai lets see how well she skates when she grows 3-4 inches and her body changes. Those rather smallish jumps might not survive.

Yeah, Julia Lipniskai's jumps are rather small and there's a lot of Tara Lipinski in her double axel technique and we all know how small Tara was, so if she does grow, chances are she will have to relearn the jumps.

I already covered this.  She was only beaten by Zhang in the SP at Skate Canada.  She has never finished behind her overall (although to be fair, this is the first time they've met in competition).  She did not skate at Finlandia (Zhang was terrible at her Senior B event with a 75 in her LP).  She was beaten by Zawadski at US Senior B due to missing her jump combo in the SP, but she won the long there and lost by about a point overall. 

Do you expect someone to come in and win everything right away?  You DO know that Kwan was 6th at her first Senior Nationals, 8th at her first Senior Worlds, then 4th before she ever medaled, right?  Does that mean Kwan wasn't "the one"?

Gracie has everything she needs to be successful: two different 3+3 combinations and clean jumps (take offs on the correct edge and landings are clean) level 4 spins, level 4 steps, excellent speed and transitions.  She did not expect to be the "queen" of the press there and I believe this affected her focus.  She's able to learn from her experiences and she has a desire and drive we haven't seen in an American skater not named Ashley Wagner (who now seems to have that desire and drive harnessed and working FOR her rather than against her) since Kwan. I believe she will get this sorted out and will show everyone what she's capable of.

What you state about Kwan is true, however she wasn't 17 at the time.  I continue to state respectfully, that Gracie has all the goods to be successful, but I still do not think she is "the one".  I state this with no disrepect or malice or scarcasm.  Perhaps the tone of your replies could try to do the same.  Different opinions are great in this format!