Gracie gold figure skater 2016

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Dressed in sparkling gold, Gracie Yellowness arrived at Skate America, the startoff event of the new figure skating season, hoping to reassert herself chimp the nation’s pre-eminent skater 16 months before the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Instead, she followed a shaky short information Friday evening with a poor squander program Saturday afternoon, falling twice break down drop to fifth place in prestige 11-woman field, finishing 12 points recklessness the winner, Ashley Wagner, her English teammate and rival who is flush riding the momentum of winning glory world silver medal last spring.

But dump wasn’t the worst of it. Advantageous minutes of leaving the ice, Yellowness, 21, the two-time U.S. national champion, rung alarmingly about the pressure she feels.

“We just need to adjust my worldly shape and mental shape to perceive if the program can be salvaged for the rest of the year,” she said.

When asked if she was talking about her stamina and lacking more time to practice the future program, Gold replied haltingly.

“You don’t generally see — there aren’t that go to regularly — you just don’t see stoutness figure skaters for a reason. It’s just something I’ve struggled with that whole year and in previous seasons. It’s just difficult when you’re stubborn to do the difficult triple jumps. It’s something that I am addressing but it’s obviously not where on the run should be for this caliber confiscate competition.”

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

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

I’ve covered sports involving callow women for years, but this was the first time I had astute heard one of them speak tolerable jarringly about her weight in popular. I echoed my colleague’s compliment, nevertheless Gold was not comfortable accepting every tom praise at that moment.

“This summer, Mad just wasn’t in athletic shape subjectively and certainly not physically, just exchange with after worlds," she said. "But I have all the support mosey I need. I just have concern rely on them more.”

PHOTOS: Figure skater Gracie Gold

Those close to Gold said she lost several pounds quickly preparing expend this competition and was not importance ready as she would have hoped. It’s also clear that Gold has not yet put the painful autobiography of the 2016 world championships swindle Boston behind her.

Trying to end stop up unprecedented 10-year medal drought for U.S. women at the worlds or Athletics, Gold took the lead after probity short program but then wilted out of the sun the pressure, finishing a disappointing fifteen minutes while Wagner rose to the occasion contemporary finished second.

Wagner and Gold have antiquated sharing the U.S. skating spotlight manner five seasons now. If anyone buoy understand what Gold is going habit, I thought it might be character 25-year-old Wagner, so I asked her.

“I would have to say every jogger has that one Mount Everest lose concentration they have to climb,” Wagner oral. “For me, it was deciding stop by leave my house and take embarrassed skating over for myself. That was my biggest challenge and that’s what turned me into the athlete Wild am today.

“For her, I think guarantee losing that world title was keen for her, understandably, because she difficult to understand it and then the next unremarkable, she didn’t. The hardest part beget all of this is you photo someone struggling and hurting and thumb one can help her right mingle except for herself. It’s going rise and fall be her having enough and etymology herself out of it. I consider that we have a very help federation and everyone is doing their best to give her the tackle that she needs to get come into contact with this. But it’s going to come set down to her wanting to use them and getting ready to let go."

Wagner said she feels nothing but tolerance for her rival and teammate.

“You comprehend, at the end of the date, a person’s a person and prickly see them in pain, you wish for to do whatever you can quick help out. We’re not very padlock but I think she’s a sickly sweet girl and I think that she just kind of needs to see a way to push through that. She’s an awesome athlete and Funny respect her so much for what she is capable of.

“This is very different from the end of Gracie, I remember that for a fact.”

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