Gracie Gold wins first US figure skating title
- 9 years ago
Gracie is heading into Worlds 2015 next month. If she can back to her original "weight and balance" like she had last year her muscle memory sense should take over and she could skate excellently. In the Air Force, if your plane doesn't have the right "weight and balance" it doesn't fly too well.
Gracie Gold, who was in first place in the senior ladies of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships after the short program, fell once in the free skate. But she looked like a champion, celebrating one jump mid routine and pumping her fist at the end. She won the title with 211.69 points.
Fifteen-year-old Polina Edwards, who turned this championship into her own coming out party, fell once in the free skate and finished in second place with 193.63 points. Edwards, the 2013 U.S. junior champion, was competing in her first senior national event.
Finishing in third place, Mirai Nagasu landed six triples and ended with a flourish, as the crowd gave her a standing ovation. She was awarded 190.74 points and she spun around in joy, with her hands over her face.
Ashley Wagner, the two-time defending champion, fell twice in her free skate and finished in fourth with 182.74 points. She looked devastated, shook her head and appeared to say: "I'm sorry."
Meanwhile, Williamston's Hannah Miller was disappointed after she botched a pair of jumps and finished with 161.41 points. "Overall, it was an OK skate," Miller said. "I'm disappointed in the two lutzes. I did it in the short and I can do it all day in practice. I don't know what happened there."
Miller said that she learned an important lesson at these championships: "Just to not hold back at all. Just put it all out there. I wish I would have done that. I wish I could re-do it. But there is always next year and the years after that."
Three ladies will represent the U.S. at the Sochi Games. A committee will determine the skaters today. The committee will look at the performances at these championships, as well as the body of work at international competitions over the last year.
Gracie Gold, who was in first place in the senior ladies of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships after the short program, fell once in the free skate. But she looked like a champion, celebrating one jump mid routine and pumping her fist at the end. She won the title with 211.69 points.
Fifteen-year-old Polina Edwards, who turned this championship into her own coming out party, fell once in the free skate and finished in second place with 193.63 points. Edwards, the 2013 U.S. junior champion, was competing in her first senior national event.
Finishing in third place, Mirai Nagasu landed six triples and ended with a flourish, as the crowd gave her a standing ovation. She was awarded 190.74 points and she spun around in joy, with her hands over her face.
Ashley Wagner, the two-time defending champion, fell twice in her free skate and finished in fourth with 182.74 points. She looked devastated, shook her head and appeared to say: "I'm sorry."
Meanwhile, Williamston's Hannah Miller was disappointed after she botched a pair of jumps and finished with 161.41 points. "Overall, it was an OK skate," Miller said. "I'm disappointed in the two lutzes. I did it in the short and I can do it all day in practice. I don't know what happened there."
Miller said that she learned an important lesson at these championships: "Just to not hold back at all. Just put it all out there. I wish I would have done that. I wish I could re-do it. But there is always next year and the years after that."
Three ladies will represent the U.S. at the Sochi Games. A committee will determine the skaters today. The committee will look at the performances at these championships, as well as the body of work at international competitions over the last year.