(4 Feb 2014)   

Trio hungry to bring home some Olympic hardware

Gracie Gold, the newly crowned U.S. champion helming of the talented and tough 2014 U.S. Olympic ladies figure skating brigade, seems seem as poised and determined as ever to as ever to walk away from the Olympic games with not just a good experience, but also with a medal.

Since the U.S. Championships concluded in Boston a few weeks ago, Gold, along with Edmunds, the 2013 U.S. junior titlist who placed second and Ashley Wagner, the two-time U.S champion who was fourth but selected for Team USA based upon her stellar international record, comprise a formidable force.

Collectively, they seem confident as confident as ever to take on defending World champion, Yuna Kim, the 2010 Korean Olympic victor, Mao Asada, the 2013 Japanese International Skating Union Grand Prix Final gold medalist and Julia Lipnitskaya, the 2014 Russian European winner and 2013 ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist.

Over the past few seasons, every one of these U.S. ladies have proven they have the stuff that has helped to designate America as such a dominant international force in the sport for so many decades. Each one is a super-fast skater with huge jumps, amazing spins and beautiful lines and also has that indescribable ‘it’ factor that has come to represent so many of the female icons of the sport here in the country, which bodes well going into the Olympics.

The coolest thing about this talented trio is that they want to make a serious statement in Sochi and show the world that American ladies figure skating is not only alive and kicking, but as strong as ever.

“The Olympics are all about putting everything on the ice,” said Gold, who is looking to walk away with a medal, possibly even one to match her now-famous name.

“I’m going to compete but truthfully, I’m going for gold,” she said in a conference call last week. “I’ve dedicated my focus to that moment.”

This outcome could very well come to pass, especially based upon the one-two punch of first-place programs she put out in Boston which were strong, beautiful and clean. (Gold’s winning “Sleeping Beauty” free skate was so good in fact, it was named as the best ladies performance of the 2014 U.S. Championships by the Professional Skaters Association.)

Most significantly, Gold, Edmunds and Wagner have all made it to the top of the tough American ladder not just because of their technical and artistic aptitude but also because of their mindset, as they see competition as an opportunity in which anything could happen.

“For any competition, anything is possible,” said Edmunds. “Any skater has a shot to do well and get on the podium.”

Gold working hard, adjusting to newfound celebrity like seasoned champ

Gracie Gold, the 19 year-old Illinois native who captured the attention of the country when she won the U.S. ladies title in Boston, has over the past few weeks, been as focused as ever on training, despite her newfound celebrity status.

Since this benchmark victory, Gold has become one of the most Googled people based upon a survey by the New York Post and was invited to make a guest appearance on the legendary NBC Tonight Show with Jay Leno, among other exciting things.

During her interview with Leno, she charmed the audience with her wit and personality and juggled fruit with the expertise of a professional entertainer, something she said she does to help her relax at competitions.

“It’s always been my thing to relax and focus,” said Gold, who often juggles before competing to help her get in the right mindset. “Anything that can occupy my mind to think about the here and now [is good].”

Gold, who started working with Frank Carroll at the Toyota Sports Center in Los Angeles last September after leaving her longtime coach, Alex Ouriashev in Chicago, resumed to business as usual once she returned home, but this time, with the confidence of a U.S. title to her name.

“I think having Nationals under my belt and having a solid competition has been [really good],” said Gold. “I think after each competition my programs have gotten stronger.”

Gold certainly seems to be in a great way, especially since having made the move to Los Angeles to train with the iconic Carroll, who coached Michelle Kwan, the two time Olympic medalist, five-time World champion and nine-time U.S. titlist and Evan Lysacek, the 2010 U.S. Olympic victor.

This decision was a good one, as the dynamic between the two has produced an alchemy that has been making magic happen.

“He is so wonderful and wise, but also very quirky and funny at the same time,” said Gold. “There are no mind games and he is very straightforward.”

Clearly, Carroll’s approach seems to be working. In Boston, his charge was composed, confident and poised and carried herself with the grace and humility of a star. (When she got off the bus after winning gold Saturday night with her mother and Carroll, she was welcomed by a sea of her peers who cheered for her in the lobby of the host hotel, the Westin.)

“I’ve found the tools that worked to help me be a better me and just have stuck to them,” said Gold, who also works with Scott Brown, a master rated and international Professional Skaters Association coach and choreographer. “[Frank] has taught me to ‘do what you do’ and just ‘do what you train.’”

On the ice, Carroll is emphatic to emphasizing the importance of staying in the moment with Gold and continually reminds her to take a breath, take time and to bend her knees, among other things.

“I was a little bit anxious and nervous and have been working [a lot] on this,” said Gold. “I think Frank is one of the best coaches in the world.”

Since Boston, Gold has also been working on elevating her technical and artistic standard intensively.

“I definitely have a lot of work ahead of me going to the Olympics and moving forward,” she said. “I have to treat the Olympics like any other competition and leave the skating out on the ice.”

For Gold, having an opportunity to compete at the Olympics is like a dream come true and something she respects and relishes.

“I remember a couple of years ago I was watching my role models at the Olympics and now to be that role model is wonderful,” she said, urging young up and coming skaters to “do what you love to do” and remember most of all the passion “for your sport is really important.”

Edmunds looking to make strong showing in Sochi

Polina Edmunds, the breakout ladies star who pulled off a stunning second-place finish as well as a Team USA berth in Boston, has been training diligently at her hometown of San Jose, California in hopes of making another great impression on the judges and crowd in Sochi.

“I’ve been feeling great since the U.S. Championships and have really been getting ready for the Olympics since then,” said Edmunds, 15, the 2013 U.S. junior titlist. “It’ll be very exciting.”

Edmunds was the last skater of the 22-member ladies field in the short program in Boston and wowed the crowd and officials with her big, solid triples taken from high-charged entries and fast and artfully positioned spins, elements that should help her earn high scores at the Olympics.

“My goal is to skate two clean programs, I’ll give it my best shot and see what happens,” said Edmunds in a conference call last week. “It’s just another competition.”

Evidently, when this young athlete sets her sights on something, things happen. Determined, resolute and highly focused, Edmunds seems to possess a myopic mindset that she knows how to use in order to achieve goals such as rising to the top of the U.S. ladies field and making Team USA.

Since nationals, Edmunds has been training with the same energy and discipline that she has all year, with perhaps just more intensive focus on artistry.

“The only thing that could possibly look different [in Sochi] is my presentation,” she said. “I’ve been working hard on it for the last two weeks.”

Based upon her successful competitive history, Edmunds seems to be most motivated by challenges. In 2012, she finished sixth in juniors at the U.S. Championships, which fired her up to go home and better herself.

“I think that two years ago I had just learned the hardest elements (a triple/triple jump combination and triple Lutz) and when I finished sixth I was a little bit disappointed,” said Edmunds. “I worked as hard as I could and went to nationals [in 2013] and proved I was the strongest competitor in the junior ladies division.”

Going into the 2014 season, Edmunds knew she had to be superior in order to fare well as a senior at the U.S. Championships.

“I knew and had a feeling I had to put up to good programs this year,” she said.

Along with her businesslike approach, Edmunds still reveals a youthful exuberance as she discussed being part of the 2014 Olympic figure skating contingent, a group she described as ‘elite and fun at the same time.’

“We’re like a big group of friends all going [to Sochi] together,” she said. “We’ll be going as one big family to the Olympic Games.”