Gracie Gold Wins US Championships

Gracie Gold Wins US Championships

Gracie Gold finally won her first national figure-skating title with a comfortable lead over second-place Wunderkind Polina Edmunds. Former national champion, Ashley Wagner could only finish at fourth place and may need to make the most of the rules in order to get a spot at the US figure skating team for the 2014 Olympics.

Third place went to Mirai Nagasu, who finished fourth during the 2010 Olympics. Wagner said that her decent season may help her case in trying to get a spot in the team for the Sochi Games.

The Olympic selection procedure of US Figure Skating provides room for Wagner if she does not reach the top three slots of the championships. Although Wagner said she wanted to earn a spot on the team, she also does not want to feel that she is taking away that spot from another person.

If USFS will include Wagner in the lineup, Nagasu may be dropped instead of Edmunds. David Raith, chief executive of USFS, said the new judging system takes into consideration the overall performance of the athlete instead of limiting it to a single event.

Mirai Nagasu finished the free skate event without any major errors. Gracie Gold had two hands on the ice to keep her from falling. Nagasu said she is hoping that USFS will pick her since she brings an Olympic experience with her. Two months ago, she joined the nationals without a coach, which is unusual for an elite athlete.

On the other hand, Gold left her previous coach, Alex Ouriashev, and joined Frank Carroll in September.

The initial performance of Gracie Gold was so impressive that the mistake she committed at the later part of the event did not affect her standing. She said that she had a remarkable opportunity of making it to the team. Carroll also said that Gold and Wagner may not be taken out of the team by the federation unless they committed a major error.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday January 13 2014, 9:07 AM EST. Ref: Chicago Tribune. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0