UNO News Net: SOCHI 2014: Figure Skating - Gracie glitters in short programme

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

SOCHI 2014: Figure Skating - Gracie glitters in short programme

She felt sick to the stomach and made a small mistake on her first big jump but Gracie Gold regained her composure to stay in the medal hunt after the first segment in the women's figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday.

2 hours 54 minutes ago

With every seat at the Iceberg Skating Palace filled and millions of people tuning in around the world for one of the iconic events of the Winter Olympics, the American teenager overcame a nervous start to post the fourth-best score in the short program.

"I'm satisfied with it. It wasn't perfect," she told reporters.

"But I was happy to be able to perform under the bright lights and stress. It's a tough event."

As the newly-annointed darling of American figure skating, Gold has been in the spotlight from the moment she won the U.S. National championship last month, although she was considered an outside chance to claim a medal in Sochi against one of the hottest fields on ice.

She won a bronze in the team event but said she was feeling the pressure before her individual competition and her anxiety was not helped when defending champion, South Korea's Kim Yuna, almost brought the house down with a stunning routine to lead the competition.

"I was definitely nervous before and felt sick to my stomach. I had to refocus and stick to my job," Gold said.

"I was in the locker-room and it got really loud. At first I thought it was rain but it turned out to be all the clapping and stomping. I'm sure she (Kim) was flawless."

Wearing a cherry-red dress that matched her lipstick, the 18-year-old Gold made a little mistake on her opening combination, a triple Lutz followed by a triple toeloop.

She did not fall but her landing on the lutz was less than perfect, although she recovered instantly, nailing the triple toeloop before completing a triple loop and double Axel.

"This is about throwing it out there, that when you have a shaky landing on a triple lutz, you stick that triple toe," she said.

"I thought to myself, 'This is my Olympic moment. Am I going to be on my butt? No. The Olympics is not the place to play it safe, I'm going for it'."

The judges awarded Gold 68.63 points, leaving her behind only Kim, Russia's Adelina Sotnikova and Italy's Carolina Koster heading into Thursday's free skate where the medals will be decided.

"I'm a triple lutz away from Kim Yuna," Gold said.

While Gold was the best-placed of the three Americans in the competition, her team mates were not far behind with Ashley Wagner, a controversial selection for Sochi, sixth and 15-year-old Polina Edmunds seventh.

Wagner was picked as the third member of the American team despite finishing fourth at the U.S. trials while Edmunds is juggling her school homework with skating on her international debut.

"I finished my math like I've been telling everyone and right now," she said. "Now I'm trying to read some of The Great Gatsby for English."