SKATE CANADA BATTLE TESTED by AMY ROSEWATER
Gold, Hubbell and Donohue lead U.S. charge Coach Frank Carroll gave his newest pupil,
Gracie Gold, a new nickname for their first com- petition together at Skate Canada International. “I call her ‘Gracie Warrior Princess,’” Car-
roll said. “I want her to be a warrior and not scared. “If you make the Olympic Games, you have
to know that going for gold is a different philos- ophy than just staying on your feet,” he added. Apparently, the new name and mindset are
already sinking in. After claiming a bronze medal at Skate Canada, Gold said, “I felt like a warrior princess.” Gold and American ice dancers Madison
Hubbell and Zachary Donohue led the way for Team USA at Skate Canada, each earning a bronze medal. Gold, who was skating in her first Grand
Prix event of the season, came into the competi- tion with a lot of question marks. About a month before the event, Gold left her coach Alex Ouria- shev and headed to Southern California to work with Carroll. She moved to California along with
DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES
her twin sister, Carly, and their mother, Denise. Gold was the top skater in the short pro- gram, earning a personal-best score of 69.45 points, a much higher score than she posted at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic (58.49) in September in Salt Lake City. Gold displayed strength and confidence in her skating, solidly landing her triple Lutz-triple toe and cap- ping off her program with a fist pump. Her short program was strong enough to
beat Russian phenom Julia Lipnitskaia (66.89) and Japan’s Akiko Suzuki (65.76). In the free skate, however, Lipnitskaia
proved she was not only the class of the field but made the case as a serious threat for the gold medal in Sochi. Only 15, Lipnitskaia performed a riveting routine (complete with six clean tri- ples) to Schindler’s List to win the Skate Canada title. Suzuki ended up finishing second, marking her third consecutive silver medal at Skate Cana- da, and Gold slipped to third. Although Gold did not watch Lipnitskaia’s
program (Carroll said he didn’t know how the Russian teen skated but added, “I know there was a big commotion out there”), she had to perform her free skate right after Lipnitskaia lit up Saint John’s Harbour Station arena. Wearing a new purple dress for her program
to music from Sleeping Beauty, Gold didn’t pro- duce a perfect performance, falling once on a tri- ple Lutz, hanging on to landings on a couple of other triples and slipping out on the landing of a triple Salchow, but seemed pleased overall with a bronze medal. “I felt actually really good,” Gold said mo- ments after she stepped off the ice. “Mentally, I let my mind slip.” Teammate Christina Gao placed fourth
while Courtney Hicks rallied from ninth place in the short program to finish sixth. Hubbell and Donohue, who teamed up in the spring of 2011, opened up Skate Canada by placing third in the short dance. Tey had one slip at the end of the program when Donohue fell backward, but he made light of the error in the kiss and cry. Hubbell, who suffered a concussion in
Gracie Gold 42 DECEMBER 2013
May, battled through hip pain at Skate Canada. During their morning practice before the free dance, Donohue accidentally elbowed her in the head. She thought they might have to withdraw, but they plowed through and ended up with a bronze medal and a total score of 153.20, a slight uptick from their previous-best 152.98 at Skate America.
Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue
“Our physical therapist will be putting in
some time with us when we get back,” Hubbell said.
Te Canadians took the top two spots in
the dance event with 2010 Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir winning their fifth Skate Canada title and Kaitlyn Weaver and An- drew Poje finishing second. Another Canadian, three-time World cham-
pion Patrick Chan, won the men’s competition, followed by two skaters from Japan: Yuzuru Ha- nyu placed second and Nobunari Oda was third. Tree Americans were in the field, and Josh-
ua Farris, skating in his first senior Grand Prix, placed fifth, followed by three-time U.S. champi- on Jeremy Abbott in sixth. Ross Miner, the 2013 U.S. silver medalist, placed ninth.
“Tis was definitely a good learning experi-
ence for me,” said Farris, the 2013 World Junior champion. “Te biggest takeaway for me from this competition is learning to calm down. I put so much pressure on myself here.” Ondrej Hotarek and Stefania Berton wound up making skating history by becoming the first Italian pairs team to win a Grand Prix title. Tey were able to defeat heavy favorites Meagan Du- hamel and Eric Radford, the World bronze med- alists from Canada, and the high-flying Chinese team of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong. World Junior champions Haven Denney
and Brandon Frazier finished fifth and Lindsay Davis and Rockne Brubaker, who teamed up in February, placed sixth.
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