This and That: 2018 Rostelecom Cup (Yuzuru Hanyu, Gracie Gold, Alina Zagitova, Mikhail Kolyada, 임은수) 

1995 World Pro/Landover: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HqGjSdqzxzg.html

TIMESTAMPS: 0:42 - Jonathan's interesting blanket situation 2:24 - American ladies' song choices 3:15 - Gracie Gold

Thank you for having the balls to discuss the Gracie Gold situation. It needed to be discussed. Your thoughts on the subjects mirror my own. As a nurse, I was horrified and saddened to watch what was happening as Gracie took to the ice, during, and after. I wish her the best, yet she needs the right people around her. And she needs time to work on herself. We'll still be here for her when, if, she comes back, yet, it needs to be done in the proper manner.

Another Tarasova gem live on air: Those who can't do singles (can't jump) - do pairs, those who can't do pairs (can't jump at all) - do ice dance. Those who can't even do ice dance - become judges.

As much as I hate russian social media I have to admit there was not a single negative comment about Gracie. Keeping fighting even when you are down always considered to be a big thing in Russia. I saw people everywhere wishing her to overcome whatever she is facing.

YES - that 3A transition OMG - we have watched that around 100 times. My daughter has tried replicating it (1A) on the kitchen floor. That is just the most insane and difficult and beautiful transition into a jump. Bar none. Shut the door. Close the internet. Hanyu wins.

Tarasova btw LOVED Eunsoo. She talked about how she skates in a beautiful feminine way, and does just enough, never too much. And the other guys were trying to bring out Sotnikova/Kim battle, Tarasova ignored them and kept raving on Eunsoo. Really great recap around difficult subjects too!

"She could never skate again in her life and have succeeded" - YES! So much truth in that statement about Gracie. Thank you!

The USFS officers who signed off allowing Gracie to compete at The Cup should be fired for gross negligence. That was predictable and cruel.

Ravi Walia might be a good coaching choice for Gracie. He really helped motivate Kaetlyn and helped rebuild her confidence when she returned to competing after her leg injury.

I really appreciate the way you talk about Gracie... I attempted suicide this past year and found myself in inpatient on two separate occasions, which was accompanied by a 20 lb weight gain and a possibility of not graduating. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing, supportive people and put on the right medication. A couple weeks ago, I went to my first competition in a year and tried to do a senior long and completely bombed - I barely tried any jumps and got dead last. Of course I was angry and frustrated and felt extremely stupid for even trying, but my mom put it in perspective for me - “You’ve gone through an extremely traumatic year and only started skating again two months ago. Seven months ago you were fighting your own mind to stay alive.” I see this same thing in Gracie. I understand she wants to go to nationals, but she just needs to remember what she has gone through. Train another year. Do some shows and small local competitions. Maybe a challenge skate. Then take another look at whether or not a Grand Prix assignment is a good idea.

Your commentary on Gracie is absolutely spot on. You guys are the first ones who actually seem to care about her in a way that is not contingent on her getting back, acting happy and skating well at this moment in time. The internet is just full of schadenfreude and it’s just heartbreaking to see the fact that she isn’t surrounded by a supportive environment now.

Still watching the entire show, but nearing end of Gracie talk and already know this is the best show ever! You combined realness, compassion and truth so organically and beautifully. Kudos to you both! Bravo!

You guys DO have influence. Even non-fans on GoldenSkate refer to your vids. You two are filling a gap that skating fans crave! We are behind you and support you guys!

I really appreciate all the work you guys do for this sport's fans! I also hope Alina learns that it's okay for her technique to grow as she does. She has so much talent.

Also: Alina and posture, the problem is more about the way the program is constructed, which requires that she race to keep up with the music. Notice how much better her posture is in the exhibition program.

So - this was probably the craziest and the best This and That ever :) Totally agree with you about Gracie, kudos for managing to avoid all the rough edges during that conversation. Can only add that it wasn't just traumatic for her, but for the audience as well. All I wanted to do after that skate was give her a hug and go home to think about life rather than watch other girls skate. As if it's normal to let someone go through that in front of thousands of people. Felt quite depressed, hoped she would withdraw from the free. I must tell you - in person that free dance from Stepanova and Bukin is absolutely fantastic. They don't let you look away for a second, I was surprised that I loved it more than their short here, never would have expected it. And sadly, Hubbell and Donohue don't do it for me with their Romeo and Juliet program this year, so despite loving them for years I would put them lower at the final if all stays the same. And I love Ponomarenko, I hope he will be here for years to come, the free dance was such a contrast to Bukin, just beautiful! Sidenote: we had an insane amount of skaters' children here: Annabelle, Dmitriev, Ponomarenko, Bukin and of course baby Plushenko :) Eunsoo was fantastic in person and I felt properly offended by the Phantom program from Alina. When she did that Ina Bauer for 1 second I wanted to get up and leave. She has all the talent and work ethic to be great, yet she can't create a single "moment" in two programs. And the sound of glass, c'mon! Oh and Tarasova is so into Polina, to not get depressed I was watching her during the performances more, and she was giving it all. Thanks again, gonna go watch the Landover :) P.S. You should invite Gordeeva as a judge/competitor/guest to your fantasy Landover!

Kolyada and young Kostner are similar: Beautiful jumps, clean technique, has potential to become great artist ..... but inconsistent.

I completely ignored my homework to watch this video. I appreciated the comments on Gracie and the Russian Ice Dance. I really like them as well! Unfortunately though, from what I've read, Yuzuru's ankle injury sounds fairly bad since it aggravated his previous injuries from last year. Personally, I don't feel Shoma and Nathan have more transitions than him but I understand he watered down his program because he was in pain. So I guess we just wait and see what happens. All the best and can't wait for the Kurt Browning interview!

Tarasova said it would have been really dangerous for Gracie to skate the free. She could have seriously injured herself.She also said that she couldn't finish the long even without jumps. I'll reserve the other stuff she said...

I remember a few episodes ago, when ya'll said something along the lines of Gracie not being ready and it just not being a good idea to put her out there like this. I had no idea what ya'll were talking about back then, but like you were soo right.

Dave: “it’s Torvill and Dean, so they win....” Jonathan: “we have to keep making amends for Lillehammer..” TRUER WORDS HAVE NEVER BEEN SPOKEN!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Someone finally summarised how I feel about the whole Gracie situation. Great video as always.

Cain and LeDuc finishing 17 points behind the Austrians without any fall deductions was pretty rough. And the underrotations and points lost on lifts and the twist are regular occurrences. They have made marginal improvements on the elements, but you’re right, there’s a ceiling. Tarasova and Morozov were good but a little overscored. Their throw triple flip is impressive but still looks new. I hope Gracie can get good people around her to give her advice and support, and I don’t just mean her sister talking about how brave she was for competing in Russia. Gracie is brave and admirable for returning to skating, but from there she needs good guidance. It’s one thing if she truly felt mentally ready to enter competition again, but the fact that she said she wasn’t mentally ready to even do a LP shows where she really is at right now.

I love that you had the balls to talk Gracie. Soo I think sleeping can wait and I'll make myself good tea and watch the recap today.

The gigantic difference in sophistication between Kihira's program and skating and those of Zagitova...makes me question anyone's judgement who would give Z more PCS. The former a first time senior and the latter an Olympic champion..

You covered the Gracie situation really appropriately and respectfully. I agree with Dave that it's nice to see Eunsoo's LP be so different from her SP, even if the SP fits her more. And it's true that Cain/LeDuc have a clear ceiling. I'm surprised Nina Mozer lets them list her as a coach when they see her once or twice a year. They haven't been scoring well in the LP even without counting falls, and while they can improve on those scores a bit, they don't have the element quality to generate big numbers.

Yay! Thanks, guys, so much to talk about this week, couldn’t wait. Gonna get the popcorn and enjoy!

I was absolutely living for the lighting in this episode. Both of you guys did amazing. The levels and brightness just made it feel so warm and professional!

Totally agree with the discussion on Gold. I don't like that people were just like "oh, it's good and brave she's going out there". Uh, no. she clearly didn't feel ready and it's irresponsible of her team to support whosever decision it was for her to just dive right into a high level competition after an extended time off. That's not being supportive. I hope she can keep making progress and ease back into competing at her proper pace.

You two were amazingly supportive while still being realists about GG. I think that people who have drive to succeed often believe that they can fold time and arrive. Never happens, because the TIME for training is non-negotiable, in most sports and arts. I understand that people were not trying to harm her by pointing out how much she had overcome, but they instilled unreasonable expectations. Thanks for your kindness and your attempts to bring gentle realism into this situation. I learned from you--again. 👏

I totally agree Mikhail should go to Raf. He seemed to really enjoy himself and improve while he was there, and we know Raf likes him because Mikhail specifically said in an interview that Raf personally approached him at the Olympics and said he'd like to work with him over the summer. I'm just worried Mikhail won't want to leave Valentina because his English is very limited and he'll have to leave his home, family, and childhood coach. Edit: Just read an interview from a few days ago where Raf said he really liked Mikhail and thinks he’s a great skater. He also called out Russian journalists for all the shit they give him when he messes up and said he appreciates that he still fights. That basically solidifies my opinion that he should go to Raf lol

I agree with you guys on Tano jumps. Some girls can do beautiful tano 2Lo or 2T with their arms straight and elegant in the air, for example Kaori and Yuna's 2lo. But bended arm over head is far away from elegance. If they want to show off their jumping ability, I would much prefer a well delayed 3lz.

I agree with the contrast to Katarina Witt. I was thinking about that this week. She returned with a different body, not having the difficulty level but you knew she was okay with it. That no matter what happened she was secure in what she was capable of and what she was trying to do. This thing with Gracie was not that.

I think Eteri is looking for whatever gives the most points, she's the overall coach in the team, neither the jump specialist nor the choreographer/artist. Daniil, on the other hand, I believe truly loves his programs and thinks they're amazing. You can tell in the way he speaks about them. He's a young choreographer, so I think he's just going through phases until he finds his identity. This year, he's experimenting with crazy cuts and voiceovers. It took years for someone like Wilson or even Bourne to get where they are. To give some perspective, I believe this is only Daniil's 3rd full season of doing choreography.

kudos for spelling Eunsoo's name in Korean! Love the timeliness of these videos. Makes the Grand Prix more interesting. Thanks for your comments on Gracie. Give her time. Give her real funding. Give her a real chance to recover her form and confidence.

I'm really grateful for everything you guys do for this sport. A big thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I don't know if Gracie would listen to people around her because when people have mental illnesses, it is nearly impossible to make them listen or guide them one way or to the other (even if the way is brighter and happier). I blame the team and Federation like you do, but ultimately, you can't really stop an adult or/and force her to do something. You can't force a patient to open their mouth to eat food. You can't tell an adult patient to be happy, healthy and competitive. If she has the power and control over her opportunities, it may be impossible for her family and her team to stop her. I am not saying it is Graice's fault: it's her illnesses. I would suggest her to quit skating not because she's not competitive, but my sister got significantly better when she met different people in different environment. She would never think about going back to where she was. Meeting new people from different environment is the best way to find what you really love. She never seem to have that opportunity in her life.

To put a positive spin on Gracie, she can write a book about her experience and maybe a film about herself in the future. It won't be a comeback story but one about overcoming addiction, dependence, eating disorders, family strife and struggling to survive in an era when social media has shaped the self image of young women. Winning gold isn't the end all in figure skating. She will move onto bigger and better things.

Well said and done I feel for Gracie Gold - so much pressure, expectation, things we don't even know nor can comprehend. I really hope she finds out what she wants first and does it really include competitive skating. to be clear it is not that I think she cannot do it but does she want it. Anyone with common sense had to wonder was competing so early a good thing. Gold has been jumping all over the place in a short period of time in respect to skating with desperation and falling apart at several comeptitions and then only doing doubles in exhibitions to taking time off, to getting help and then saying she is ready to coach and then come back. So much, so quickly but it takes time. It i sl ike coming back from an injury to early you reinjure yourslef to the point sometimes it is too bad or much worse. It was so alarming to watch her self implode on ice. This is not about her weight. it is about a human being, flesh, vulnerable. her competing in Russia did nothing to help her and left a horrible picture in our minds and hearts. I really hope she works on herself; forget nationals - that is unrealistic. Remember before this horrible skate 9not so much bad skating but just not ready she was falling apart at her competitions - again not just results but a s a person. It is like a person thrown in water and flailing arms trying not to drown but making things worse. Get well Gracie. Take time for yourself and to find yourself.

You guys are on fire here! Your recap has been more entertaining than the Rostelecom Cup itself!

Thank you guys for talking about Gracie gold. All the other commentators wouldn’t touch it and it’s a hard subject but we need to discuss it and frankly I wish her the best but she wasn’t ready to swim with these sharks and I think it was a bad idea to go here anyway but I wish her health and happiness! Her ice skating career is such a short part of her long life ! I wish her success in all aspects of life

Oh my God “the dream“! Yes! That’s exactly what I thought when Gracie was skating. The dream where you don’t know the words or you’re totally unprepared, or you don’t know the song. We’ve all had that dream. But I never thought about it like that until you brought it up. Great analogy.

Eteri cares about the programs and of course she likes them, especially Karmen, not so sure about Opera. Don’t know why people think she’s cold as Ice and she doesn’t care, there not so many interviews with her about in all of them she’s very emotional about her job and girls. Thank you for the views, always waiting for a new arrival!

As a fellow Md girl, I used to live 15 min away from the ghetto Landover World Pro and went to a few competitions. I do remember the Czech Pair skaters running into the lights. And I got a cheek kiss kiss from the Finnish ice dancer. I don’t recall the event going 8hrs long. Perhaps 6 or 7 pm ending around 11ish. But the longer the better a treat for me. Where are those days??? I miss the world pros. That’s why Yuna, Tara, Michelle don’t skate any more triples. No purpose.

Wonderful video Jonathan and Dave! Thank you! I watched Landover! OMG! It was everything you said it would be and more! It was absolutely hilarious!!! Thank you!

as a big fan of alina, her coaching situation honestly stresses me out. she appears to be an extremely hard worker and such a determined girl, but i’m scared that her coaches aren’t concerned about fixing the issues in her skating that need to be fixed, and give her programs and choreo that are underwhelming. i think that she is already amazing, but with the right coach, she could be so much more!

I remember Midori Ito skating with a rose which was over 6 minutes long at the World Pro landing a triple axel in the process. I love those competitions, it was so intense back in the day.

Mikhail makes me soooo sad all the time with his inconsistency… Cause I think the same, it's not Nathan, and definitely not Shoma, that has the biggest potential of threatening Yuzu, it's Mikhail. He has beautiful, BEAUTIFUL lines, great proportions and his jumps are just royal. Jason might be the best on skating skills, Yuzu is the most well-rounded but I think Mikhail is my favourite jumper when he's on.

I applaud y'all on the way you talked about the Gracie situation. I agree completely!

I applaud both of you for discussing Gracie and I think you handled it in a tasteful manner. When thinking about the right way to come back, I can’t help but think of Andre Agassi when he was in a dark place and saw his world ranking plummet to somewhere in the 1,000’s. What did he do to comeback? Played a lot of challenger events (and not Grand Slams), hired a tough personal trainer and he accepted the fact it was going to take time to come back to his old form. The result: he eventually won the French Open. It’s this kind of approach that Gracie and her team should take when it comes to her training. It’s okay if it takes time to get there just make wise decisions and be realistic with your choices. I’m pulling for her and I really do hope that whatever she chooses to do, she’s satisfied with that choice.

Yes!!!!! Finally, it’s as long as it should be!

I literally just clicked the video and saw Jonathan, and I was like ''ohhh my goo.. DADDY!'' ahaha. I was waiting for this recap all week.

And here I thought I was fancy with my half-price Antrhopologie pillows from the pre-spring sale! Love you both!!

First! 😘😘😘❤️🇵🇹 love you guys! Jonathan looks so cozy!!!😍

At Home with Jonathan: Actually one of my favorite shows you’ve done so far. Right now I’m so upset with how the Gracie Situation was handled. We totally need Landover back. I remember crying in 93 and 95 when didn’t win.

I keep thinking back to that recent interview that Gracie gave, when she is talking about giving sass to usfs officials at champs camp last year, that her internal talk was “Can’t you see that I’m crying out for help? We [paraphrasing] have a red alert situation here.” The fact that it took a fellow skater to help initiate some kind of intervention...because it wasn’t her team, the usfs, the agent...is so telling.

All the skaters goes through this rollercoaster of emotions before and during the competitions... it’s the same for us 😓 Not easy mentally to do great during practices and to arrive in front of the judges and start to shake and destroy the work we built those last months 😕😕😕

I appreciate that you guys addressed mental issues in a realistic perspective without creating an expectation for Gracie Gold to have to achieve something.

You’re right about this Gracie thing putting skating in perspective. It just Skating, your health and happiness is so important and she has nothing to prove.

I like the natural background Jonathan!

Some of Gracie's fans are SO obsessive, but think they are helping her. I've even commented that they need to dial it back, because they're putting pressure on her, not supporting her. But there response is always they're just showing their love for her. (*sigh*)

also guys i really love your show thank you so much for everything you share and teach us. love 100

Thank you guys!! Alaways nice listening to you!) And thank you for bringing up such an important issue - mental health. Never knew one of you works with this. By the way, that "ZDOROVO!" and "BRAVO" sounded perfectly, almost accent free, as if you actually studied the language, and that's coming from a russian!

I loved this! I appreciated the way in which you both discussed Gracie's challenges. I agree with you. It was difficult to watch. I am a Gracie fan, as you are, too. We all just want the very best for her & sometimes we need folks around us that will save us from ourselves & our own choices. It's really no different than substance abuse, eating disorders so I am surprised someone from her camp did not advocate for her best interests. It makes me sad.

1:04:38 afaik Polina went to CSKA and not Eteri got rid of her (she said there's too much competition there while with Buyanova they are all more relaxed). The issues she is facing now i bet 80% of them are because of the new team: you can tell with things like her spins (which ALL used to be level 4 with Eteri) how they are just not training enough the programs, not training enough the elements both spins and jumps and that's where the lack of confidence comes. With Eteri, she would have been the same skater she was last season, maybe with more injuries.

I really love this episode so much (esp the landover babble). Thanks for the vid!

Omg if the opportunity ever arises I think you would be the best interviewer for Ekaterina gordeeva . I'd love to hear that one.

40:38 Eteri cried during the Alina's short program . Alina dedicated her program to her mother . but it's great that you have something good to say about Zagitova ! Finally!

So right about dear Sasha Plushenko, who is 5... Just to see his facial expressions is to see Zhenya again as a child. Such a happy energetic little man--but so INTENSE. It is fun that he has the 7-year-old skating buddy--not to mention skating with the supernatural Ilina Askarova, who is also 5. In the coming Nutcracker and Swan Lake, Sasha and Ilina will skate with Plushenko, Lipnitskaya, and Sotnikova, among others. They are fortunate in being surrounded by such fine skaters, not to mention Plushenko's lovely older students like Tarakanova. Watching the Instagrams for Angels of Plushenko, as well as Anais's beautiful videos posted here, I have seen many delightful and tender moments of Sasha's training. I am fairly certain we will be seeing these in documentaries in the future. And his serious concern for Yuzu's injury at the Rostelecom was so very touching...

Here are my comments: - I like Johnathan's background and as a person who lives on a home built on throw blankets, was equally horrified at the IKEA comment. - We cannot whitewash mental illness and mental health at this point. We cannot, and to hear people mentioning nationals was, absurd to me. - I like Sofia in the same way I like Kaori, there's a slight joyful disposition that I appreciate. -While I was watching Stepanova/Bukin I was almost mourning for how much I loved the energy of Hubbell/Donohue last year. I want, a Cat Power program for them.

I’m a huge TSL fan and a MILITANT Gracie Gold fan. I appreciate this episode so much. I think the comeback is a good idea and I agree that she can do it with a much more serious time commitment. The radio silence, the GP assignment, the planned layout.. they had a lot of people (maybe themselves) thinking that she was gonna come back and hold it together. Thanks for the DL on Vincent... situations are what they are, but he is no Frank.

I also thought at first that Bukin had a love bite, but that was too deep and too fresh! Also wondering about Tarasova/Morosov chemistry? He is so expressionless and businesslike on the ice, but he just lights up when he's off ice and relaxed and smiles. I wish he could bring that personality to the routines. And poor Kolyada. After the short, I just wanted to give him a hug and a drink (except that would be creepy, coming from me). I could write a dissertation on the the body language in the kiss and cry after Gracie's program; so unbelievably uncomfortable and strange. Terrific show guys; you're the best!

If you are going to say “oh... i can’t say that any more” ... it’s better to just go ahead and own it and say that you think she should loose weight rather than be shady about it and say it in a backhanded way bc you are still saying it anyways but now not owning it which is angering. You guys keep having to comment on this issue which bothers me. ANYWAYS.... The rest of the comments I completely agree! She wasn’t ready at all but also i felt her spark was gone in that program... she skated w/o soul. I hope she figures herself out.

Personal opinion doesn't remove political motivation. What exactly were you expecting Lorrie to say... "Hanyu is a wonderful skater but I need Nathan (not to mention Zhou) to do better"? Statistics don't lie

Thank you for your discussion about Gracie. I’ve felt a heaviness all weekend over her, but I’m relieved to have words to put to the feelings. She simply wasn’t ready and I wish someone had helped her to feel confident withdrawing. I literally checked every day leading up to the Rostelecom Cup to see if she had. :(

I think the pressure of putting out more challenging jumps and programs Hanyu has onto himself makes the repetative ankle injuries. Hope Hanyu can handle well among challenges from more and more young skaters chasing him, the expectation from public for a perfect performance, and his own capability.

Why the hating on Angela Nikodinov? I always adored her lyrical style. Anybody else?

Spot on about Gracie and her situation. I went to Landover through 94 - always a treat, and yes it was a really long day!

Rest, ice, compression, elevation: RICE

people can talk about Gracie and her sp at Rosetelecom forever, there will be those who want the best for her, those who want to bring her down, those who will make comparisons with the past, etc. however, there could be so many different reasons why she did this that we can not even imagine. i think her best skating was this one her sp in Russia because she skated and i hope she did it to have fun, to test herself and have an experience that is only bringing her to the next level. it does matter that she went and did her thing. it was an experience and i hope for the best, and for me it was a pleasure to see her skate again and laugh at the kiss and cry. i hope she had a good time. i missed her

Yes, I was waiting for this :-)

Also, it would be amazing if you guys could interview/recap with Vasiliev again. Still one of my all time favorites from TSL.

@theSkatingLesson and about Danny G. reaction on Alina's flip, he is actually the one who really shows his emotions, Eteri and Serghei are the still and Danny is the soul. He was the comentator of the exhibition programs on the national RUSSIAN TV. During Alina's performance he was saying that Alina is his muse...I didn’t see Daniel treat anybody so tiuching, these words about the muse and about the fact that she understands him and embodies all his wishes ... Powerfull

What's your thoughts on Eunsoo Lim PCS scores? Did they seem a touch low?

Thank you for keeping it real on Gracie. I found it shocking that no one else would point these things out. Great recap. ♥️

I need a tour of Jon's room where he's sitting. Looks sooo lovely.

If Brian Orser can make a comeback in 2000 when he was 39 and land a Triple Axel in competition, Gracie Gold can comeback too. This is only a wake up call. I'm rooting for you Gracie

Hey loved the discussion as usual - the Gracie gold part I think in particular was very insightful. I did notice Dave, that you seemed to cut Jonathan off a little bit at times - maybe just a note for future videos

My Rostelcom Cup moment was Daniil's reaction when Alina missed her 3F in the FS.

No, it wasn't "Figaro," but Sasha did skate "Donna e mobile" in Italy with his beloved Papa. It was adorable, but my favorite Sasha story recently was watching him working on the axel as a gift for Zhenya's birthday. They were SO excited over his success: it was delightful. Zhenya is very tender and encouraging with his small students: add in an enthusiastic staff of diverse coaches in many disciplines--and it's no wonder the children have become exceptional. What a future lies ahead there...

I wish I could tell Gracie that she doesn't need to prove us anything, she doesn't have to save american ladies' figure skating, nor does she have to come back to figure skating to prove or fulfill her potential or talent. She needs to do exactly what she wants, feels and is good for her. All this three combined, not separated. No pressure. But I have a feeling that Gracie is a perfectionist and will not settle for half-measurements. And my heart breaks for her. Take care of yourself, Gracie, give yourself time and patience. You are great no matter what.

Utterly brilliant. Psychologically astute. Funny as hell. And Landover. Thank you.

It just got even better with the Watchtower reference!

The inflation for Stepanova and Bukin went beyond the Free. They had SERIOUS issues on their patterns in both sections, to the point where they got the '

You guys are right on the money about Gold. She was clearly not trained and not prepared mentally to get the job done. This was not a failure for Gracie .... It was a failure for her coach and US Figure Skating. How could they allow this athlete to do this and leave her alone. In Russia, they do test skates. Why do we not do test skates in USA. She should have never been allowed to do this competition. Clearly she has talent! Help her to demonstrate it again. America needs Gracie Gold again, but in top form. Come on Gracie ... you got this and you can do this!

Brava! You guys managed the Gracie convo really well. You also opened my eyes because I was one of those people saying “She’s so brave!”... I am also recovering from disordered eating and it was inspiring to see someone dealing with the same issues put herself out there like that. But now I actually agree with you completely - re: her team. When Gracie started popping jumps, even in shows, it seemed to me she would get self-conscious, and if one’s self-conscious at a show, as you sorta said, it doesn’t make sense to do a competition in front of Tarasova and the rest of the world. In the few recent photos of her she’s always wearing big, baggy clothes... I can relate ‘cause I’m *exactly* the same way right now. The costume was incredibly strange... Looked like one of those Tonya dresses with the beige panels. I agree with you guys that it being this wholly negative experience is setting herself up for, basically - and I’m paraphrasing here, regarding your words - a bit of PTSD surrounding competition in general. ‘Twas a bad, bad, bad idea. What’s the “sweat lodge” you mentioned? Can you expand on that? Any idea why she got such low-positive/negative GOEs on her spins? They looked fast and centered to my eye.

Guys thank you so much. It seems like a lot of russian journalists and fans just prefer to make a scandal and hype out of every scating event. Espesially when it comes to our ladies... I just prefer not to read any posts and comments about Zag-Med anymore, and your videos are just like presents) Thanks for mix of objectivity and fun, I love you. P.S. Just imagine this said with russian accent)

i LOVE Gracie, but I have to say you guys were SPOT ON about her. Compared to you two, I don't know much about it, I just love to watch it, but I KNEW this was going to happen. My first comp that I ever went to was S.A. 2014. I was astonished at her practices, and the way she treated her fans like they are family. It seems to be politically correct to say, "You are so brave," "Go for it!" etc. That was not what she needed to hear. She needed to hear that she was not ready! Also with AA and NA, (drugs and alcohol with me) everybody in the media acts like if one goes into treatment, everything will be o.k. NOT. Those give you a chance at surviving this life, but only if you learn to manage it. :-(

Well, Paginini's program is the first La La Land edit I've liked. I've been so disappointed in Ashley's, etc. I loved this. They thought about the music, not just cramming in as many songs as they can.