Gracie Gold, the 18-year-old American figure skater, is about to take over your television set. The first-time Olympian helped Team USA win bronze in the team competition on Sunday and will be a medal contender in next week’s women’s competition. Here are 13 things you should know about the next U.S. ice princess.
1. She has a twin sister, Carly, who is also a competitive skater.
ad: Twin love. Like peanut butter & @smuckers jelly!! #memorablemoments pic.twitter.com/eB8aixAXcJ
— Gracie Gold (@GraceEGold) January 16, 2014
Gracie says her twin, who “looks nothing” like her, is one reason she’s on top of the figure skating world. “I’ve been competitive since day one,” she told The Denver Post last year. “Even in little things as a child, like having a twin and a direct competitor for who makes better cookies.”
2. She got into skating after attending an 8-year-old’s birthday party at an ice rink.
While most of us were attending grade-school birthday parties, all we got was some ice cream cake and a goodie bag. Gold, on the other hand, got her motivation to start a path toward the Olympics. Gracie and her sister were involved in many sports as youngsters, but only became interested in figure skating after seeing that party. “The spins is really what got me,” she told Jay Leno last month. “I thought, ‘how cool was that?”
3. Her full name is Grace Elizabeth Gold.
Grace Elizabeth Gold –> Grace E. Gold –> Gracie Gold.
4. When she’s done with the Olympics, she’s looking forward to eating a meat-lovers’ pizza.
After wining nationals, Gold was asked what she looked forward to indulging in after the Olympics.
“The list is long, but something I would love to indulge would be a really good meat-lovers’ pizza. It’s gross but it’s so good. I can’t remember the last time I ate pizza.”
5. She’s adept at juggling in front of a national television audience.
Gracie also juggles before competitions to calm her nerves. “It’s a mix of focus and kind of a mental tool to occupy my mind in the hours leading up to the event,” she said in January.
6. Her coach thinks she’s the “complete package.”
Gold’s coach, Frank Carroll, told USA TODAY Sports’ Kelly Whiteside about the qualities of his skater.
“I think she’s incredibly elegant. She has a beautiful face, a beautiful body and she’s long and she jumps high and she floats through the air . … Kind of a complete package.”
Carroll coached American Evan Lysacek to the figure skating gold in 2010. (Be sure to read Whiteside’s piece for an in-depth look at Gracie Gold.)
7. She knows how awesome her last name is.
“It’s good, but in a sense it could haunt me forever,” she told The Denver Post. “It will follow me.”
8. Like many teenage girls, she likes The Hunger Games and Mean Girls.
Gold lists those are her favorite book and movie, respectively, on her official website.
9. Like many septuagenarians, she likes The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
The quote on her personal website is one from the popular film about retirees: “Everything will be all right in the end, if it’s not alright, it’s not the end.”
10. She refuses to eat chocolates with her face on it.
Gold says fans in Japan throw the best gifts onto the ice. Once, she received a box of chocolates with her face on them. Leno wanted to know if she ate them.
“I haven’t,” she said. “How can you eat them?” That’s a reasonable stance.
11. Grace has drawn comparisons to another Grace, the late actress and former Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly.
It’s not just the name. Dan Patrick was the latest to make the comparison, doing so after Gold’s free skate was shown on NBCSN on Sunday.
12. She’s also been compared to Gabby Douglas
Douglas won the all-around gold in her Olympic debut in London after entering the competition as an underdog. Could Gold do the same?
Gracie Gold was solid. Really, really enjoyed that. She’s peaking perfectly. Reminds me of how @gabrielledoug peaked at the right time.
— Maggie Hendricks (@maggiehendricks) February 9, 2014
In the best coincidence of all, Douglas’s autobiography is entitled Grace, Gold and Glory.
13. If this picture gets around, she’s about to be meme’d like McKayla Maroney.
Gracie is not impressed.