KANSAS CITY — The worst season of Gracie Gold‘s career appears to be over. Are changes ahead? Gold can’t say for sure.
Gold finished sixth at the U.S. Championships on Saturday, her first time outside the top two in five nationals appearances. She is likely to be left off the world championships team for the first time when it is announced Sunday.
Gold, who was fifth after the short program Thursday, left revolutions out of multiple jumps in her free skate, though she did not fall in either program.
“Obviously, I had a very terrible long program,” Gold, fairly composed, said minutes afterward. “It’s just something about this year. I’ve been in a funk. … Even when my switch is on, so to speak, I’m just not having the confidence and the clarity.”
NBC Olympics analysts Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir both called it disastrous. What should she do to regroup?
“You burn down the house, and you build a new one,” Weir said on the NBC broadcast.
The defending U.S. champion Gold has struggled since dropping from first after the 2016 World Championships short program to finish fourth. She was also fourth at the 2014 Olympics and 2015 Worlds.
She made a desperate move to seek out her old coach, Alex Ouriashev, after Christmas to work on her jumps, but it wasn’t enough. She wouldn’t say if she’ll change training locations before the Olympic season.
“I don’t have any plans of that nature yet,” Gold said. “You guys will be the first to know.”
Gold said after her short program that she deserved a place on the worlds team, which is chosen based not just on nationals but also results since the start of 2016. Gold backed off that after her free skate.
“I don’t really want to say too much, just because I know that the committee reads what we all say,” Gold said. “I just know that, given the opportunity, I wouldn’t let them down, and I think that I would be a very wise pick for the world team.
“Even though today’s skating is subpar, there’s not a doubt in my mind that this has been a rough season, but that I’m still pretty much one of the best skaters in the United States and in the world. Sometimes we just have bad times.”
Gold nearly sat out the fall Grand Prix season after detaching from the sport in the summer. She detailed mental and physical struggles — “a worlds depression” — as she posted her worst international results in four years the last three months.
“She’s gone through deep, deep, deep depression, and everybody’s tried to help her with it,” her coach, Frank Carroll, said after Saturday’s skate.
The U.S. Championships conclude Sunday with the men’s free skate (4 p.m. ET, NBC, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app).
Check out NBCsports.com/USFIGS for all-access coverage all weekend.
VIDEO: Tara Lipinski reflects on winning 1997 U.S. title at age 14
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