Figure Skater Gracie Gold Does Not Want to Be Called an “Ice Princess”
Don't call Gracie Gold an ice princess. Though some not-very-friendly media took to calling her this frigid nickname during her 2014 Olympic debut in Sochi, the bronze-medaling winning figure skater is anything but. In reality, Gracie is as humble and warm as they come — it's no wonder Taylor Swift invited her over to bake cookies. As the 21-year-old preps to defend her title at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas City, Mo. this week, Teen Vogue caught up with her to set the record straight. Here, Gracie gushes about an ethereal photoshoot (produced by Red Bull, who signed her in October), and opens up about miscommunications with the media — from the unsolicited moniker to a body-image controversy last fall. The two-time national champion (2014 and 2016) competes on both Thursday and Saturday (here's how to watch).
Brinson+Banks1/11Teen Vogue: These Red Bull photos are magical! Tell us about it.
Gracie Gold: I’m their first-ever figure skater, which is really cool. Sometimes skating gets a bum rap. It's exciting that Red Bull is able to see past the pretty dresses to team up with me. We had so much fun on this shoot. I won't lie. I felt like I impressed them with some stuff I did on the ice. I tell people all that time that figure skating is an in-person sport. When you see it live, it definitely looks way cooler than when you watch it on TV.
Brinson+Banks2/11TV: Is this the same look you'll be wearing at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships?
GG: Yes, for my free program. It's my favorite dress and hair ever. I feel quite magical in it with the full look. Not like a princess, but more like a goddess. I'll be skating to "Daphnis et Chloé" by Ravel. It's a classical ballet, and we're going for that ancient goddess vibe.
Brinson+Banks3/11TV: What's your gripe with the word “princess”?
GG: Leading into the 2014 Games, I got stuck with the name, “ice princess.” I was skating to "Sleeping Beauty" — the ballet version, not the Disney — and I guess I came off as cold. I thought that it was a good thing, at first, because I tend to be naive. I read it as, “Aw, someone thought that I was a magical, ice skating princess.” And then I realized that they meant that my performance was chilled, and that there was no warmth. People couldn't really read me, and so they suggested that I seemed fake.
What made matters worse is that I had well-rehearsed answers for the media leading up the Olympics. Being new and young, I didn't have much experience at big, world-level events. So I would say, “I'm going to go the Olympics to represent my country, and will try to skate my best.” I can see how people were like, “She doesn't seem very real, and she seems kind of cold.”
Later, when someone pointed out what was happening, I opened up and became more natural. Everything comes with practice and maturity. That's why I described my look as “goddess” instead of “princess.” Seemed warmer and more empowering.
Brinson+Banks4/11TV: How are you feeling going into this major competition?
GG: It's been a bit more stressful. It's the year before the Olympics in South Korea, and there's always the unneeded stress that you want to be really good leading into an important year. Last winter, I won [the national title], and now I want a repeat. It's not just about winning again, but doing better. You just have to go back to what you know and try to be as strong as you can, taking it one day at a time.
Brinson+Banks5/11TV: What has your training been like?
GG: Well, it's been really, really intense on the ice. We train about four hours every day, sometimes a little more or a little less, depending on how it's going or my energy level. And it's been jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, program, program, program, and then maybe some spins at the end. I'm trying to maximize every minute I have to do everything I can. Off the ice, I'll spend up to 90 minutes in the gym, working on stability and injury prevention, plus some light strength training a few times a week. This close to nationals, my main goal is to stay healthy and focused.
Brinson+Banks6/11TV: Speaking of healthy, you made some comments to a reporter last fall about being "overweight". You got some flack for that. Can you tell us what happened?
GG: It can almost be impossible to feel good about yourself some days. Other days, when you hit it right, it's like nothing can tear you down.
Last summer, I struggled with not feeling in top shape for an elite athlete. It's always a balance between how you feel in your own skin, what's healthy for your body, and then if you are an athlete, what is good for your craft. I felt like I wasn't at the weight that I needed to be, not just for my skating, but also for myself. It wasn't because someone had said, “Oh, Gracie looks heavy or fat.” I felt like I needed to be more fit, and a better version of myself. But it wasn't for anyone else's standards. I think that everyone else just took it to mean something else.
Brinson+Banks7/11TV: Could it be that you're just very hard on yourself and have very high standards?
GG: It's different when you're comparing yourself to the best in the world, and the best of all time. In almost every Olympics, in every sport, Olympic records are broken, which means that that person has beaten the absolute best in the history up until that point. That is the peak, and then to find yourself later in real life, trying to study for a driving test, you're like, “How many people pass the California driving test, Gracie? And you can't.”
It's just built in us because, for so many years, we've held ourselves to that standard and that's a hard habit to break it. It's difficult to have self-compassion when you're striving for the Olympics. But you really need it. At times, it serves a purpose to be hard on yourself, but other times it doesn't.
Brinson+Banks8/11TV: What's your advice to Teen Vogue readers who may be facing similar issues and concerns?
GG: It's important to listen to your body. You know when you feel your best — when you can perform, compete, dance, and run your best. And so if you can keep the consistency, you'll have the best results. Whether that's bigger or smaller or more ripped or less ripped than some other girl or guy or whoever, it's irrelevant, because everyone's different.
Brinson+Banks9/11__TV: Rumor has it, you're friends with Taylor Swift. Is that true? __
GG: Yes, but I mean, friends is a loose term. We've only hung out a few times — and it's been incredible. We took a yacht ride to Catalina Island with a group of friends, and I baked cookies in her apartment, and then went out to dinner at Hermosa Beach. She's very down to earth, funny, welcoming, easy to talk to, and real. There's nothing fake about her at all, which I found, personally, really nice.
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