The gushing has come from every quarter about Gracie Gold, from her poise to her presence to her potential, now being tapped and fulfilled with every routine on the ice.
But it was figure-skating legend Scott Hamilton who paid her the biggest praise, calling her exactly what the sport needs heading into the Sochi Olympics.
“This year, Gracie’s complete,” Hamilton, a 1984 gold medalist-turned NBC analyst, said during the broadcast of Gold’s U.S. Championship win last month.
After the U.S. women’s epic fail in Vancouver in 2010 — when they were shut out from the medal stand for the first time since 1964 — an 18-year-old is their best hope.
“When you watch her, there’s a maturity and a presence. This is what the sport really needs, a young, fresh skater who comes on the scene,” Hamilton said. “She’s such a refreshing change from what we’ve seen over the last few years. There are so many stories and great personalities, but when you see her, it’s just: Wow.”
Wow succinctly sums up Gold’s meteoric rise under coach Frank Carroll. Her record composite 211.69 score at the U.S. Championships in Boston stamped her as an Olympic medal threat against defending champ Yuna Kim of South Korea and reigning silver medalist Mao Asada of Japan. Perhaps even, dare we say, gold.
“I think I definitely have a shot at being in the top,’’ Gold told the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t want to say a number or anything. It’s definitely going to be kind of [like] what I did at nationals but at the Olympics, so a little bigger, a little bolder, a little better.’’
Gold hasn’t had any problems going after bigger, bolder or better, even from a young age.
“Gracie understands where she is in this kind of position,’’ her father, Carl, an anesthesiologist, told The Post. “It is heady. But Gracie has taken her licks, put her time in and earned her stripes. There’s been nothing easy about this path. She’s been up, she’s been down. She’s no overnight sensation.
“She’s worked real hard to get here, so she has a real appreciation for this place. She knows any moment that can change, so she’s grateful for it and the kind words. But she knows it can be short. She’s cautious, vigilant and she takes her time and is very thoughtful. While it’s tempting to get caught up in it, she’s surrounded by good people that keep her grounded.’’
That work started at the age of 8, when parents, Carl and Denise, signed up Gracie and her sister Carly — who also competes in senior-level events — with separate coaches. After her high school freshman year, she’d advanced to the point she left the family home in Springfield, Ill., to train full-time in Chicago, Denise and Carly living with her in a rented home near the rink.
“It’s honestly been a family effort, most intense during the past couple years when we went to home schooling,’’ Carl Gold said. “It’s been a way of life mostly for my wife, Denise. She handles the bulk of it by arranging scheduling, traveling, keeping two big-time skaters organized. She has the biggest burden. I work in a hospital; and we kid I deal with life and death and I’ve got the easy job.
“I’m the guy shoveling the coal into the engine. [Denise] is the engine that drives the train and keeps it on the tracks. … There was a lot of wailing and gnashing our teeth [about how hard to push]. But she and her sister had this passion. We never had to fight them to get them on the ice; the fight was to get them off. They put the work in; they’re motivated kids.’’
After Gold’s parents went all-in to let her train full-time, they doubled down when Gracie, Carly and Denise moved to California so she could start training with Carroll. After so-so reviews of her previous short program, she boldly switched to a more mature nuanced routine.
The result was the personal-best score of 72.12 in Boston, enough to spur her overall win over runner-up Polina Edmunds, third-place Mirai Nagasu and rival Ashley Wagner, who fell twice but still got the third Olympic berth over Nagasu for her body of work. To switch costumes, music, routine, basically everything so late was a nervy risk, but Gold is well-versed in making hard choices.
“It’s been hard,’’ Carl Gold said. “It was not a difficult decision to make, but it’s been a difficult family situation to hang in with.’’
It’s easy to forget Gracie is still a kid, going to her junior prom just last year. She plays tennis with her mother, listens to Taylor Swift on her iPod, loves a good manicure and admits a weakness for sushi, soy Americano coffee and the occasional peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.
She juggles before competitions to relax, and will likely be doing that when team figure skating makes its debut at the Olympics on Thursday, the day before the opening ceremony.
“It’s just kind of surreal in a sense,’’ Gold said. “I’m just kind of on for the ride.’’
The U.S. will be one of 10 countries fielding an entry in each discipline of the team competition: men, women, pairs and ice dance. And Wagner will be watching Gold, putting her in the odd position of cheering for her rival.
“I’ll potentially be watching Gracie, and anywhere else we’re competition, but this time around we’re cheering for the same thing,” said Wagner. “It’s definitely weird, because skating is an individual sport. But we’re all getting used to it, and it’s really great for us.’’