Excitement for U.S. Figure Skating Championships ramps up in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – It’s a big week in Columbus, with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships being held at Nationwide Arena.

Columbus is filled with current and former figure skaters. For the youth who are just getting into the sport, this week has been a great inspiration for them.

What Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir have to say about figure skating in Columbus

Competitive figure skater and 2014 Olympic Bronze Medalist, Gracie Gold was in Columbus on Friday to talk about her book and also give advice to the future generation of skaters.

The book opens up about her struggles with mental health and the constant pressure to perform well at all competitions During the event, Gold talks about a time where she placed second for senior Nationals, which to her, was a huge accomplishment. However, all the headlines read, “Gracie Misses Gold.”

“I just felt pressure kind of all the time, 24 hours a day, on top of what I already put on myself to be great,” said Gold.

We spoke to two former figure skaters, they told NBC4 that they appreciate what Gold is doing for the ice skating community.

“For her to like to overcome that and battle it and hear about it and then her actually writing a book about it, I think it’s going to really help the future generation,” said Mary Siegel, a former figure skater.

Elyse Keeler, another former figure skater said, “I’ve had my own mental health struggles. So, you know, to hear it, it’s got to beat the stigma. And she’s doing that in the skating world.”

Both Keeler and Siegel think it’s great that the U.S. Championships are being held here in Columbus. They traveled from Cincinnati, so they’re looking forward to seeing former teammates and coaches.

One girl we spoke to remembers watching the Sochi Olympics back in 2014. It’s where Gold competed and won the bronze. That Olympics is actually what got Sofia Bezkorovainaya into skating.

Bezkorovainaya is here from Virginia. She competed in the junior event that was held at Nationwide Arena earlier this week. She’s thirteen years old and has been skating for ten years. She practices almost every single day for hours at a time, but she says it’s what she loves to do.

Bezkorovainaya, like many others, got the chance to meet Gold today. She says it was great meeting Gold and her plans one day are to, “hopefully also make it to the Olympics like Gracie and just to represent team USA for competitions.”

She’ll be here for the remainder of the weekend, and she’s looking forward to seeing Ilia Malinin do a quad axel.

Another girl we spoke to is Zoey McPherson. Zoey and her younger sister, Ella, are also figure skaters that traveled here from Oklahoma.

Interestingly enough, one of Zoey’s coaches now was actually one of Gold’s old coaches. She says it’s so cool having that connection to an Olympian.

After Golds question and answer period, she did a meet and greet with her fans that attended the event. Her book isn’t out yet but a few fans got to go home with a copy.

During the meet in greet, fans had Gold sign anything from clothing to just a picture. But, Zoey and Ella brought a pair of their old skates for Gold to sign.

NBC4 asked them both why they like skating, and here’s what they said:

“I like traveling and seeing the community and pushing myself,” said Zoey. “I like shaking because, well, we can learn new things and you don’t have to work as hard as you can. You can just go with the flow,” said Ella.

Zoey and Ella will be here for the remainder of the weekend and hope to get more signatures on their old skates.

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