Suburban skater harbors Olympic dreams
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Gracie Gold, 16, trains at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold learned to skate on frozen marshes in Massachusetts, but she didn’t really become fascinated with the sport until she attended a friend’s birthday party.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold, 16, took first place last month in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on the junior level and will head to Belarus later this month for the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. She’s been practicing at rinks in Glen Ellyn and Vernon Hills and living part-time in Elk Grove Village.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold, 16, left, and twin sister Carly train at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold, 16, trains at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn with Oleg Epstein, one of her coaches. Gold is from Springfield, but trains in the suburbs during the week. She recently won the gold medal on the junior level at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and later this month, she will be competing at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Belarus.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Her coaches say Gracie Gold has what it takes to represent her country at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. “It’s my dream to be at the Olympics,” she says. “It’s every skater’s dream.”
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Coach Alex Ouriashev says Gold has unlimited potential. “In my opinion, she has some of the best potential as a skater in the United States for the next three years,” he said.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold, 16, center, and twin sister Carly, left, work with coach Oleg Epstein at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold says she has her eyes on the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Gracie Gold, 16, trains at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer
Figure skater Gracie Gold trains at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn and The Glacier Ice Arena in Vernon Hills. Her family spends part of each week living in a house they rent in Elk Grove Village so Gracie can take work with Chicago-area coaches.
Bev Horne | Staff Photographer