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Sochi Olympics' Gracie Gold: 12 Things You Need to Know About the Skater

It's that time again: The Olympics are upon us, and every two years, we meet a slew of brand-new athletes whose names stand the chance of being etched in our minds for at least the three months following the games. This year in Sochi, U.S. Olympic ice skater Gracie Gold hopes to be one of those such folks.

And lucky for her, she's already shown herself to be one the best, if not the best, young ice skaters in the U.S.

She is the Champion, My Friends

Not only was Gold one of only three young ladies chosen to go to compete in the ice skating competition in Sochi, she was the top performer in the U.S. Championship, which is most often the determining factor in Olympics nominations. Gold is the lady to watch out for.

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She thinks she's going to win a medal

“The closer we get to Sochi, the more and more I want to be going for a medal. I think it’s a realistic goal, and we’ll see what happens,” Gold said in USA Today.

So while she’s certainly going for gold, she’s also maintaining the proper level of sportsmanship. Could we be anymore excited to see this girl win?

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And Scott Hamilton Says She'll Nab a Gold Medal

“We are going to be in Russia against a couple of strong Russian skaters, but she’s got everything. She’s got the triple-triple combination, [and] she’s got great presence on the ice. The new coaching relationship she has with Frank Carroll has given her another level of maturity, so she’s doing everything right to put herself in position to medal at Sochi,” he told TODAY.

So it isn’t just her competitive spirit after all.

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Her Dog Has Its Own Instagram

Well, he is pretty cute.

Image: Instragram/yoshi_the_chin

She's a Massachusetts Baby

Though she now lives in Los Angeles, Gold calls Newton, Mass., her hometown. No wonder she went for a winter sport — Massachusetts is practically an arctic tundra between the months of November and March. What else was she going to do?

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Her Destiny Was Framed By a Birthday Party

Gold hadn’t even considered ice skating as a profession until she attended an ice skating birthday party at age seven, So let’s just hope she sent that friend a huge edible arrangement and perhaps a puppy for inspiring her to train her way to the 2014 Olympics.

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There Are Two of Her (Sort of)

Gold has a twin sister and get this: She’s a senior-level competitive ice skater. Excuse me while my brain plays out a Disney Channel original movie in which Gold’s sister has to skate for her because Gold has been called up by the FBI to defeat a famous Russian jewel thief whose heist is going down at the exact time she’s supposed to perform.

Okay, that’s not going to happen but tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing.

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So You Agree? You Think She's Really Pretty?

Despite being eight years old when the movie came out – and thus having to have missed at least a handful of the best jokes – Gold grew up to name Mean Girls as her favorite movie. What can we say? The girl’s got great taste in Tina Fey.

Image: Wifflegif

Her Pre-Skate Ritual Is Also Amazing

It’s not enough that she’s one of the best young skaters in the country — the best if rankings are your thing — she also knows how to juggle. And because she’s just that amazing, she performs this incredibly difficult feat as a means of prep for her skating routines.

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She really loves the 'Today Show'

I mean, she follows the entire news team (with the exception of Carson Daly – burn) on Twitter and she’s below the age of 50. Clearly, they made an impression.

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Her Favorite Books Are 'The Hunger Games'

Gee, I wonder where she gets her commitment to competition and hard work from? Sure, a lot of it belongs to her, but who’s to say Katniss hasn’t inspired her just a little?

Image: Amazon

And sometimes, she gets to hang out with awesome people

Like Apollo Anton Ono. Apparently, when you become an award-winning skater, you get to pal around with other award winning skaters. Go figure.

Image: Instagram/graciegold95

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