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Olympic Figure Skater Gracie Gold Reveals She Was Suicidal While Battling Depression
Just one year prior to the 2018 Winter Olympic games in PyeongChang, Olympic figure skater Gracie Gold was so depressed that she contemplated suicide for months, the now-23-year-old skater revealed to the New York Times.
The two-time U.S. national champion opened up about her demons in the extensive interview and explained how her slide started after the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships. Gold was living on her own in a suburb of Detroit, Mich., where she was training, and says her depression was at its worst.
"I was suicidal for months," Gold told the Times. "If I had just continued the way I was in Detroit, I’d probably be dead."
Gold also struggled with anxiety and eating by gorging on food which led to significant weight gain. She told The Times that she would sometimes sleep for 24 hours at a time and then stay up for days, sometimes too depressed to make her workouts. It was during this time, she says, that she thought about taking her life repeatedly.
She went on to withdraw from the 2018 U.S. Championships to undergo treatment. After being treated, Gold began training again nine months ago. She told The Times she has lost more than 30 pounds as a result of healthier eating. Although she's not back where she wants to be yet, she is making a comeback.
Gold returned to the ice during November's Grand Prix event in Moscow and finished in 10th in the short program. She is not competing in this year's national championship back in Detroit. She withdrew two weeks before she was set to skate. Her performance in Moscow contributed to the decision, as did her hesitation to return to the place where she was at her worst.
The unveiling of her new long program, which is set to Sara Bareilles’s “She Used to Be Mine,” will have to wait.
