With a name that says it all, teen tackles expectations

• 17-year-old is reigning U.S. junior champion
• Gold makes her Grand Prix debut at Skate Canada
• U.S. women haven't won world or Olympic medal since 2006

GLEN ELLYN, Ill. -- The license plate on the blue Mini Cooper parked outside the modest ice rink where she trains says it all: "Goldn." With a name too good to be true, Gracie Gold enters her first major senior figure skating competition with expectations just as high.

Ever since Michelle Kwan left the stage before the 2006 Olympics, the U.S. has been searching for the next face of women's figure skating. Could it be the 17-year-old Gold, the reigning U.S. junior champ and the world junior silver medalist?

Like many figure skating fans, Kwan has never seen Gold skate, but because of the growing buzz, Kwan plans to check out Gold's Skate Canada performance this weekend.

"It's exciting whenever everyone is looking forward to seeing an up-and-coming skater," said Kwan, the most decorated skater in U.S. history. "This season should be a stepping stone for next year."

The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are only 15 months away and after years of disappointment – the U.S. women haven't won a world or Olympic medal since 2006 – there may be reason for optimism. Last weekend, U.S. skaters Ashley Wagner, 21, and Christina Gao, 18, finished first and second at Skate America, the first Grand Prix competition of the season.

The kid with the irresistible name has heard it all before. "Gold gets gold. Golden Girl," she said, playing along with the play on her name. Amid the outsized expectations, Gold has kept her skates on the ice.

"There is always the next big thing, the next big skater," Gold said. "Everyone saying, 'She'll bring back women's skating. This will be the one to watch at the Olympics.' And they say things that are so far away but really you have to bring it back in and look at the next competition, the next day, what you want to accomplish because if you get too far ahead of yourself you can trip yourself up."

Gold is among several U.S. women trying to make her mark on the international stage to help restore the USA's faded glory. Two years ago in Vancouver, the American women failed to win an Olympic medal for the first time since 1964.

In the tense moments before competition, some ice princesses meditate. Others do yoga or bore a hole into the ice with laser focus. Gold juggles.

She grabs three hacky sacks from her gym bag and soon they're flying through the air at a dizzying pace. "I haven't progressed to anything harder than that," she said. "No knives, no fire, no bowling pins." However, Gold can juggle rings, appropriately enough for a skater with Olympic dreams. "It does help your focus and eye-hand coordination," Gold said. Plus it adds a bit of loopy circus fun to the moment.

Her juggling personal best: 560 tosses in a row. "That's not that impressive compared to professional jugglers but it was for me," she said. After Gold and her fraternal twin, Carly, also a senior level skater, learned to juggle from a phys ed teacher in elementary school they just kept practicing.

Like the parents of many twins, Denise and Carl Gold created an environment for the girls to develop their own identities. They put their daughters in different classrooms and signed them up for different skating coaches and different sports when they were young. "But they're just drawn to each other," Denise Gold said. "I don't think either would be where they are without each other. They are best friends."

Carly, who is 40 minutes younger, recently won a silver at regionals and if she finishes in the top four at sectionals next month, she could join her sister at nationals in January. Throughout their lives, they've pushed each other. "They've always been competitive, even with who could brush their teeth the fastest," their mother said.

Said Carly, "Gracie's always been a higher level than me. I could see how that could be a challenge but for me it's always been more motivating to be as good as she is, so I try to think of it in a positive way."

Growing up in Springfield, Ill., the girls left their high school after freshman year to train full-time in the Chicago area. They are now finishing high school in an online program. Their father, an anesthesiologist, remains in Springfield, along with their mastiff, Stella. Given they train two-and-half hours away, they live with their mother, a former emergency room nurse (and their hairless cat, Rex) in a rented house close to the rink, with the family reuniting most weekends.

On Friday everyone will be at Skate Canada of course.

"She's absolutely ready to compete. She's one of the best technical skaters in the world right now," said coach Alex Ouriashev, a former Ukrainian champion.

Gold, who began skating at age 8, was a natural jumper from the start and now her triple flip-half-loop-triple salchow combination sets her apart from the rest of the world, her coach said. She also has added a "Rippon lutz" (a triple lutz with both hands raised above the head, named after U.S. skater Adam Rippon).

"I call it the 'Gold lutz,'" Ouriashev said. "Let people think it's gold as in gold medal." Then the coach let out a hearty laugh.

As soon as skater and coach left the ice on Tuesday, Gold busily checked her phone. As she rattled off statistics about the hotel where she'll stay this weekend, she seemed just as excited about her accommodations -- 10,000-square foot gym – as the competition itself.

After all, this is just the beginning. The Grand Prix season continues through December and the U.S. championships will be held in late January in Omaha, which determine the U.S. team for the world championships in March. But first she will skate in her first Grand Prix event.

"It has a spa, indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna," Gold continued. "The rooms have refrigerators."

She went on and on, sounding like any other teenager excited about a trip, embracing the opportunity ahead, one that just might be golden.