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Gracie Gold, a two-time U.S. figure skating champion and 2014 Olympic team bronze medalist whose last name and movie star looks have captivated her sport, said Friday morning in a statement released to USA TODAY Sports that she will be taking time off five months before the next Winter Olympics "to seek some professional help.”

She did not say what kind of professional help she will be receiving.

“My passion for skating and training remains strong,” Gold said in the statement. “However, after recent struggles on and off the ice, I realize I need to seek some professional help and will be taking some time off while preparing for my Grand Prix assignments. This time will help me become a stronger person, which I believe will be reflected in my skating performances as well.”

Gold was scheduled to open her 2018 Olympic season at the Japan Open, an invitational team competition in Saitama, Japan, on Oct. 7, but she now will not attend that event. Her Grand Prix assignments, in Beijing and Grenoble, France, are both scheduled in November.

The 2018 U.S. Olympic figure skating trials are in early January, now just four months away. The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, start Feb. 9. At no time in recent memory has a skater voluntarily taken time away from her sport at such a crucial moment. There are three women’s spots available on the 2018 U.S. Olympic figure skating team.

Gold, 22, has found herself on a precipitous and alarming 17-month-long slide since performing poorly in the long program at the 2016 world championships in Boston, falling from first place to fourth. Her decline culminated this spring and summer in a disheartening inability to land even the simplest jumps in skating shows and a U.S. Figure Skating preview camp.

Gold’s announcement comes just four days after Russian 2014 Olympic team gold medalist Julia Lipnitskaia announced her retirement at 19 after a battle with anorexia. Lipnitskaia’s mother, Daniela, told the Russian news agency Tass on Monday that her daughter was retiring after three months of treatment for the eating disorder.

Kevin wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2017 5:11 pm I'm sorry to hear Gracie is going through difficulties, but I don't think that has been a secret from anyone in the last few years. I'm glad that she is taking the time to try to gain control of her life. Her mental health is so much more important than any Olympic Games, and hopefully part of the strategy will be to minimize expectations at the Nationals and/or Olympic Games, both from herself and others.

US Figure Skating announces Gracie Gold has withdrawn from the '18 U.S. Championships. Gold says in statement: "I am still undergoing treatment for depression, anxiety & an eating disorder. I have not had adequate training time in order to perform at the level at which I want to"

Kevin wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:32 pm I'm actually relieved to hear this. Health is more important than Nationals or Olympics. I wish her all the best in her recovery.