Caroline Zhang Article

LKR722 · Feb 14, 2009

This is a really nice article on Caroline! http://www.ocregister.com/articles/zhang-skating-world-2308907-one-olympic

Nice to see those comments from Kurt. He had been critical of her skating earlier in the season. I admit I was critical as well, but I am now a fan. Her improvement has been impressive. She is also consistent and a fighter! :clap:

Oldies · Feb 14, 2009

http://www.ocregister.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1127694947&bclid=1125901233&bctid=12199729001
Good 3-3 at the end!

PolymerBob · Feb 15, 2009

Also, if you click on the picture, it shows you 10 more. :biggrin:

feraina · Feb 15, 2009

Yay, finally an article on Caroline! They're so hard to come by. (Supposedly US Skating magazine had an article on her in the January issue, but I don't subscribe. :no

She didn't just have an ankle injury before SC, she also had tendonitis. She said she didn't even get to practice 3F and 3Z prior to SC and she felt unprepared stamina-wise. She also grew so much so fast that she never got to wear her new LP dress for a real competition after Goldenwest, because she grew out of it! She had to wear an old dress for SC, and then her mom sewed crystals onto a practice dress for her at TEB two weeks later. Just imagine what kind of havoc all that fast growing could've done her to skating, thank goodness it hasn't! She went through a lot this season.

I'm so happy for her. I must admit, I've never seen her so happy/confident skating in a competition before as she did after her last jump combo in the 4CC LP. She always had that joyful quality that drew in the audience in her exhibitions, but usually she's just very methodical with her competition programs, if attentive to the details. This time, you could really feel that her heart was in it!

Maybe it really will be a transformative moment in her career, as some have already portended. I wonder why they interviewed Kurt Browning extensively for this article. Will he be helping her with her skating in the off season? That would be really awesome! As smart and kind a coach as Mingzhu Li is, I really hope Caroline can get some outside help with her speed/power/expression/jumps. Or she can get some help from John Nicks, that wouldn't hurt either!

It was like I was waking up!

Cute quote. Hope it's true!

champs · Feb 15, 2009

Nice article. Comments made by NNN and John Nicks sound quite familiar after reading all the discussions here on GS but the fact that they are said by these people makes them interesting.

She is also something of a legend as a videogame demon in the local skating rink arcades.

Oldies said:
http://www.ocregister.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1127694947&bclid=1125901233&bctid=12199729001
Good 3-3 at the end!

Nice video! But she often speaks too fast for me :laugh:

By the way I see a beautiful 3A-3T (or maybe not?) executed behind Caroline at around 1:06 on this video by a guy in black and red stripe shirt, I wonder if he is anyone who we know is at the national or the international level.

Particle Man · Feb 15, 2009

While I disagree that 4CC "proved beyond all doubt that Caroline is the best in the US" (I'd say it just proved she still has top ability) I'm glad she got such a positive article. And she "gets wired on chocolate milk" and is a "videogame demon", LOL. :rofl:

2 weeks ago I held an arcade tournament on my MAME-converted Pac-Man machine, wonder if she would appreciate the classics. :rock:

Wrlmy · Feb 15, 2009

That was such a great, positive article. Publicity like this should help boost Caroline's status in the US. It's really interesting John Nicks and NNN both said fantastic things about Caroline, especially Naomi since I think she was much more like Mirai when she debuted at 13.
Comparing scores across different events is meaningless, but Caroline's score at 4cc would've got her bronze at gpf and gold at CoR. That says a lot about where she stands.
Puberty was pretty generous with her too. She didn't get any stockier, and she now has ballerina-like physique. I wonder how other girls, especially Mirai will be like next year, but I believe it will be Caroline's turn to be the Nats champion. She's surely paid her due.

bekalc · Feb 15, 2009

The only thing with Caroline scores higher with international judges is this: Let's be fair to the USFSA judges, Caroline was not scoring very high at all on the GP this season. If Caroline had scored higher in the GP, I think the USFSA judges might have made different choices than they did..

But funny to hear Nicks say I don't think we are sending our two best ladies, after a couple of weeks ago going on about how the judges aren't going to over reward jumping beans?

Oh yeah you think Nicks?

demarinis5 · Feb 15, 2009

Thank you for the link. It is always nice to read an article about a skater that focuses on the positives instead of the negatives.

krenseby · Feb 15, 2009

If she did score a lot higher at 4CC than at her GP events, was it because she improved significantly or simply because the judges started to view her in a better light for whatever reason?

bekalc said:
The only thing with Caroline scores higher with international judges is this: Let's be fair to the USFSA judges, Caroline was not scoring very high at all on the GP this season. If Caroline had scored higher in the GP, I think the USFSA judges might have made different choices than they did..

But funny to hear Nicks say I don't think we are sending our two best ladies, after a couple of weeks ago going on about how the judges aren't going to over reward jumping beans?

Oh yeah you think Nicks?

bekalc · Feb 15, 2009

If she did score a lot higher at 4CC than at her GP events, was it because she improved significantly or simply because the judges started to view her in a better light for whatever reason?

She didn't make as many mistakes, didn't get as many jumps downgraded, and improved.

R.D. · Feb 15, 2009

Nice article. Thanks for sharing. I think Zhang missing the team is more a testament to the depth on the US ladies squad than anything else. All our top 4 or 5 skaters seem to have similar abilities (whether or not they can perform under pressure is another thing). But, as things stand now, the Podium is out of reach for all of them. I think Flatt and Zhang will emerge next year as the two front-runners, and assuming we have two Olympic spots, hopefully they will be the two that get sent. Let's just hope everyone stays healthy.

P.S. This is the first article that I believe really paints an accurate picture of the US skating situation for the general public. I'm surprised that the writer mentioned the doubts and questions people had about our world team, which is true, but I thought that would have been kept behind closed doors, i.e. not to make our world team feel like they didn't deserve it or something.

ETA: IMO, Flatt DEFINITELY deserves it. The controversy seems to center around sending Czisny over Zhang.

AwesomeIce · Feb 15, 2009

I think the article is ridiculously biased. Caroline DID NOT get screwed over at all this season, she DOES NOT deserve to be on the World team the season. I am so sick of people crying "wuzrobbed" just because their favorite didn't win. She has a lot that she needs to work on before she really looks like a senior lady.

R.D. · Feb 15, 2009

The difference here though is it's not just FANS that feel this way.

The controversy was around before, but since Zhang's strong showing at 4CC it has intensified. If Czisny bombs worlds (please don't!!!) then there could be some backlash. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

AwesomeIce · Feb 15, 2009

Red Dog said:
The difference here though is it's not just FANS that feel this way.

The controversy was around before, but since Zhang's strong showing at 4CC it has intensified. If Czisny bombs worlds (please don't!!!) then there could be some backlash. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

And what if Zhang bombs at Jr. Worlds? Will everyone apologize to Alissa for being so insistent that Caroline should have gone to Worlds in her place?

As for this being "not just fans" that feel that way, I've always found John Nicks to be extremely biased as well. I'd hardly take his opinion that Caroline has been "held down" this year as gospel truth. For every coach that thinks she's the second coming, there is another one who thinks she's just another overrated, overhyped kid who was judged appripriately. I've talked to a lot of judges at the rinks that I skate at, and none of them think that there is anything wrong with her not being on the world team this year.

bekalc · Feb 15, 2009

AwesomeIce said:
And what if Zhang bombs at Jr. Worlds? Will everyone apologize to Alissa for being so insistent that Caroline should have gone to Worlds in her place?

As for this being "not just fans" that feel that way, I've always found John Nicks to be extremely biased as well. I'd hardly take his opinion that Caroline has been "held down" this year as gospel truth. For every coach that thinks she's the second coming, there is another one who thinks she's just another overrated, overhyped kid who was judged appripriately. I've talked to a lot of judges at the rinks that I skate at, and none of them think that there is anything wrong with her not being on the world team this year.

I definetly don't think Caroline's the second coming or the next big thing. I've been very open about that. BUT I think she would have been a better choice for the World Team than Alissa...

As for bombing, I have a hard time imagining Caroline bombing that hard at Jr Worlds.

herios · Feb 15, 2009

bekalc said:
I definetly don't think Caroline's the second coming or the next big thing. I've been very open about that. BUT I think she would have been a better choice for the World Team than Alissa...

You know what ? She DIDN'T skate well enough, when she needed to. Nationals was the trial to go to worlds, like it or not. At that moment she has not proved she was among the top 2 ladies and that is end of story.

If you are a clutch competitor, you put it down when it counts. Why are you so sure she would do that much better at worlds? She did well at 4CC undeniable, that doesn't mean at Worlds she would as well

bekalc · Feb 15, 2009

herios said:
You know what ? She DIDN'T skate well enough, when she needed to. Nationals was the trial to go to worlds, like it or not. At that moment she has not proved she was among the top 2 ladies and that is end of story.

If you are a clutch competitor, you put it down when it counts. Why are you so sure she would do that much better at worlds? She did well at 4CC undeniable, that doesn't mean at Worlds she would as well

Huh? How much more could Caroline have done? She landed six triples in the long at Nationals, to Alissa's three, and Alissa STILL beat her in the long. I'm not a fan of Caroline's by any means but both her and Rachael certainly stood up to the pressure better than Alissa.

It seems to me the judges minds were made up about Alissa being the champion before the free skate even started.

I'm not a Caroline fan. (I pray unless she fix her basics and jumps that she is NOT the future of world skating) but she should be on the world team, not Alissa.

Mathman · Feb 15, 2009

I thought this was a funny quote.

Equally baffling to some in both U.S. and international skating circles is the decision leave Zhang off the world championships squad.

Instead Alissa Czisny and Rachael Flatt were selected based on their first- and second-place finishes at the U.S. championships...

^ Baffling mystery solved.

Mathman · Feb 15, 2009

bekalc said:
Huh? How much more could Caroline have done? She landed six triples in the long at Nationals, to Alissa's three, and Alissa STILL beat her in the long.

I think we are confusing two different questions.

1. Was U.S. Nationals fairly judged? And

2. Who should be on the Worlds team?

My opinion about question 1 is that Alissa was scored about six points too high in PCSs in the long program. Otherwise, I though the scoring was OK.

Take away those six points and Rachael is first overall with 173.78, Alissa is second with 172.06, and Caroline beats Alissa in the LP but ends up third overall with 171.08.

For question 2, I do not understand why people are feining surprise that the USFSA went with #1 and #2. They ALWAYS do that, barring extraordinary circumstance

Caroline Zhang Article

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