Caroline Zhang - Is She an Oly Contender? | Page 7 | Golden Skate

Caroline Zhang - Is She an Oly Contender?

Eurofan

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
I prefer to wait and see if Zhang actually makes the team before speculating on her medal chances.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
I prefer to wait and see if Zhang actually makes the team before speculating on her medal chances.

Good point, but I will definitely be surprised if Caroline doesn't make the US Olympic team. After all,she's finished as the top US lady in every international event she's taken part in this season, except Skate Canada at the beginning of the season when she was recovering from tendonitis and a growth spurt. Yes, maybe Mirai will finally rotate her jumps next season. Or maybe Alissa will finally land more than 3 or 4 triples in her LP. Or maybe Ashley will suddenly become consistent. Anything can definitely happen next season. But at this point, Caroline and Rachael are very clearly the front-runners for making the Olympic team and have established themselves internationally on a level not yet matched by any other of the US ladies so far.
 

ittybittysk8r

Match Penalty
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
I don't think she's much of a contender. She'd need several of the better skaters to screw up for her to have a chance. Unless she somehow learns to skate faster, stroke better, and fix the "e" and "!" problems before next February.
 

antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Good point, but I will definitely be surprised if Caroline doesn't make the US Olympic team. After all,she's finished as the top US lady in every international event she's taken part in this season, except Skate Canada at the beginning of the season when she was recovering from tendonitis and a growth spurt. Yes, maybe Mirai will finally rotate her jumps next season. Or maybe Alissa will finally land more than 3 or 4 triples in her LP. Or maybe Ashley will suddenly become consistent. Anything can definitely happen next season. But at this point, Caroline and Rachael are very clearly the front-runners for making the Olympic team and have established themselves internationally on a level not yet matched by any other of the US ladies so far.

Fiar point but regardless you must have been surprised that she didn't make the world team this year. There's nothing to stop nationals next year being the same with the pressure of making the Olympic team being even greater than that for the world team.

Ant
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Fiar point but regardless you must have been surprised that she didn't make the world team this year. There's nothing to stop nationals next year being the same with the pressure of making the Olympic team being even greater than that for the world team.

Ant

Not to open up the can of worms again but I thought Caroline skated well enough to make the team this year....and I was surprised she didn't make the team. US Nationals next year will definitely be a pressure cooker, but that's why I think the most consistent of the US ladies will make it through--Rachael and Caroline. Also, I doubt that the USFSA will so readily annoint a skater based on 'potential' after Alissa.

At least, I hope not.
 

PolymerBob

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Not to open up the can of worms again but I thought Caroline skated well enough to make the team this year....and I was surprised she didn't make the team.

My position is what it always was. Caroline got screwed down at least one placement last year, then again this year ......... by a totally different method. What will help her is that the Olympic team will not be decided by Nationals alone. Other events will be considered. If she can keep finishing as top American, like she's done her last FOUR international competitions, the USFSA will have to send her ............. no matter what monkey tricks they play at Nats.

( So Bob, how do you really feel? )
 

ittybittysk8r

Match Penalty
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
My position is what it always was. Caroline got screwed down at least one placement last year, then again this year ......... by a totally different method. What will help her is that the Olympic team will not be decided by Nationals alone. Other events will be considered. If she can keep finishing as top American, like she's done her last FOUR international competitions, the USFSA will have to send her ............. no matter what monkey tricks they play at Nats.

( So Bob, how do you really feel? )

And what if she starts off the GP season like she did this one, with big splats? Then where will she be? Off the team I hope. I seriously don't think she's been held down at all. She may land her jumps, but she's still a far cry from the top skaters in the world.
 

LeCygne

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
And what if she starts off the GP season like she did this one, with big splats? Then where will she be? Off the team I hope. I seriously don't think she's been held down at all. She may land her jumps, but she's still a far cry from the top skaters in the world.

As are all the other American girls at this point... many of whom don't even land all their jumps. She may not be a contender for an Olympic medal, but Caroline's as good as we've got.
 

oleada

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
No, not unless a gigantic meltdown occurs. The point gap between a solid skate (not even clean) by Mao, Yu-Na and Joannie and a perfect skate was Caroline was huge. Even a clean Miki without a triple-triple could beat her. Her jump technique is just a terrible disadvantage. She can't get much +GOE on them due to her awful technique (and rightfully so), which is something the top ladies do when they land their jumps cleanly. She's also not a particularly good basic skater and we all know she's slow.

If she skates like she did at the end of the season, I fully expect Caroline to make the team and quite likely to place top 5. However, I'm more worried about how her body will hold up - and how long - with her jumping. Her technique must be killing her lower back and hips. I'm afraid it's a major injury waiting to happen. :( Her technique is terrifying.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
^^^
I'm not quite sure what you mean by Caroline's jump technique. Can you describe the 'poor' technique because I thought her jumps have improved quite well from what I saw on youtube.
 

feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Her technique is terrifying.

I don't think you need to be too terrified, at least no more about her jumps than about her spins. Her body is unusually flexible, with no special training at all. If a normal person tries to twist into the Pearl spin, you might worry about her back and hips, too, but for her it's no big deal. Similarly with her jumps. Jump take-offs usually involve some counter-rotation to generate the torque. In her case, b/c her body is so elastic, she has to twist a little more to get the same amount of torque.

Now I'm not saying that her technique is perfect. I think she can skate a lot faster, and jump a lot higher. What keeps her scores low is not TES, which poor jump technique might imply, but rather PCS. If she could skate faster, insert more transitions, achieve deeper edges, get better programs, her PCS will go up, and her scoring potential will be formidable even without significant changes to her jumps (except the better speed will probably lead to bigger jumps too).
 

sillylionlove

Medalist
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
I believe that this point anyone is a contender. Who would have picked Sarah Hughes or Shizuka Arakawa to win the gold medals????
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
I believe that this point anyone is a contender. Who would have picked Sarah Hughes or Shizuka Arakawa to win the gold medals????

yeah, and Sasha placed 4th after entering the salt lake games in a very similar position that Caroline will be in.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I like the way some posters just assume she's going to be at the Games. Ant is right. Get the bowl of popcorn ready! ;) :chorus:
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I can't speak for anyone else but I think folks are speculating more than assuming. The thread title is a question..
 

feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
yeah, and Sasha placed 4th after entering the salt lake games in a very similar position that Caroline will be in.

Oh, interesting point. Sasha was 4th in Olympics and World's in 2002, and then did really great on the GP series the following year when Sarah Hughes & Michelle Kwan both really cut down on their competitions, and she didn't meet Irina Slutskaya until the GPF. The 2002-3 season really marked an upturn in Sasha's international career. Maybe the same will happen to Caroline in 2010-11?

Hmm... I can see Miki Ando and Joannie Rochette retire in 2010; similarly with Carolina Kostner. I think with these girls, if they do well in Vancouver they'll retire happily, and if they don't do well, they might want to call it quits anyway. If Yu-na wins OGM, she'll probably retire, too. Mighty Mao, though, I can see her soldier on regardless, although in recent years I've really seen the carefree joy in her skating dissipate somewhat (and that in Yu-na's skating grow).

Anyway, I think it would be great if Caroline can make it onto the Olympics team, and if she does do so, I think she has a good chance of making top 5 (~70%), a decent chance at top 4 (~30%), and maybe even a slim chance at top 3 (~5%) if Caroline skates another 7-triple LP and a clean SP, and Joannie succumbs to home crowd pressure and Miki has another shoulder-injury-failed-quad-attempt LP (I'm not wishing for those bad things, I'm just saying that there's some small probability that these things may come to pass, as they are not without precedent).

Just please, please, I hope she gets good programs for next year! She said she's getting some "violin-y type of fast music" for her LP, and that she already started getting her new programs, but she didn't like her first one (I don't know SP or LP). I'm nervously awaiting the programs. I'm not sure what kind of "violin-y type of fast music" would suit her skating, I just know that I was sick of AM even before she recycled it, and that she didn't look comfortable skating to either her SP or the original LP (Sleeping Beauty) this year. Maybe her best program so far was her Spanish Flamenco SP. She showed more character/heart there than any other program so far.
 

Andalusia

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Just please, please, I hope she gets good programs for next year! She said she's getting some "violin-y type of fast music" for her LP, and that she already started getting her new programs, but she didn't like her first one (I don't know SP or LP). I'm nervously awaiting the programs. I'm not sure what kind of "violin-y type of fast music" would suit her skating, I just know that I was sick of AM even before she recycled it, and that she didn't look comfortable skating to either her SP or the original LP (Sleeping Beauty) this year. Maybe her best program so far was her Spanish Flamenco SP. She showed more character/heart there than any other program so far.

feraina, more please! Get it out of Caroline at all costs! :biggrin:

You mentioned before that she was getting a new coach to replace Sondra Holmes...to help her work on her footwork and what not. Any idea who she's chosen, that is, if she even has found a replacement?
 
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