- Joined
- Mar 21, 2005
Christina is one of the rising stars in the US!!! She is amazing! She reminds me of Yu-Na Kim body structure wise and they also have the same coach! Another potential star!
Christina Gao
- Thread starter christinaskater
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- Nov 12, 2009
She was sidelined with a hip injury this summer, so she didn't compete, but she worked a lot on her artistry and can now jump again and has all her triples back. There's a video on IN where she talks about all this.
Shades of Mirai. Injury during Champs Camp. There definitely seems a silver lining though. Not being able to jump does allow for a unique opportunity to focus on other aspects of skating which tend to get pushed lower in the priorities when there is simply so much pressure to get the TRIPLES TRIPLES TRIPLES.
I think she has tremendous potential. Like a "spring twig" Hoping for her good health and exciting things when the season gets underway.
I think she has tremendous potential. Like a "spring twig" Hoping for her good health and exciting things when the season gets underway.
I don't think its just those falls...its those tacky programs like her SP this season and her LP last season. She could use some repackaging, as well as stronger edgework. Also, why is she still having trouble with sit spins? Orser should have trainers helping her with that off ice!
She's doing lovely programs it's just those falls that are hurtin' her.I loved her recent 2011 Cup of China Free and Long programs. I know it might be another year or so before she's skating cleaner programs, she's still young and growin'.
Thoughts?
Actually, all things considered, Christina did not do that bad. She actually ended up scoring the highest as far as the jumps even with the fall. See the calculations I did over on the Cup of China thread:
Obviously Christina needs to work on her non jump elements as she is losing major levels. I'm not a fan of her SP, but I think her LP has potential.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2011
Her jumps are truly wonderful. She has excellent presence on ice and she's also fast. Those judges are too harsh on her. I especailly dont understand her low PCS, which is on par with Kexin Zhang from China. Come on.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2011
She's 165cm according to Eurosports. She's no taller than Kostner and she can still land those 3+3. Her height works to her advantage to give an overall excellent presence on ice in my opinion.
It's not that Christina is particularly tall, she's just really really thin. If she could actually gain a bit more weight, it would add some much-needed power and speed to her skating. Her LP this year is such an improvement from years past. It still looks a bit new, but it could really bring out another side of her if she skates it well later in the season. I'm a little disappointed that she hasn't progressed as much as I would have hoped over the past few seasons. After breaking onto the JGP stage and medaling at the JGPF in 2009-2010, last season was kind of a let-down. Her programs didn't do anything for her and she was overshadowed by the Russian wunderkinds.. Too bad she was off the ice for much of this past summer, but I hope she can bounce back as the season goes on. Those PCS need major work, but I still have hope for her.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2011
She's vastly underscored in PCS. Her PCS should be closer to if not even with AS from Russia. It's the judges who need to wake up and smell the coffee.
I wouldn't say she's vastly underscored in PCS, and this is coming from a fan. I agree with those who think she's somewhat awkward-looking, and it looks like she's working hard to generate speed on the ice. Adelina, on the other hand, has deep edges and great flow across the ice. She reminds me very much of a young Mao Asada, who also had a wonderful lightness and great jumps at a young age. Right now jumps are the best part of Christina's skating, but like I said this LP has great potential for her to develop artistically. Though her PCS was probably also hurt by skating in the first group..
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2009
Icenetwork says 5'4", ISU says 165 cm (5'5"). So she's not that tall, Zawadzki and Makarova are 170 cm, Kostner 169 cm, Korpi and Korobeynikova 168 cm, Czisny and Shelepen also 165 cm. Her height is in the normal range for a singles skater, she just looks so tall because of her long limbs and thinness. Last season she looked like she had started to fill out into her frame and gain some muscle, this season she looks very angular again, if I had to guess she maybe lost some muscle mass from being injured and not able to train full out for a few months. Her performances here were a good starting point and I think her PCS were low because she was visibly nervous. It was her senior debut after all and she's also coming off a recent injury. I think she will likely fair a little better at COR in a few weeks. Still though, not a bad debut and I especially like her FS, or think it has the potential to be quite good.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2010
Skating is in most part a sport of very young athletes and until they are fully grown, there will be times of instability and adjustments. Some grow steadily while others have growth spurts which distort body shapes, weight and its distribution, and movements with the new body. It's not easy to adapt to so many things at the same time and still improve physical skills. It's also unfair to have such expectation. This year we are seeing at least Gao, Brown, and Nguyen going through such growth spurts. They will pick up where they left off soon enough.
eta The most unfortunate and freakish growth is that of Chinese Pairs skater Dan Zhang who just keeps growing into her 20's. The Chinese are wishing for Cong Han to grow instead. And then we had Phaneuf of Canada having her hugh growth after winning the National Championship at 15. It took her 7 years to regain the title.
eta The most unfortunate and freakish growth is that of Chinese Pairs skater Dan Zhang who just keeps growing into her 20's. The Chinese are wishing for Cong Han to grow instead. And then we had Phaneuf of Canada having her hugh growth after winning the National Championship at 15. It took her 7 years to regain the title.
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- Jul 26, 2003
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It's amazing how well the Zhangs are coping, considering.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2010
It's not easy for the Zhangs. They are giving up quad throws and he keeps training for strength. There are fans grumbling for her to be ditched. There are not many options for them at their age but to trudge through this challenge.
Personally, I think Christina Gao has done relatively well despite the big growth spurt. She's been consistent in her placements at Nationals (5th in 2010 at 15 and 2011 at 16). And she managed to make the JGPF the last two seasons.
Compare this to Mirai who went from being the U.S. Champion at 14 in 2008 to 5th at 15 (and several inches taller) in 2009.
And she really didn't do that bad at this last competition. In her FS, she managed to do six rotated jumps with no edge call (3F (2), 3S, 3L, 3T(2)). The only jump she did not do was the Lutz, which got an edge call and she fell on. That's more than all the medalists: Carolina with five (3F, 3L, 3T, 3S (2)), Mirai with three (3L (2), 3T (she got edge calls and URs on both her lutzes) and Adelina with four (3F, 3L (2), 3T (again not counting the lutz due to the edge call)
That 3F-3T, ironically, seems to be her money jump, which will be handy in a world where few 3-3s are being done currently.
I think as someone pointed out in the Carolina Kostner thread there's a tendency to write people off when their potential isn't realized immediately. I think Gao had such a bang up year in 2009-2010 with a GPF bronze a 5th place in her senior Nationals debut, that everyone is reacting to the fact she hasn't burned a bigger hole in the skating world in the last two years.
Besides her flutz and her 2A, her jump technique is pretty sound. I get the sense they're not working on the flutz because of the growth spurt. No point of trying to redvelop the technique when you still don't know where your center of gravity will end up.
The good news for Christina is I think is that everyone's eyes are now off her so the pressure is off and she can focus on improvement.
Compare this to Mirai who went from being the U.S. Champion at 14 in 2008 to 5th at 15 (and several inches taller) in 2009.
And she really didn't do that bad at this last competition. In her FS, she managed to do six rotated jumps with no edge call (3F (2), 3S, 3L, 3T(2)). The only jump she did not do was the Lutz, which got an edge call and she fell on. That's more than all the medalists: Carolina with five (3F, 3L, 3T, 3S (2)), Mirai with three (3L (2), 3T (she got edge calls and URs on both her lutzes) and Adelina with four (3F, 3L (2), 3T (again not counting the lutz due to the edge call)
That 3F-3T, ironically, seems to be her money jump, which will be handy in a world where few 3-3s are being done currently.
I think as someone pointed out in the Carolina Kostner thread there's a tendency to write people off when their potential isn't realized immediately. I think Gao had such a bang up year in 2009-2010 with a GPF bronze a 5th place in her senior Nationals debut, that everyone is reacting to the fact she hasn't burned a bigger hole in the skating world in the last two years.
Besides her flutz and her 2A, her jump technique is pretty sound. I get the sense they're not working on the flutz because of the growth spurt. No point of trying to redvelop the technique when you still don't know where your center of gravity will end up.
The good news for Christina is I think is that everyone's eyes are now off her so the pressure is off and she can focus on improvement.
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- Joined
- Nov 19, 2010
That would be me.
And I agree with your post.BTW, I find it interesting how two Chinese American skaters are living up to their namesakes. Gao (高) means tall and Chritina is certainly at least looking tall, particularly for a skater. Caroline Zhang's Chinese name is 圆圆 (Yuan Yuan). In the Chinese forums, she is often represented with OO because 圆 means round or circle (I know I know, it looks like a square), also denoting full, complet, perfect or togetherness/union. Well, Caroline has a bit of weight issue (for a skater) as she grew up, a little too rounded.
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