Where do Zawadzki and Gao go from here?

[Olympia]

Christina has announced that she will take a year off from Harvard to train and hopefully make the Olympic team:

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/stagi...ool-or-skating

I'm happy she's going to continue . . . hope it works out for her.

I missed this announcement. I'm really pleased to hear it. I think that in the lead-up to an Olympic year, this is the commitment she must make. I hope this change makes a difference in her performance and her results. What she reminds me of right now is Kristi Yamaguchi, who was excelling at dividing her time between singles and pairs but never made it to the world podium in either discipline. In the few years before the 1992 Olympics, she realized (or was told) that she had to make a choice in order to make that final move upward. When she did choose, even the sky wasn't the limit.

[Mrs. P]

Christina went from Nationals to a great SP at 4CC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vesVA...ature=youtu.be

[FlattFan]

Xtina will continue to play second fiddle to flavors of the year.
Agnes will continue to hate her poor mom by skating terribly. It's a rebellion, I think. This girl is obviously a goth, wants to shop at hot topic, paints her nails black, pierces her nose and tongue, and her mom dared to turn her into an ice princess? Her mom didn't care to know her, so she's repaying with ****** performances one after another.

[Ambivalent]

Xtina will continue to play second fiddle to flavors of the year.
Agnes will continue to hate her poor mom by skating terribly. It's a rebellion, I think. This girl is obviously a goth, wants to shop at hot topic, paints her nails black, pierces her nose and tongue, and her mom dared to turn her into an ice princess? Her mom didn't care to know her, so she's repaying with ****** performances one after another.

Um.

[delray1977]

Um.

Ditto....ummmm:rolleye......whatever you say Flattfan.

[mateusp1]

I believe not a single person will call him or herself a fan of Zawadzki...and yet, she is the queen of us nationals.

I am a fan of Agnes. She is not my favorite and number one(Caro is the best, for me). I like her skating a lot. She is tall, skates fast, has massive jumps, great spins.

[BackStage Barbie]

I believe Gao will go to the Olympics. She has an international look and USFS would be stupid not to send her, assuming we get 3 spots back which is a huge assumption. I think Zawadzki is done. She never truly made the transition from junior to senior. She stayed with coach Z too long and her artistic growth was forever stunted. She is a US skater through and through and I don't see here ever making the podium at a senior international championship. Besides, her packaging is all wrong and the garish makeup and costuming will never appeal to Olympic viewers.

[centerpt1]

Agnes has rare moments of elegance in her skating. Just a flash here and there-but something to build on. I'm thrilled she left Tom Z, but she really needs to come down off the mountain and get to a coaching center on one of the coasts, or even Detroit. I really love her physical strength, but she needs to develop her mental approach, find choreography that works for her, and work on her interpretation.

She has improved quite a bit this season, but she could be stellar. She also seems to have a fun personality, and I wish more of that came through into her skating.

I am a fan and would love to see her achieve.

[eyria]

I believe Gao will go to the Olympics. She has an international look and USFS would be stupid not to send her, assuming we get 3 spots back which is a huge assumption. I think Zawadzki is done. She never truly made the transition from junior to senior. She stayed with coach Z too long and her artistic growth was forever stunted. She is a US skater through and through and I don't see here ever making the podium at a senior international championship. Besides, her packaging is all wrong and the garish makeup and costuming will never appeal to Olympic viewers.

Interesting you said Zawadzki is "a U.S. skater through and through." I agree with that. We have this split dynamic in U.S. ladies skating, going back many years. We have our "international look" skaters--Yamaguchi, Kwan, Cohen, Kadavy--who have that line, lyricism, elegance, musicality that the international judges like. Then we have our "classic U.S. look" skaters, who are athletic, strong, accomplished, glossy, often glamorous. In that group would be Fratianne, Thomas, Sumners, Kerrigan, Bobek, Trenary, probably Meissner, and (cough) Harding. Perhaps this split goes all the way back to Carol Heiss and Peggy Fleming. At any rate, Agnes is definitely in the "classic U.S. look" mold, and maybe that's why she does so well at Nationals.

[silverlake22]

Christina has announced that she will take a year off from Harvard to train and hopefully make the Olympic team:

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/stagi...ool-or-skating

I'm happy she's going to continue . . . hope it works out for her.

Just as I expected. I knew she wouldn't defer this year because you can only defer for one year, meaning if she had a successful season and wanted to have a go at the Olympics, she'd be starting Harvard during the Olympic season, which would be majorly stressful. This was she doesn't have to reapply to Harvard and worry about not getting accepted again (which considering it's Harvard, is a real possibility) so it all works out. I hope she continues to train with Mark and Peter though, Orser is a great coach, but she's really flourished as a skater under her new coaches and environment.

[flying camel]

Does anyone know if Christina is on scholarship at Harvard?

[golden411]

Christina Gao ‏@christina_gao

An amazing end to an incredible season. Thanks for all the support! I've had a great week in Japan and I'm excited for next season! #4CC2013
6:29 PM - 10 Feb 13

I look forward to cheering for her next season.

Does anyone know if Christina is on scholarship at Harvard?

With all due respect, what difference does it make whether Gao is or is not?? Over 60% of Harvard undergrads receive need-based Harvard scholarship aid.

http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do

If Gao is one of the many (and I have no idea whether she is), she would have plenty of good company.

[noskates]

Well I hate to be a naysayer but I don't think either of them has a chance of making the Olympic team and , if by some miracle one of them does - there is't a top 10 finish for either of them. I can admire Christina's dedication and her skating but for me she has absolutely no charisma. There is nothing in her skating that makes me want to go back and watch the program again. The same with Agnes. I think they are both talented skaters but nothing special about either one of them. Having said that, and it IS just my opinion, I wish them luck.

[Skater Boy]

Oh the Olympic dream...for someone it is glory and for most agony. Several of these girls will be devastated. It could be more if the unthinkable happens and there are only two spots instead of three.

[silverlake22]

One thing I will say about Zawadzki, I have a feeling, and this might just be because I like her skating, that she would actually be well-received/score well at international events if she skated well at them. The thing is, she's so prone to mistakes, especially in the FS, that we don't really have a good idea of how the international judges would score a clean Zawadzki FS. My guess is pretty well. However, yes, she certainly has some consistency issues to work out but luckily there is still time.

I will say though how it's curious how both Zawadzki and now Gold seem to struggle with the pressure/hype/nerves at senior international competitions, and seeing how Gao has become quite consistent now that she's through with her growing pains, it really does make me wonder if jumping straight to the GP after winning the junior title hurt both Gold and Zawadzki in terms of becoming good competitors. Gracie had one JGP, fair enough, but Agnes had none. Both girls did not make it to Nationals the year before they won the junior title at Nationals. Both girls competed as Novices the season before that. Both girls tore up domestic competitions leading up to their Junior Nationals wins. Both girls got sent to JW after winning the junior title at Nats and both girls won silver at JW then chose to jump up to the GP the following season and managed to get two GP assignments. In 2 years they went from 1st year juniors who didn't make it to US Nationals to competing at 2 senior GP events and being touted as the next star of figure skating capable of becoming National champion in their senior debuts.

Then there is Gao. She competed on the JGP after placing 3rd at Junior Nats. She did quite well on the JGP that season and even won bronze at the final, had a solid debut as a senior at Nationals finishing 5th in a tough field, was sent to JW and placed 8th - and that wasn't a great performance to her. Given her JGP success and placement at senior Nationals, it would have been sensible to move up to the GP, but she and her coaches wisely decided to stay on the junior circuit another season. That season Christina grew a lot but also developed a consistent 3f-3t and showed she was capable of putting up big scores internationally, even at junior competitions. She gained valuable experience, winning 2 silvers at her JGPs and getting to compete at the JGPF again. Then she was 5th at Nationals again but admitted she gave winning the pewter away due to a couple mistakes in her FS. Then she was 4th at JW in a very deep field, again due to a difficult FS after being in medal position after the SP. It wasn't until the following season that she finally made the jump up to the GP, she was injured that whole summer but was able to put out a pretty decent performance at CoC considering, placing 5th and beating Murakami. Then she had the meltdown at COR, but no one was really hyping her, she put it behind her, skated much better at Nats, was 5th again but that was actually a pretty good result for her given her injury and earlier results, then went to JW and placed 7th but otherwise skated ok. Her good results this season are really not that surprising given her ability, work ethic, and VALUABLE EXPERIENCE GAINED FROM HAVING COMPETED IN A CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS WITHOUT A BUNCH OF HYPE.

Say what you will about the JGP, but it's still valuable international experience and I think Christina's two full seasons on that circuit really helped her as a competitor. She had ups and downs and learned from them and is now a better competitor because of it. Part of me thinks if Agnes and Gracie had done a full season on the JGP before making the leap up to seniors, nationally and internationally at the same time, they may be more steady at this point. I know they were good enough to compete on the GP but still, they could have competed on the JGP and then senior at Nationals, if they delivered at Nats, they'd still be considered for a good placement. Mirai had competed on the JGP the year she won Nationals in her senior debut. Josh Farris has way more international experience than Gracie and also won silver at JW (finishing half a point behind the winner as opposed to 16) and competed on the JGP this season, and the judges at Nationals did take him seriously as evidenced by his winning pewter. Christina Gao was talked about as being in the mix for the senior Worlds team in 2010-2011 after competing on the JGP that fall and putting up impressive scores and delivering 3f-3t and finished 5th at Nationals even before that season when she was just a little girl making her senior debut. Agnes and Gracie were both really consistent the season leading up to their Junior National titles, so it really does make me wonder..