Caroline Zhang's 2009-10 season

PolymerBob · Oct 15, 2009

I looked it up. There is a 9 hour difference between the west coast and Paris. When it's 4:00 AM in Paris, it's still 7:00 PM for Caroline. No wonder she can't sleep.

There are a few posters over at FSUniverse who are at the practice sessions. They say there is an army of Japanese journalists there. Some reports are starting to come through. The ladies will practice later today.

cornell08 · Oct 15, 2009

...sorry but, on a tangent, I really hope she wears a non-pastel colored dress!

Now back to the more cerebral, actual news-related comments...

PolymerBob · Oct 15, 2009

According to the posters at FSU, the ladies' practice has begun. :clap:

cornell08 · Oct 15, 2009

Facebook update:
"Okay practice done : ) time to stay awake till 8 ... Running on coffee.... Zzzzzzzz.... "

There's a smiley!

Thats gotta mean it went well right? Good luck to Caroline tomorrow!

Andalusia · Oct 15, 2009

New article about Caroline (with some quotes from Orser on Yu-Na):

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091015&content_id=7460304&vkey=ice_news

There will be no 3F-3T from Caroline at TEB.

PolymerBob · Oct 15, 2009

Yes, I saw that. But it looks like her short program run through was pretty good in spite of that. The problem is, if she doesn't make the podium here, it will be hard for her to make the Final. If she is lower than 4th, it will be impossible.

vlaurend · Oct 15, 2009

cornell08 said:
...sorry but, on a tangent, I really hope she wears a non-pastel colored dress!

Now back to the more cerebral, actual news-related comments...

Unless she's changed them, her SP dress is black with a red flower and her LP dress is royal blue (not pastel).

Pikachuusb · Oct 15, 2009

I can totally relate to jetlag in Paris, when I was there I fell asleep on the curb against my luggage waiting for our ride to pull up

hopefully she is getting rest when she can. I wish her the best of luck :clap:

I don't think I want to know about the whole twitter drama

on a lighter note, the grand prix season has finally begun :rock:

Go Caroline, Mao & Yukari!! :clap:

justaskatingfan · Oct 15, 2009

Andalusia said:
New article about Caroline (with some quotes from Orser on Yu-Na):

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091015&content_id=7460304&vkey=ice_news

There will be no 3F-3T from Caroline at TEB.

It will be interesting to see if Caroline skates with more effortless power.

justaskatingfan · Oct 15, 2009

I guess feraina is either sleeping right now or went to work without sleep. :eek:

hwell:

janetfan · Oct 15, 2009

Andalusia said:
New article about Caroline (with some quotes from Orser on Yu-Na):

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091015&content_id=7460304&vkey=ice_news

There will be no 3F-3T from Caroline at TEB.

I don't mind if there is no 3x3 from Caroline at TEB. I think she is very wise as she is working her way back into top shape to keep her eye on Natls and not worry too much about TEB.

And as much as I hope for Caroline to skate two solid programs I hope US Skating is keeping in mind that she is not in top competitive shape at the moment. And despite that she is in Paris, competing and representing our federation. If Caroline had to withdraw from TEB it would have been bad considering that Sasha has withdrawn.

So all I can add is "Go, go, go Caroline!!!"

feraina · Oct 15, 2009

justaskatingfan said:
I guess feraina is either sleeping right now or went to work without sleep.hwell:

Huh? What makes you say that?

But it's true that I got up very late today at 12:30 (west coast time), because I caught the flu and called in sick. :no:

I'm surprised Caroline said she got 3 hours of sleep last night, because she went to the morning practice without having slept. She must have taken a nap the previous evening or following the practice. Well, in any case, I really hope she gets sufficient sleep tonight. She's already not 100% due to the injury and time-out, hopefully she will at least have enough sleep for her competition!

Olympia · Oct 15, 2009

I skimmed through the article and found the bit quoting Orser about YuNa. What I was struck by was the really meticulous preparation he's leading Kim through. You can see that in addition to her talent and drive, Orser's input is also a huge factor in her success. It's rare that such a front-line performer becomes such a good coach. Think of the skaters of similar vintage and achievement: Boitano, Witt, Hamilton, Torvill and Dean. All of them have done wonderful things after their amateur career, but I can't come up with another Olympic medalist of that time, or other eras for that matter, who's currently such a high-quality day-to-day coach. (In the interests of completeness, I must mention Christopher Dean's work as a choreographer. Though not quite the same thing, it is a similar way to pass the gifts to another generation.)

feraina · Oct 15, 2009

Yeah, Orser has always struck as being a very good coach for Yu-na. It's amazing given his relative lack of experience, specially when he first took her on. He is as good for Yu-na as TT is not good for Mao.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope everything will come together for Mao at the Olympics!

ETA: the IN article says Yu-na is taking the opposite approach to Caroline, by wanting to start with a big bang this season. It's interesting because for a couple of seasons before the last one, she started off great, then deteriorated in her condition later in the season and then had disappointing showings at World's. Last season she just did well all the way through, though her first outing wasn't perfect (just everyone else did worse). Caroline also peaked a little two early two and three seasons ago. She did great on the JGP circuit, then fell twice to lose to Mirai at National's (though she did capture gold at JW); then she did great on the GP's, made it to a respectable 4th at GPF, and then came in only 4th at National's, and also lost her JW crown to Rachael. Last season, in contrast, she peaked a little too late. So I can see why she's trying to time it so that she peaks exactly right. Although hopefully she doesn't only peak at National's, but stay at that peak through Olympics. :rock:

skfan · Oct 15, 2009

it's not entirely up to the skater, when to peak. injuries aren't under your control, and you could argue that it's good to peak later--because if you do well early the judges may hold you to a higher standard. conversely maybe you ought to go all out and kick butt early to establish in the judges eyes that you are a contender who needs to be given respect. but if you're hurt, what can you do about it?

i think caroline's strategy has merit, just as kim's does.

feraina · Oct 15, 2009

skfan said:
it's not entirely up to the skater, when to peak. injuries aren't under your control, and you could argue that it's good to peak later--because if you do well early the judges may hold you to a higher standard. conversely maybe you ought to go all out and kick butt early to establish in the judges eyes that you are a contender who needs to be given respect. but if you're hurt, what can you do about it?

i think caroline's strategy has merit, just as kim's does.

Oh, I think there's not much difference between their strategies. I think IN is making much ado about nothing. It's not like Caroline chose to be injured in the summer, I'm sure she would've preferred to be skating in TEB in better shape.

But there is a major difference between Caroline and Yu-na in their practical circumstances. Yu-na is a shoe-in for the Olympics, whereas Caroline isn't. One can even argue that she peaked just in time last year, as she skated her best at 4CC and WTT, before and after World's, and she was in a good position to come in top 5 at World's and help secure 3 spots this year. But she's been shown no favors by USFSA, and because of that she needs to get to close-to-peak condition before National's, e.g. during the GP's, so that USFSA would not brush her off at National's again in favor of someone else who did better at the GP's.

Maybe if she's thinking of this GP as a practice, if she's really just happy to be competing there without too high of expectations, she can actually surprise herself with a good result. It seems in the past that she's always tightened up and slowed down on the more important occasions. I'd love for her to just skate with a smile on her face.

PolymerBob · Oct 16, 2009

I could not see the event, but from the reports, Caroline skated very well. She is just a few points out of second place. I am really hoping she can pull herself up to third.

justaskatingfan · Oct 16, 2009

PolymerBob said:
I could not see the event, but from the reports, Caroline skated very well. She is just a few points out of second place. I am really hoping she can pull herself up to third.

2.38 points is not a few. :biggrin:

Mathman · Oct 16, 2009

Polymer Bob said:
I could not see the event, but from the reports, Caroline skated very well. She is just a few points out of second place. I am really hoping she can pull herself up to third.

Caroline is in very good shape. She will be the first to skate in the final group, right? If she can lay down an error-free 6 or 7 triple LP, then all she has to do is sit back and see whether Mao and Yukari can stand up to the challenge. :agree:

justaskatingfan said:
2.38 points is not a few.

She can make that up in GOEs on her spins alone. :biggrin:

skfan · Oct 16, 2009

Mathman said:
Caroline is in very good shape. She will be the first to skate in the final group, right? If she can lay down an error-free 6 or 7 triple LP, then all she has to do is sit back and see whether Mao and Yukari can stand up to the challenge. :agree:

She can make that up in GOEs on her spins alone.

yeah, but other people will net positive GOEs compared to her, won't they, when it comes to speed out of jumps and into jumps and such?

sorry to feel so negative... i hope i'm allowed to vent a bit.

*rant on*
i feel really downhearted that caroline finished behind alexe. i'll admit right off, i'm a fan of princessy light pretty programs, and prefer smiles (that look natural) to O faces. i preferred alexe's program to caroline, yet the conspiracy theorist in me grumbles that the international judges sent caroline a bit of a rebuke there. i felt she should have scored a bit higher. yes, i saw the lack of speed in caroline's skating, the near stop before the 2-axel, but alexe's sit spin gave me the feeling she may actually topple over... and i say all this even though alexe's TEB short already made me her fan.

yeah, caroline has problems, but seems like poor girl can't catch a break. i fear for repercussions at the USFS, where they might feel the international judges are casting votes for the US Oly team and caroline is passe.

yeah i know, long program tomorrow. but still...
*rant over*

everybody else already said everything i wanted to say about mao and yeonah.

Caroline Zhang's 2009-10 season

PolymerBob

cornell08

PolymerBob

cornell08

Andalusia

PolymerBob

vlaurend

Pikachuusb

justaskatingfan

justaskatingfan

janetfan

Match Penalty

feraina

Olympia

feraina

skfan

feraina

PolymerBob

justaskatingfan

Mathman

skfan

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