Shen and Pang are both entirely too thin. Based on the ABC fluff piece, the Chinese federation monitors everything they eat and they are not allowed to gain a pound. I'm not sure if the girls are naturally that thin or if the federation is only allotting them 3 dumplings a day. There are lots of people who are naturally very thin. There are also a lot of Asian women who are painfully thin but they eat normally so maybe the federation selected girls who would naturally have that body type.
I pick on Jenny b/c she is NOT naturally thin. When she skated with the Scotvolds, she had a very normal body and now she is unbelievably thin. Sasha still looks normal but when I think about it , she was heavier and stronger when she was with Nicks because she got more height on her jumps (as pointed out by another poster) and now her jumps are smaller.
MK has a normal body, but that's an anomoly in US skating. A lot of the other girls are starving themselves to land 3-3 combos.
Also weight is a huge issue. When Nicole Bobek competed, Dick and Peggy would always comment on her weight. When Nicole was thinner, the first thing Dick would say is "Nicole lost 10 pounds, she *really* trained for this event." In Brennan's book, Scotvold said he would look at the size of Tonya's a$$ to determine whether she was jumping well. He said "Five pounds could turn Tonya from the biggest jerk into the best skater."
I know skaters have to keep a trim body. However it's not weight alone that makes a good jump : it's muscle to height ratio. Small , stocky skaters are at an advantage like Midori Ito and Tonya Harding.
