What will 2010-11 bring for Caroline Zhang?

[Tinymavy15]

ITA. Miki is a beautiful girl with a killer bod and you'd hardly know thanks to those awful costumes she so often wears

Indeed. I am always so much more impressed with her sleek, sexy black practice outfits than the layers or torn up fabric she wears for competition.

 

[silverlake22]

Indeed. I am always so much more impressed with her sleek, sexy black practice outfits than the layers or torn up fabric she wears for competition.

What about this outfit ? http://absoluteskating.com/reports/2009doi/Miki-Ando.jpg

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

She needs to present herself as a mature woman this season, and drop that look how cute I am.

 

[PolymerBob]

She needs to present herself as a mature woman this season, and drop that look how cute I am.

A sophisticated, mature .......... um ........... 17 year old high school woman.

 

[feraina]

Speaking of which, Caroline's turning 17 today.

Happy birthday, Caroline! Hope you have a great summer and a wonderful new season!

 

[dorispulaski]

Who is Caroline's coach these days?

 

[janetfan]

A sophisticated, mature .......... um ........... 17 year old high school woman.

I think Joesitz meant for a more mature degree of sophistication on the ice.

Consider this skater: she is 17 and very much a teenager in appearance. But when she begins skating her presentation is ageless and the quality timeless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPRcajUQrM

What gushing from Button - "honesty is central to her skating"......


I think Caroline did try and break out of her cutesie mold last season but the injuries and growth spurt really prevented her from showing her best skating.

Let's hope this year Caroline is healthy and has a good season.

Happy B-day Caroline.

 

[dorispulaski]

janetfan, Thanks for posting that! I had forgotten how much I liked that reversing spin combination in the middle of the program. Not to mention 2 lutzes on excellent entry edges. And there were two (2) ! triple loops in the program--makes me realize how long Michelle's hip must have been killing her. The mechanics of the loop obviously gave her no problem, since she has 2 nice one at 17.

 

[janetfan]

Here is Caroline's SP from two years ago at 4CC. Still just 15, and before her growth spurt - she really shows some lovely qualities.

I think any "cute" factor is due to the fact that Caroline happens to be so petite and so terribly cute.

Not sure if she could change that unless she skated with a bag over her head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x_WV_RMC1o

 

[PolymerBob]

Here is a recent article. Actually, I think it's a blog post.

http://eric-minnesotaice.blogspot.com/2010/03/caroline-zhangs-conundrum.html

 

[janetfan]

Here is a recent article. Actually, I think it's a blog post.

http://eric-minnesotaice.blogspot.com/2010/03/caroline-zhangs-conundrum.html

Geez, if ever a picture was worth a thousand words:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8ulEjDt9X1w/S6O8XMeq2eI/AAAAAAAAAIg/N6ZMMzhNK2Q/s1600-h/DSC_0156.JPG

 

[PolymerBob]

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but in this case, a 4 month old picture might have depreciated somewhat.

 

[Tinymavy15]

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but in this case, a 4 month old picture might have depreciated somewhat.

that picture really was scary... she is ruining her body and any hopes of becoming what she could be if this keeps up. I hope the encouraging reports are true.

 

[aftertherain]

Geez, if ever a picture was worth a thousand words:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8ulEjDt9X1w/S6O8XMeq2eI/AAAAAAAAAIg/N6ZMMzhNK2Q/s1600-h/DSC_0156.JPG

Ow.

Ow. Ow. Ow.

D:

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

With that Picture of Caroline, I wonder if she was doing a CanCan?

The girl has to become a lady (for the sake of semantics) as a part of her program. I think we've had enough of the Tara/Oksana era. And I don't think it 'sells' anymore. It's great for Juveniles.

She has to work on speed, on the technique of jumps, show a bit of musical variety, and present her programs with a sophisticated confidence. That's the Four Horsemen of Golden Skating. Ashley Wagner will win over her again if she doesn't. Ashley has 3 of those horsemen. It will be a rough US Nats for Mirai, Rachael, Ashley and Caroline. And what about Gao and Zawadaski to upset that apple cart?

 

[PolymerBob]

She has to work on speed, on the technique of jumps, show a bit of musical variety, and present her programs with a sophisticated confidence. That's the Four Horsemen of Golden Skating. Ashley Wagner will win over her again if she doesn't. Ashley has 3 of those horsemen. It will be a rough US Nats for Mirai, Rachael, Ashley and Caroline. And what about Gao and Zawadaski to upset that apple cart?

That's most likely true. Though as we've seen, it seems to be easier for U.S. girls to beat Caroline at Nationals than in front of ISU judges. We know that U.S. judges will lend helpful assistance to skaters in their favor, so Caroline has to get in their favor before Nationals roll around. She has to be the top U.S. lady at the Grand Prix by a fair margin. Then she might get some slack at Nationals.

 

[Sylvia]

Caroline received 2 Grand Prix assignments: NHK Trophy (1st event) and Skate America (4th event).

NHK Ladies initial roster: Diane SZMIETT (CAN), Kiira KORPI (FIN), *Lena MARROCCO (FRA), Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO), Carolina KOSTNER (ITA - seeded), Mao ASADA (JPN - seeded), *Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN), TBA JPN, *Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE), Rachael FLATT (USA), Ashley WAGNER (USA), Caroline ZHANG (USA).

Skate America initial roster:
Amelie LACOSTE (CAN), Laura LEPISTÖ (FIN - seeded), *Mae Berenice MEITE (FRA), Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO), Jenna MCCORKELL (GBR), Carolina KOSTNER (ITA - seeded), *Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN), *Min-Jung KWAK (KOR), *Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE), Rachael FLATT (USA), Caroline ZHANG (USA), TBA USA.

* indicates first season on GP

 

[Chemistry66]

Caroline received 2 Grand Prix assignments: NHK Trophy (1st event) and Skate America (4th event).

NHK Ladies initial roster: Diane SZMIETT (CAN), Kiira KORPI (FIN), *Lena MARROCCO (FRA), Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO), Carolina KOSTNER (ITA), Mao ASADA (JPN - seeded), *Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN), TBA JPN, *Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE), Rachael FLATT (USA - seeded), Ashley WAGNER (USA), Caroline ZHANG (USA).

Skate America initial roster:
Amelie LACOSTE (CAN), Laura LEPISTÖ (FIN - seeded), *Mae Berenice MEITE (FRA), Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO), Jenna MCCORKELL (GBR), Carolina KOSTNER (ITA), *Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN), *Min-Jung KWAK (KOR), *Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE), Rachael FLATT (USA - seeded), Caroline ZHANG (USA), TBA USA.

* indicates first season on GP

Sylvia, these are this coming GP season's rosters, correct? If so, then it's Carolina Kostner who's seeded (after placing 6th at 2010 Worlds). Rachael Flatt was seeded last year, but this year she's not since she placed 9th.

As for Caroline, I think she definitely is a lovely skater to watch. I hope she takes time to rework her jump skills (and her behavior sometimes). But this seems like one of those "If only" situations that we will never be able to tell what will happen unless it actually happens. A coach along the lines of Frank Carroll could do her some good. He seems like he doesn't take any bad attitude from his skaters.

 

[silverlake22]

Caroline received 2 Grand Prix assignments: NHK Trophy (1st event) and Skate America (4th event).

NHK Ladies initial roster: Diane SZMIETT (CAN), Kiira KORPI (FIN), *Lena MARROCCO (FRA), Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO), Carolina KOSTNER (ITA - seeded), Mao ASADA (JPN - seeded), *Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN), TBA JPN, *Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE), Rachael FLATT (USA), Ashley WAGNER (USA), Caroline ZHANG (USA).

Skate America initial roster:
Amelie LACOSTE (CAN), Laura LEPISTÖ (FIN - seeded), *Mae Berenice MEITE (FRA), Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO), Jenna MCCORKELL (GBR), Carolina KOSTNER (ITA - seeded), *Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN), *Min-Jung KWAK (KOR), *Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE), Rachael FLATT (USA), Caroline ZHANG (USA), TBA USA.

* indicates first season on GP

Caroline has pretty difficult competition at her events, I bet she's looking at 5th or 6th place for each competition as likely at NHK: Mao, Kanako, Rachael, Carolina if she doesn't bomb, will all beat her and at SA: Laura, Kanako, Rachael, and again Carolina if she's back on track, will all beat her. And that's just what is expected, potentially someone like Elene, Kiira, Viktoria, or even Min-Jung could beat her if she still has issues and one of those other skaters goes clean.

 

[pangtongfan]

I honestly dont know what her future holds at this point. I think what would be best for her would be to almost redo her jump and basic skating technique from scratch. Even sacrifice her chances for up to 2 years if it would mean giving herself any kind of shot of making it to the 2014 Olympics. I felt for a year or two now she should do that, but she wasnt willing to because she was holding out on her dream of the 2010 Olympics. I almost feel the kid of victimized by the judges who didnt penalize her for her glaring flaws earlier, like when she was dominating juniors and being called the next Michelle Kwan despite glaring holes in essentialy the two most important things in skating- jumping and actual skating.

If she continues to plod along with the same coach and following the same routine I dont see things improving for her much. I dont see the judges warming up to her much more than the cold shoulder they showed last year. They were making a statement, they are not willing to give anyone with such horrible flawed jump technique and such atrociously slow and weak basic skating good scores anymore. I dont see that changing so it is up to her to fix her issues, regardless how much work it takes, or she is going nowhere.