Caroline Zhang thread

[Karpenko]

Caroline Zhang kicks so much ass. Virtually the entire skating world gave up on her, she had the end-of-career "phenom with early success who has a huge reality check to retirement" story written out for her by so many people.... But nope. She said I'm going to grow taller, wider, lose every jump I have because my technique was awful, lose most of my extreme flexibility, and fall down the rankings while everybody says I'm done, calls me fat, and work, work, work until I get back to where I did last night.

I never gave up on her (while it seemed like everybody else did) and it's because she has the competitive type A personality mindset of a lion. This for me is the real start of her senior career, and she has a potential decade of competitive skating left in her with so much potential now that she has very nice, solid looking jumps to hang onto. I really do think with more work and more improvement, she has the potential to fulfill all of the hype that she generated early in her career. I am so freaking proud of her!!!

[judgejudy27]

I dont think she will ever come close to living up to her early career hype which would have been a World Champion, but she has a good chance to make a decent career for herself which nobody would have forseen a year or two ago. Definitely an amazing comeback, but I hope she can just make atleast one World team. It wont be easy, the depth in the U.S for ladies is building up to be something super.

[Triple Butz]

If she can get the 3toe and/or 3sal back and REALLY work on speed over the summer (the improvement is noted- but much more is still needed), I definitely think she could be a contender again. That 3r/3r will be deadly in the sp if she hits it cleanly next season.

[eurodance2001]

Caroline has what she needs to be a top lady. She has regained fitness and love for the sport and seems to be dedicated in continuing her technique improvements. I'm sure she will add speed and some more transitions and will be even more kick a$$ next season..

[Mayra]

I have so much respect for what she accomplished. She still has room for improvement, but her skating and her attitude lead me to believe she is on the right track to continue to learn and grow.

What a great way for her to end the season! Caroline!

[IceAlisa]

Caroline is such an inspiration!

[victoriaheidi]

Caroline is really inspirational, too. I'm proud of her for having the fight and desire to push through all the bad and come out a stronger person/skater. Mirai, take some notes.

Also, she looks really great when she's happy and smiling.

[doubleflutz]

Even more than anything else about her new-and-improved skating, I'm so thrilled she's reclaimed the pearl. That entire spin sequence she does at the end of her FS is phenomenal. The way she lifts up through the pearl to her Biellmann is so smooth, and I can't imagine the core strength it takes to do that. It's as phenomenal a piece of athleticism as any triple-triple. She doesn't get enough credit for her spins. She's every bit as good as Alissa and Mirai, even better in some aspects.

[Theatregirl1122]

The best thing about Caroline right now is how joyful she looks on the ice! There was a period of time where she just looked so miserable skating. I'm so glad she finally found her love of skating again, and I'd bet that is what helped her to get to this point (not the other way around).

GO CAROLINE!

[johndockley92]

If she can get the 3toe and/or 3sal back and REALLY work on speed over the summer (the improvement is noted- but much more is still needed), I definitely think she could be a contender again. That 3r/3r will be deadly in the sp if she hits it cleanly next season.

I agree. loop-loop is on par with lutz toe point value wise. If the US can get 3 spots: look out world ^_^

[berthesghost]

It wont be easy, the depth in the U.S for ladies is building up to be something super.

why do I feel like I'm reading an old post from the archives? Remember when these very words were said about zhang flatt and nagasu and how they were going to kick senior ass and rule the world?

[judgejudy27]

why do I feel like I'm reading an old post from the archives? Remember when these very words were said about zhang flatt and nagasu and how they were going to kick senior ass and rule the world?

I didnt say I thought they would rule the World. In fact if we werent in a super weak couple years for ladies skating that produced Miki freaking Ando becoming a 2 time World Champion last year I wouldnt say they currently had a medal shot of any kind. However I think they are all very competitive amongst each other, and with only 2 or 3 spots, there will be a huge battle for them as there are many contenders. They dont have to be a superpower on the World level for that to be the case.

[krenseby]

I dont think she will ever come close to living up to her early career hype which would have been a World Champion

But how fair is it to compare her to the hyped-up expectations that some people had? As she entered the senior ranks, very little about her skating was at World Champion level: The jumps were small, sometimes underrotated, and didn't generate positive GOE. The PCS were far lower than those of the top ladies due to speed/stroking issues.

Considering all of those flaws, how fair was it to hold her up to the expectations of being a world champion?

[IceAlisa]

Even more than anything else about her new-and-improved skating, I'm so thrilled she's reclaimed the pearl. That entire spin sequence she does at the end of her FS is phenomenal. The way she lifts up through the pearl to her Biellmann is so smooth, and I can't imagine the core strength it takes to do that. It's as phenomenal a piece of athleticism as any triple-triple. She doesn't get enough credit for her spins. She's every bit as good as Alissa and Mirai, even better in some aspects.

This. Well said.

[feraina]

I'm so happy for her. I have tears in my eyes every time I watch/re-watch her programs or K&C or podium shots. Just amazing!

[Jenna]

I wanted to shed tears of joy after her free skate last night. What a beautifully redeeming season this has been for Zhang. I really hope she continues on her upward trend and even more next year.

[Marco]

1. work on speed and power
2. work on 3sal

If she could just focus on these 2 things and achieve reasonable success over the summer, she can have a great 2012-3 season.

And placing 4th at Nationals and 3rd at 4CCs guarantees her Team A funding yes?

[IceAlisa]

Also, work on the remainder of the mule kick on the lutz, work on correct edge take off and better flow out of the 2A although every time I see her skate, the axel improves. And now that she's come so far, I believe that she can do this remaining work. She has rebuilt a whole new skater from the ground up and brought back the Pearl. She can do anything!

[Sylvia]

And placing 4th at Nationals and 3rd at 4CCs guarantees her Team A funding yes?

Team B envelope funding.

Reportedly she has been practicing her 3F+3T again, which would give her the option of planning more than 5 triples in her FS (especially if she adds the 3S back again, too.).

[Rob]

YAY for Caroline!