^^ As I said, and as you've reiterated and elaborated on
@chameleonster, lots of factors and logistics are involved in new pairings. For that matter, every new partnership is a leap of faith, because none of us know what the future will bring. Therefore, speculation about Michael in particular being more likely to bow out of the partnership due to being older is somewhat of a moot point. At this juncture, it's simply a matter of putting everything into pursuing their mutual goals, and seeing how it all works out. Anything can happen in life and in figure skating, eh!
Let's say that it works out for them and they decide to pursue pointing toward the next two Olympics. On October 3 of this year, Michael will be 24 and Caroline will be 16. It's kind of cool that they share the same birthday. In any case, by 2026 Olympics, Michael will be 30 (turning 31 later that year), and Caroline will be 22 (turning 23 later that year).
Or else, they may wish to pursue only the next Olympics at which point Caroline will be 18 (soon turning 19) and Michael will be 26 (soon turning 27). Continued longevity of their partnership will depend upon their success and other factors, but if either decide to split or retire (particularly in Michael's case), the other could continue if an appropriate partner could be found (particularly in Caroline's case). No matter what, they are giving this new partnership a chance to grow and to thrive. There's no need for sideline fans to throw wrenches into it before they even have a chance to compete at their debut event.
The main point is, they are the ones in the partnership and
they have much more information than any of us will ever be privy to in that regard, despite the hand-wringing, random chatter, griping, speculation and OTT over-focus in this thread, by all of us.
As if it truly makes any difference to the success of their partnership. There are much more important factors than height involved in competitive ice dance accomplishments.
