Caroline Zhang 2009 National SP La Bayadère

[diegokace]

it is unfair... i think because of that that she lost her consistency... you work hard and put a prog like this and don't have a good result. it's logical that someone lose patience... and reward a skater that doesn't have flexibility, grace, technic...etc etc... good for you America!!!

[BestFiction00]

@diegokace Except of the top American women, Caroline has the worst skating skills and technique. No matter how boring and unpolished Rachael is, Rachael's technique is actually better than Caroline. Of course that's not saying much because American skaters really fell behind in their technique and skating skills.

[TinyAva93]

@diegokace She lost her consistency because she has ALWAYS had bad jump technique. She just was better able to get away with it when she was a 4-and-a-half foot tall junior skater, but she couldn't make the technique work as she got taller and thicker. Add to that the fact that she didn't make any improvements in her skating when she moved from junior to senior. That's why she lost consistency and didn't get the results that she (mistakenly) thought that she deserved.

[alicemacf]

she's such a great, graceful skator, but I feel her leg is a little awkward during her jumps.. maybe it's just me

i think she's going to be an awesome skater with more training and proper coaching.. go CAROLINE!

[PJCNA]

ive watched this thousands of times but everytime she still seems to amaze me!!

[shewalksingrace]

she had the best timed/executed spiral!!! none of the other skaters (except maybe ashley) had a spiral that swelled with the music

[Cherubfish]

What is with the judges?

Why is her score lower than Rachel Flatt?

I seriously prefer Caroline MUCH MORE.

[hellomathkiki]

I was just thinking about that. The LONG PROGRAM was the same. Her program was WAY BETTER than Rachael. I thought Caroline should have gotten better score than Rachel even Ashley. But, I see history repeating itself. Remember 1998 Olympic with Michelle and Tara.... Michelle didn't win despite graceful.... I guess "FIGURE" Skating isn't so FIGURE anymore. No wonder sometimes I hate watching FIGURE skating now cause it's more JUMPING Skating.

[hellomathkiki]

O.k. I just saw alyssa on the TV.  I prefer Carolin's over her's BUT I do honestly have to say Caroline has to be willing to work on her techniques. Alyssa's technique is more stable, solid, and smooth.

With all that said though, Caroline's speed has improved A LOT. GO CAROLINE.... BREAK DOWN YOUR JUMPS, WORK ON IT, and You'll BE THE BEST!

[YuNaKimIsNumbr1]

SHE BETTER MAKE THE WORLD TEAM!!!!!!!

she better!!! so should mirai, no offense 2 rachel flatt or ashley wagner, but sometimes their performances r a little boring.

[hellomathkiki]

That's if they place 1 and 2 right? Because American team only get 2 Lady spot for both World and Olympic this time around?

[jabolanos]

just worlds ,olympics will be decided in LA 2009 depending what place both get

[YuNaKimIsNumbr1]

yepyep. sadly she didn't make it. =(

[hellomathkiki]

Caroline Missed the World.

[jpfdw]

are there any more of '09 nationals ladies? i'd like to see alissa's skate.

[neemarita]

She is very slow with very shallow edging, and needs to rotate her jumps.

Speed on TV is often very different than speed in reality. On TV people look much faster than they are.

[maofefe]

she really skates slow, but sometimes, most in her exhibitions she skates fast. She just need more speed training and she'll be much faster than now cause when she was 13 she skated really fast. And you can't judge an skater just because her speed. This program was lovely!

[pookipichu]

Give her credit, she has improved vastly from her debut this season and has increased her speed and power.

Some skaters are very fast like Carolina Kostner, who skates like a drunken pterodactyl on crystal meth, but I'd rather watch Caroline Zhang, beautiful movements, musicality and balletic lines.

[herm712]

Even with the choppy video, I could tell she was skating faster and much better. Her footwork looks better too. I disagree with her lower PCSs. That was lovely and she deserved marks than those...docking points for not holding a damn spin 8 revolutions is one of the reasons people have stopped watching the sport. They nitpick about way too many things rather than just allowing the skaters to skate...

[pookipichu]

Fantastic!! Fantastic!! She has more speed and is clearly a thoughtful athlete and artistic. I love her skating and I do believe the judges are tough on her. Rachel Flatt just doesn't have the same grace or artistic quality.

Thank you for posting the vid.

[curmeow]

can caroline outscore flatt if she had hold her spin long enough ?

[wecandreamcanwe]

We won't know that. Rachael Flatt skated very slow and hesitate last night but received very high PCS score. The judges were clearly helping her. Anyway, I don't care about Rachael, no speed no spark, plain boring.

[waddleduckie1]

i always thought that Caroline Zhang skated better than Rachael Flatt

[sk8tergirl159]

I definitely think she could have.

[SEETHR0UGHMEx]

think so..

[curmeow]

thx a whole lot for uploading the vid!

[butterbat]

Thank you so much for putting this up!

[maofefe]

This program was awesome but I think that the judges are just ridiculous.. They didn't give to Carol qhat she deserves.. This is so unfair..

[SEETHR0UGHMEx]

i agree :(

[yeunkim]

I appreciate that Caroline is such a perfectionist. You can hear hee criticizing her own performance immediately after.

[callumleach]

thankyouu so much!:) cna you video her long and mirais too:)x

[skatefan2009]

I  don't understand why the US judges are so tough on Caroline Zhang. It's so ridiculous almost like they are punishing her for skating her best. Caroline should consider switch Federation if the US don't appreciate her skating. I actually have an idea, Caroline could join Korea Federation. Yuna and Caroline, how wonderful that will be and the Korea will be a powerhouse!

[maofefe]

I think Caroline has to switch to China cause her parents are chinese and China love her!

[TinyAva93]

@skatefan2009 Except that Caroline isn't Korean...

The judges are tough on her because she's really a very weak skater. She was probably the slowest of all the senior ladies at Nationals. Her edges are weak. Her jump technique is a hot mess. She comes to a complete standstill before her axel. Other than the layback, her spins are really just very ordinary and average. She has great flexibility on her spiral but the edge is shallow, it is slow, and her free leg is off at a weird angle.

[CarolineMaoYuna]

Even Caroline Zhang received credits for her spin , which she should IMO. I bet the judges would still put Rachael Flatt ahead of her. Rachael skated slow and very tentative and still got higher PCS than Caroline, Mirai and Alissa.

[skatefan2009]

Her best SP so far! Much much better than the GP events. Too bad she didn't hold the layback spin long enough to get credits! It's such a pity :(