Ice queen at thirteen
Don’t be shocked if you see a diminutive 13-year-old walking around the aisles of a local grocery in full figure-skating regalia this week.
Caroline Zhang, the rising star of U.S. figure skating, has been known to do just that, said older sister Yang.
“She’s the one getting us up early in the morning, saying, ‘C’mon, we have to be at the rink in an hour,’ and we just want to sleep,” she said. “She loves skating.”
So, it isn’t uncommon for little sister Caroline to come off the ice after a practice at her home rink in Artesia, Calif., throw on her skate guards, hop in the car, and join the family for a shopping trip.
It’s a good example of how the 4-foot-9 junior ladies phenom feels completely comfortable in the skating life, but still finds time to be a kid while working hard toward her lofty goals.
Caroline Zhang’s goal is to win the women’s skating event at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. That would be something her idol, five-time world champion Michelle Kwan, hasn’t accomplished in her prolific career.
But at the rate Zhang is going, it wouldn’t be an upset if she turned out to be one of the U.S. stars in 2010.
“I’m very impressed with her skating and power and, of course, her technical ability at such a young age,” said Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. “She’s certainly one to watch.”
Of course, anointing a future star in any sport – especially skating – is risky.
There are too many factors that can affect the trajectory of a star’s path, upward or downward: body changes, injury, burnout, or just plain bad luck. Furthermore, even the most prepared of skaters are not always able to seize the golden moment in a high-profile event.
It is also important to remember that Zhang is still skating in the junior ranks, though she has been whipping her international competitors by wide margins in Junior Grand Prix events. She entered three Junior Grand Prix events last fall and won all of them by large margins under skating’s new scoring system.
“This year, she did a great job,” said her coach, Li Mingzhu. “So far, we are pretty happy with that. But, this is just a step. Later, maybe three years from now, she can be on a team and represent her country in the Olympics. This is her dream and this is my dream too.”
Zhang was eighth in the ladies juniors at last year’s U.S. Nationals but is the favorite in Spokane. She first takes to the Arena ice tonight at 6:30, in the short program, then again in the event’s final on Tuesday night.
In a practice session Saturday, she patiently worked around the edges of the group and practiced each component separately. Before and after each move, she would skate back to her coach for consultation.
Then Zhang got a chance to put it all together as the final skater in the group, struggling at times on some jumps before closing strongly. When she came off the ice a little disappointed, she was warmly greeted by Li.
Li is a veteran coach who is based at the Kwan family’s East West Ice Palace that Zhang calls home. She was coach to former world champion and Olympic medalist Lu Chen of China. She has a coach’s keen insight into what Zhang needs to perfect to become an elite skater at the international level.
“I think she does need a lot of technical work,” said Li. “Right now, she does have all the triples already, but we still have to develop her triple-triples. For ladies, I feel the triple-triple is very important, especially for the new judging system.
“Definitely, her artistic part needs developing, too. She definitely has a very good feel with music, but in the future maybe she picks up a different style of performance, maybe more like a drama.”
Li said the three elements to make a skating star are (natural) potential, a well-designed training plan and hard work.
“She’s a very hard worker,” Li said of Zhang.
Li said that Zhang’s natural gift is that of flexibility. Zhang also appears to have an uncommon grace in her movements.
Zhang has taken advantage of those skills to create her signature spin, one in the layback position that her mother dubbed “The Pearl,” with Zhang’s head titled back in an “oyster” formed by her arms and one leg.
“She’s coming up with new moves all the time in practice,” said Li.
Zhang was pleased to report in a phone interview this week that she had completed four flawless programs on Monday, then had just completed two more on the day of the interview. She had four ice sessions every day this week before coming to Spokane on Thursday with her family.
She talks like a star-struck fan when she conveys her excitement about seeing senior skaters at nationals such as Kimmie Meissner. But she is clearly focused on what she wants to accomplish for herself in the junior event.
“I just want to do my best and maybe get my personal best score,” Zhang said. “I want to get my spins to my right level, and my footwork, and want to express myself more. That’s about it.”
She has already enjoyed a whirlwind year for a teenager, having traveled to Bulgaria, Mexico and Taiwan for Junior Grand Prix events in 2006. Zhang, who is bilingual, was able to barter with local street vendors in Taipei. Yet her favorite part of that trip was all kid.
“I bought a lot of stuffed animals,” she said. “They have a whole mall with stuffed animals.”
The other half of her life soon intervened, as she had to get back on the ice for the third practice that day. That schedule, along with upcoming international events, has forced her to recently become home-schooled.
But her sister is taking time off from M.I.T. graduate school to help out her sister. It’s the kind of family support that Li and others say is critical in nurturing a budding skating star off the ice.
“We love traveling with her,” Yang said. “It’s kind of unusual, but it’s really important that we’re with her since she’s so young. Our family has tried hard to make things a little easier on her. She’s a strong girl and determined. When she puts her mind to it, she really focuses on something.
“We just want her to be herself, whatever it is. For us, she’s still just the little girl who comes home with us.”