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March 8, 2014 |
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Caroline Zhao Zhang (born May 20, 1993) is an American figure skater. She is the 2010 Four Continents bronze medalist , the 2007 World Junior Champion , the 2006–2007 Junior Grand Prix Final Champion and the 2009 U.S. bronze medalist . , she was ranked 12th in the world by the International Skating Union (ISU). Caroline Zhang is Chinese American and is ethnically Han Chinese. Her Chinese given name is Yuan-Yuan (), which literally means round-round, and that is the name by which she is known in China and referred to in the Chinese media. She was born in Boston and moved to California at a young age. Her parents are from Wuhan, China , and her older sister, Yang Yang, was born in China. The Zhang family currently lives in Brea, California. Caroline Zhang is bilingual in English and Mandarin. Zhang is proficient at the piano, was concert master in her middle school's orchestra on violin, and was a ballet dancer before switching to figure skating. She trains at the East West Ice Palace in Artesia , which is the rink owned by the Kwan family . Early careerZhang began skating at age five after watching it on television. In the 2002-2003 season, Caroline Zhang skated on the Juvenile level, which is the lowest qualifying level in the United States. Zhang began her season by winning the silver medal at her regional championship to qualify for the 2003 U.S. Junior Championships. There she won the pewter medal (fourth place), Juvenile level. In the 2003-2004 season, Zhang moved up to the Intermediate level, which is one level up from Juvenile. Zhang won her regional championship, which qualified her for a second time for the U.S. Junior Championships, this time at the Intermediate level. She won the bronze medal. In the 2004-2005 season, Zhang moved up to the Novice level, which is the first level that competes at the United States Figure Skating Championships. Zhang won the silver medal at her regional championship to qualify for her sectional championship, where she won the pewter medal. This qualified her for the 2005 United States Figure Skating Championships for the first time. At the National Championships, Zhang won the pewter medal, Novice level. Zhang moved up to the Junior level in the 2005-2006 season. She won the silver medal at her regional championship to qualify for her sectional championship, where she won the bronze medal. This medal qualified her for the 2006 United States Figure Skating Championships on the Junior level. She placed 8th at the National Championships at the age of twelve. 2006-2007 SeasonZhang made her debut on the international stage in the 2006-2007 season. She competed on the 2006-2007 ISU Junior Grand Prix and won her first event in Mexico by a record fifty-three points. She went on to win her second event by thirty-three points and then the Junior Grand Prix Final by twenty. Zhang became known for her creative spin positions, musicality and spiral extension, prompting comparisons to Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan by those in the figure skating community, including international judge Joe Inman. Qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final qualified her for the 2007 United States Figure Skating Championships without having to qualify through her regional or sectional championships. Competing on the Junior level, Zhang won the silver medal behind Mirai Nagasu. Zhang was named to the U.S. team to the 2007 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where she beat Nagasu to win the title. Zhang, Nagasu, and Ashley Wagner completed the first ever sweep by the United States of the World Junior ladies podium. 2007-2008 SeasonFor the 2007-08 season, Zhang moved up to the senior level both nationally and internationally. She made her Grand Prix of Figure Skating debut at the 2007 Skate America, where she won the bronze medal. At this competition, she earned a level 4 and a +3 Grade of Execution for her trademark Pearl spin, which is the highest score a skater can receive under Code of Points . Zhang received deductions for underrotating jumps, costing her 17 points overall. Zhang went on to the 2007 Cup of China, where she received fewer deductions and won the silver medal. She earned 24 qualification points in the Grand Prix series. Following the result of 2007 NHK Trophy, she qualified for the 2007???2008 Grand Prix Final, where she placed 2nd in the short program and fourth overall. She was the fourth World Junior Champion in a row to qualify for the Grand Prix Final in her first Grand Prix season. Zhang had a bye through her regional championship due to Skate America and a bye through her sectional championship due to Cup of China. She made her senior national debut at the 2008 United States Figure Skating Championships, where she won the pewter medal. Zhang was placed on the U.S. team for the 2008 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where she won the silver medal behind Rachael Flatt. With Mirai Nagasu taking the bronze, this was the second ever U.S. sweep of the World Juniors ladies podium. 2008-2009 SeasonIn the 2008-2009 season, Zhang competed for the second consecutive season on the Grand Prix. At her first event, the 2008 Skate Canada International, she placed third in the short program with a score of 53.28 after falling on her opening jump combination. She placed 5th in the free skate with a score of 97.52, after falling on one jump and omitting another, to place 5th overall. At the 2008 Troph??e Eric Bompard, her second Grand Prix assignment, Zhang placed third in the short program with a score of 51.76 after omitting the required double axel as well as receiving a Level 1 on her spiral sequence . Zhang scored 104.78 in the long program after receiving a downgrade on her triple flip - triple toe combination, as well as a deduction for a wrong edge take-off on her triple lutz - double toe . She earned a Level 4 on all three of her spins and her spiral sequence . She scored 156.54 overall and won the bronze medal. At the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Zhang won the bronze medal, moving up one position from the previous year. She was placed on the teams to the 2009 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and the 2009 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. She made her senior ISU Championships debut at the Four Continents Championships, where she placed 4th. She won the silver medal at the World Junior Championships. 2009-2010 SeasonZhang was assigned to the 2009 Troph??e Eric Bompard and to the 2009 Skate Canada International for the 2009-2010 Grand Prix Series. She placed 4th at the 2009 Troph??e Eric Bompard with a score of 153.15 points and eighth at the 2009 Skate Canada where she earned 132.46. At the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Zhang placed 11th in the short program with 49.94 points after having problems with her jump combination and falling in her triple loop . She failed to improve her position in the free skate after falling on the triple flip - triple toe combination and stepping out of the triple lutz . Her final score was 138.27 points. She was assigned to compete at the 2010 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. She placed 5th in the short program with a score of 55.10 points after the triple flip in her triple flip-double toe loop combination was downgraded. In the free skate, she completed five triple jumps and earned level fours on all her spins and her spiral sequence to earn 105.68 points. Zhang placed 3rd in the free skate and won the bronze medal overall with 160.78 points. 2010-2011 SeasonFor the 2010-2011 ISU Grand Prix season, Zhang was assigned to the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Skate America. She placed 7th in the 2010 NHK Trophy with 133.86 points and 9th at the 2010 Skate America with 132.49. Zhang was coached by Li Mingzhu from 2005 through 2009. On June 15, 2009, Zhang announced a coaching change to Charlene Wong. She returned to being coached by Li in August, 2009. On July 20, 2010, Zhang announced that her new coach is Tammy Gambill. Zhang has performed a spin position that her mother has called the Pearl spin , a cross between a catch-foot layback spin and a Biellmann spin. In this spin, the free leg is brought up to waist-height and the free blade is grasped with both hands. The back and head are bent down towards the knee, with the free leg held above the head in a Biellmann position. This makes the spin, in essence, a catch-foot layback in a Biellmann position, because the Biellmann position, according to regulations, is achieved when the level of the boot passes the head so that the boot is above and behind or over the head. It is a layback spin because it is an upright spin with the head and shoulders dropped backwards and the back arched downwards toward the ice. This position has become Zhang's signature spin. Zhang also performs a hyper-extended Biellmann spin. She is one of several young skaters to perform this move. In this variation, the leg is pulled straight up in the air and the back bent as far into the spin as possible. Zhang is able to perform the spin with her free leg pulled straight up into the air, with very little knee bend, making the spin look closer to a capital-I position than the usual Biellmann teardrop shape. This is a crowd favorite in exhibitions.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Caroline Zhang".
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