Performing to the sounds of "Ave Maria", the yellow-skinned
American girl impressed the audience with her excellent spins at
the Cup of China, the third stop of the ISU Figure Skating Grand
Prix, in Harbin, capital city of northeast China's Heilongjing
Province earlier this month.
With the same Chinese heritage as Michelle Kwan - a figure skating
legend in the US - the 14-year-old Chinese-American, Caroline
Zhang, is hoping to be the next Kwan.
"Kwan is my idol. She has very good footwork and good skating
presentation," said Zhang. "I wish I could be the 'Kwan No 2' one
day."
Competing as a junior in the 2006-07 season, Zhang was
impressive in winning the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final and the World
Junior Championships.
Now competing as a senior, Zhang finished third at the second
Grand Prix stop in America, her first competition with adults. She
went on to claim the silver medal at the Cup of China. She now has
a good chance to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.
Zhang started skating when she was not quite four years old. She
attended a public skating session with her sister in Boston, though
she didn't put on the skates again until a year later.
Zhang, whose parents are Chinese immigrants, started taking
lessons when she was five at Costa Mesa Ice Chalet in California.
She had done ballet since she was three, so figure skating came
naturally to her.
"I've always liked watching ballet and gymnastics and skating
videos and teaching myself," she said.
She landed her first double axel and her first triple salchow
when she was eight, which were big steps for the young skater. By
the time she was nine, she could do all the other triples, and she
was hooked.
"I like skating because it is very interesting and it is very
fast," she said. "We have to work hard, and it's worth it."
Zhang was born in Boston, Massachusetts but now lives in
California where she trains with Li Mingzhu, the former coach of
Chinese world champion Chen Lu.
Zhang's coordinated body movements and fighting spirit caught
Li's attention when Zhang came to see her four years ago.
"Zhang was very aggressive and had good agility, which attracted
me when I met her for the first time," said Li. "She is not a
powerful skater, but has good spins. She also did well in the
interpretation of the music."
The young skater lives and trains in Lakewood and Artesia,
California, the same her ice idol Kwan trained on.
Although too young to qualify for the World Championships, many
believe Zhang will be a strong contender for the 2010 Vancouver
Winter Olympic Games.
"Zhang has the potential to qualify for the US Olympic team,"
said Li. "The training ahead of the Olympics is very important and
we will try to do well in the daily training."
(China Daily November 22, 2007)
