Bingwa Geng 12yrs old, Chinese Skater

[Muskoka Skater]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wp3Zf0vxYNo

This girl is amazing. She is only 12 years old. She is considered to be a new star in China. Here is her long program, the music: some where in time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tENIsCZYPPw&feature=related

Also here is a video from when she was 11 years old.

[Sessy]

And she's got Caroline Zhang's oyster spin, too...

On the other hand, this girl has probably has had no childhood outside of the ice rink.

[peanutskates]

she apparently started at 2.5 yrs old

love the pink dress!

[Muskoka Skater]

That's really young. Did she start lessons at that age or just did like Public Skating and stuff? She's my age and the best thing I can do is a Double Axel, I've got a long way to go, lol!

[Sessy]

LOL... Over here in the Netherlands, there is I think 1 girl in juniors who can do a double axel in competition. Numbers 2 and 3 of the last nationals are from my club and it's a good day when they can land one in practice, in competition they generally don't even try.
But then even in Senior ladies there's only two or three who can do one. Things are a little better in novice, most of those girls at least can do them in practice and they have a few more years. :lol:

[Muskoka Skater]

I can do one and I haven't passed my Pre Novice yet, lol!

[Sessy]

LOL yeah well, that's life. :lol: We also only have 1 contestant in the senior men's category. :lol: He did a single salchow and single flip in his SP at nationals (although he can do and has done triple sals and all doubles).

Our senior ladies' national champion has done triple flips in competition though, which is far from bad. She placed like 14th at the Europeans.

Anyway the thing is, no matter how many good skaters they have in China, they only can send a few to international competitions and olympics. Sure those will have a far better chance of winning strictly because they will need to be exceptionally good to win the nationals, much like the case was with Soviet skaters, but China alone won't take over the skating world.

[Skittl1321]

I've seen quite a few lists that have her down for Junior Worlds- so is she actually 13, or is she not going to be at JR Worlds?


Sessy- Zhang calls her spin "pearl" she always gives dirty looks to reporters who say oyster (which is what it looks like!). I wonder what the people who did it before her called it (since she didn't invent it, only made it popular)

[Muskoka Skater]

I found a biography on her and it says she is actually 14. She was born January 3rd, 1994. It says she began skating at 3 years old.

[ice_godess]

LOL... Over here in the Netherlands, there is I think 1 girl in juniors who can do a double axel in competition. Numbers 2 and 3 of the last nationals are from my club and it's a good day when they can land one in practice, in competition they generally don't even try.
But then even in Senior ladies there's only two or three who can do one. Things are a little better in novice, most of those girls at least can do them in practice and they have a few more years. :lol:

Well Sessy - I expect things in the Netherlands will change soon! Canadian coach and former Olympic competitor Neil Carpenter was recruited by the Dutch skating association to whip its program into world-class shape....and if Neil can't do it, nobody can. He moved over there in the fall and things should be hopping (or should I say jumping?) by now!!

[vesperholly]

Mods, can this be moved to General Skating please? Thanks.

[Sessy]

Well Sessy - I expect things in the Netherlands will change soon! Canadian coach and former Olympic competitor Neil Carpenter was recruited by the Dutch skating association to whip its program into world-class shape....and if Neil can't do it, nobody can. He moved over there in the fall and things should be hopping (or should I say jumping?) by now!!

As long as all the rinks are government-run and closed 6 months a year I don't expect he'll be able to change much for anybody except the very top, and it's still a bottom-up sport cuz the talent has to be developed at a very young age in many skaters if you want to get a few really good skaters eventually, so I'm skeptical there. But who knows.
Besides there's two artificial-ice rinks in the planning for the next couple of years and ice rink Hoorn's open-summer experiment went well last year and they might remain open in summer in the future as well, plus we've had a giant influx of children wanting to skate following the "dancing on ice" tv shows and some of those - at least at our club - are packing a heckload of talent so all that together might just do the trick for future generations. :)

LOL way to go off-topic btw, BAD Sessy, bad! Let it go!
Lolz.

[Muskoka Skater]

She didn't do to well at the Junior Worlds, but she did get all personal bests!

[crazyfsfan]

She didn't do to well at the Junior Worlds, but she did get all personal bests!

She did not have PB prior to Jr. Worlds! Of course she was able to beat them all! :lol:
It's rumored that she's not even 13 years old yet at the Junior Worlds, the Chinese federation must have done sth. :roll: She fell a couple of times, but did try all five triples at Jr. Worlds. Here are the videos I found:

Bingwa Geng's SP at Jr. Worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxCEd8JTWuM

Bingwa Geng's LP at Jr. Worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZvlPovCoVM

I like this exhibition program the best:
Bingwa Geng's Ex at Chinese Nationals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9OVtGVHzOM

[Muskoka Skater]

Thanks for posting the videos!