Christina Gao (born March 7, 1994) is an American former figure skater. She is the 2012 Skate America silver medalist, the 2009 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2009 U.S. Junior bronze medalist.

Personal life Christina Gao was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her name in . Her father was a junior national badminton champion in China.

Gao spent several years in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, before moving to Boston in 2012. She was a National Merit semifinalist. In the summer of 2012, she worked at a hospital shadowing a gastroenterologist. In the fall, she began studying at Harvard University, taking a full course load. She graduated in 2017.

Career

Early career Gao began skating at age 7. Early in her career, she trained in northern Kentucky, coached by Stephanie Miller and Ted Masdea.

In the 2004–2005 season, competing on the Juvenile level, Gao won the silver medal at her regional championship to qualify for the United States Junior Championships, where she placed 12th. She moved up to the Intermediate level the following year and won the pewter medal at her regional championship to qualify for the United States Junior Championships, where she placed 11th in her qualifying group and did not advance to the final. She moved up to the Novice level for the 2006–2007 season and placed 13th at her regional championship and did not qualify to her sectional championship.

In the 2007–2008 season, competing again on the novice level, Gao won both her regional and sectional championship to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Championships, where she finished 12th.

The following season, Gao moved up to the junior level. She won the silver medal at her regional championship and the gold medal at her sectional championship to qualify for the 2009 U.S. Championships. At Nationals, she placed third in the short program and second in the free skating, winning the bronze medal overall.

2009–2010 season Due to limited ice time in Kentucky, Gao relocated before the 2009–10 season to Toronto, where she was coached by Brian Orser, the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medalist, at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Gao made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in the 2009–10 season. She won the bronze medal at the 2009–10 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Poland with an overall score of 134.55 points. She had also been assigned to the event in Turkey, where she won another bronze earning 135.01 points.

She qualified for the 2009–10 Junior Grand Prix Final. At the Junior Grand Prix, she placed fifth in the short program with 52.82 points and third in the free skate with 98.65 points, winning the bronze medal overall with a score of 151.47 points. She earned new personal bests in both segments of the competition.

At the 2010 U.S. Championships in January 2010, she placed fifth in the short program with a score 56.26 points and fifth in the free skate with 100.27. She placed 5th overall with 156.53.

She was assigned to compete at the 2010 World Junior Championships. She placed 8th overall.

2010–2011 season Gao was assigned to the 2010–11 ISU Junior Grand Prix events in Austria and Japan. She won the silver medal in her first event with a total of 167.14 points. Gao withdrew from the competition in Japan but was reassigned to Germany based on her result in Austria. She placed second totaling 155.67 points. Those placements qualified her for the 2010–11 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, where she came in sixth position earning 145.01 points. She finished 5th at the US Championships at the senior level. She was fourth at the 2011 World Junior Championships.

2011–2012 season Gao was assigned to the 2011 Cup of China and 2011 Cup of Russia for the Grand Prix season. She had a hip injury and was off the ice for most of July. At her first event, Cup of China, she came in eighth in the short program with a score of 51.99. She placed fourth in the free skate with a score of 100.47 to finish fifth. At Cup of Russia, she was tenth after the short program with a score of 39.64. She also placed tenth in the free skate with a score of 78.13, to place tenth overall. Gao finished 5th at the 2012 U.S. Nationals Championships. Gao then competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and finished 7th at the event.

In March 2012, Gao left Toronto and returned to Cincinnati. After a June visit to Boston, Gao decided to train with coaches Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson at The Skating Club of Boston.

2012-2013 season After winning the silver medal at the 2012 Skate America, Gao placed fourth at the 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard. In late November, ISU officials announced that she would compete at the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final, replacing Yulia Lipnitskaya who withdrew from the event due to injuries. Gao placed sixth at the Grand Prix Final. She was fifth at the 2013 U.S. Championships and was named in the United States team to the 2013 Four Continents in Osaka, Japan where she finished 4th and was the highest ranking American at the event ahead of teammates Gracie Gold and Agnes Zawadzki. After completing her first semester at Harvard University, Gao made the decision to take a year off in order to train full-time for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

2013-2014 season Gao opened her 2013-2014 season by winning the bronze medal at the 2013 Ondrej Nepela Trophy behind Russian Nikol Gosviani. She has been assigned to two events for the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix series, her first event was at the 2013 Skate Canada where she finished 4th. In her next assignment, Gao finished 8th at the 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard.

Gao was 8th at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and therefore did not make the Olympic team.

2014-2015 season After not making the 2014 Olympic team, Gao decided to compete for one more season, despite the objections from those around her. Gao was assigned to the 2014 Cup of China and the 2014 NHK Trophy. At the Cup of China, she was 8th after the short program and 11th after the free skate, placing 9th overall with a score of 125.04 points. At the NHK Trophy, Gao placed 6th in the short program and 10th in the free skate to finish in 9th place overall with a score of 147.51 points.

Gao finished 11th at the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2014–2015 River by Emeli Sandé Angels & Demons by Hans Zimmer 2013–2014 Close Without Touching by David Arkenstone 2012–2013 Libertango by Astor Piazzolla choreo. by David Wilson Ave Maria by Beyoncé 2011–2012 Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn

To Love You More by Lucia Micarelli choreo. by David Wilson 2010–2011 Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn choreo. by David Wilson Yellow River Piano Concerto by Xian Xinghai performed by Yin Chengzong, Chu Wanghua choreo. by David Wilson Ave Maria by Beyoncé choreo. by David Wilson 2009–2010 Morning Passages from The Hours by Philip Glass choreo. by David Wilson La fille mal gardée by Ferdinand Hérold choreo. by David Wilson 2008–2009 Liza's Dance from Stepping Out by Peter Matz choreo. by David Wilson Paquita by Richard Bonynge performed by the English Concert Orchestra choreo. by David Wilson 2007–2008 Csárdás by Vittorio Monti Yellow River Piano Concerto by Xian Xinghai performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

Competitive highlights

2009–10 season to present International Event 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Four Continents 4th Grand Prix Final 6th GP Bompard 4th 8th GP Cup of China 5th 9th GP NHK Trophy 9th GP Rostelecom 10th GP Skate America 2nd GP Skate Canada 4th Ondrej Nepela 3rd International: Junior Junior Worlds 8th 4th 7th JGP Final 3rd 6th JGP Austria 2nd JGP Germany 2nd JGP Poland 3rd JGP Turkey 3rd National U.S. Champ. 5th 5th 5th 5th 8th 11th GP = Grand Prix; JGP = Junior Grand Prix QR = Qualifying round; TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

2004–05 to 2008–09 National Event 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 U.S. Championships 12th N. 3rd J. U.S. Junior Champ. 12th Jv. 11th I. (QR) Midwestern Sectionals 1st N. 1st J. Eastern Great Lakes Regionals 2nd Jv. 4th I. 13th N. 1st N. 2nd J. Levels: Jv. = Juvenile; I. = Intermediate; N. = Novice; J.= Junior

Detailed results (Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.)

2013–2014 season Date Event Level SP FS Total January 5–12, 2014 2014 U.S. Championships Senior 6 60.91 10 102.12 8 163.03 November 15–17, 2013 2013 Trophee Eric Bompard Senior 4 58.81 8 94.04 8 152.85 October 25–27, 2013 2013 Skate Canada Senior 4 62.82 4 110.8 4 173.69 October 3–5, 2013 2013 Ondrej Nepela Trophy Senior 4 52.14 3 100.70 3 152.84 2012–2013 season Date Event Level SP FS Total February 8–11, 2013 2013 Four Continents Senior 4 62.34 5 113.94 4 176.28 January 19–27, 2013 2013 U.S. Championships Senior 5 58.74 4 117.54 5 176.28 December 6–9, 2012 2012-2013 ISU Grand Prix Final Senior 6 48.56 6 105.98 6 154.54 November 15–18, 2012 2012 Trophee Eric Bompard Senior 7 52.55 4 112.16 4 164.71 October 19–21, 2012 2012 Skate America Senior 3 56.63 2 117.62 2 174.25 2011–2012 season Date Event Level SP FS Total February 27 – March 4, 2012 2012 World Junior Championships Junior 5 52.66 7 98.43 7 151.09 January 22–29, 2012 2012 U.S. Championships Senior 6 54.83 5 111.53 5 166.36 November 25–27, 2011 2011 Cup of Russia Senior 10 39.64 10 78.13 10 117.77 November 4–6, 2011 2011 Cup of China Senior 8 51.99 4 100.49 5 152.48 2010–2011 season Date Event Level SP FS Total February 28 – March 6, 2011 2011 World Junior Championships Junior 3 56.80 6 98.47 4 155.27 January 22 – 30, 2011 2011 U.S. Championships Senior 5 58.43 6 108.77 5 167.20 December 9–12, 2010 2010–2011 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Junior 7 43.98 3 101.03 6 145.01 October 6–10, 2010 2010–2011 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Germany Junior 2 47.66 2 108.01 2 155.67 September 15–19, 2010 2010–2011 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Austria Junior 2 58.07 2 109.07 2 167.14 2009–2010 season Date Event Level SP FS Total March 8–14, 2010 2010 World Junior Championships Junior 9 49.34 6 94.52 8 143.86 January 14–24, 2010 2010 U.S. Championships Senior 5 56.26 5 100.27 5 156.53 December 3 – 6, 2009 2009–2010 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Junior 5 52.82 3 98.65 3 151.47 October 14–18, 2009 2009 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Turkey Junior 7 44.91 1 90.10 3 135.01 September 9–12, 2009 2009 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Poland Junior 3 50.52 3 84.03 3 134.55 2008–2009 season Date Event Level SP FS Total January 18 – 25, 2009 2009 U.S. Championships Junior 3 49.45 2 79.24 3 128.69 November 11–15, 2008 2009 Midwestern Sectional Championships Junior 4 43.89 1 85.94 1 129.83 October 10–14, 2008 2009 Eastern Great Lakes Regionals Junior1 47.015 66.61 2 113.62 2007–2008 season Date Event Level SP FS Total January 20–27, 2008 2008 U.S. Championships Novice 11 11 12 83.75 November 14–17, 2007 2008 Midwestern Sectional Championships Novice 3 41.831 85.34 1 127.17 October 1–6, 2007 2008 Eastern Great Lakes Regionals Novice 1 45.521 73.49 1 119.01

SP = Short program; FS = Free skating.

References

External links