Caroline Zhao Zhang (born May 20, 1993) is an American figure skater. She is a two-time (2010 and 2012) Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2007 World Junior Champion, the 2006 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a three-time U.S. national medalist (bronze in 2009, pewter in 2008 and 2012).
Caroline Zhang was born on May 20, 1993, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents are from Wuhan, China, and her older sister, Yang Yang, was born in China. Caroline is bilingual in English and Mandarin. The Chinese media refers to her by her Chinese given name, Yuanyuan (simplified Chinese: 张圆圆; traditional Chinese: 張圓圓; pinyin: Zhāng Yuányuán, which means "round-round"). She moved to California at a young age. The Zhang family lives in Brea, California.
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.
In April 2016, she became engaged to fellow figure skater Grant Hochstein. They married on August 18, 2018 and have two daughters, born 2021 and 2024.
As of February 2017, she was a student at Cerritos College in California.
Zhang started taking skating lessons at age five.
In the 2002–03 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 2003–04 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 2004–05 season, Zhang moved up to the novice level, which was the first level then included at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Zhang won the silver medal at her regional championship to qualify for her sectional championship, where she won the pewter medal. At her first U.S. Championships, she won the novice pewter medal.
Li Mingzhu became her coach in 2005. Zhang moved up to the junior level in the 2005–06 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 to compete on the junior level at the 2006 U.S. Championships, where she placed 8th at the age of twelve.
Zhang made her debut on the international stage in the 2006–07 season. She competed on the 2006–07 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 U.S. 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 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.
For 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 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 U.S. Championships, where she won the pewter medal. Zhang was placed on the U.S. team for the 2008 World Junior 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.
In the 2008–09 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 Trophée 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. 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 Championships and the 2009 World Junior 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.
On June 15, 2009, Zhang announced a coaching change to Charlene Wong. She returned to Li in August 2009.
Zhang was assigned to the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard and to the 2009 Skate Canada International for the 2009–2010 Grand Prix Series. She placed 4th at the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard with a score of 153.15 points and eighth at the 2009 Skate Canada where she earned 132.46.