What if Mao had skated?

[ladysarahchatto]

I bet that she'd be in first place or pretty darn close to it.

It is impossible to tell. She may have skated great and won-OR she may have totally done-not well. Like Costner. My guess is she would have been top five, but not in the medals.

[Vash01]

I believe Mao would have felt the Olympic pressure just like Irina and Sasha did (and Kimmie too). Since she had beaten Irina and Sasha (and Shizuka) during the season, there would have been the expectation that she would do it again. I am not sure she would have handled the pressure. She did not handle the pressure of the Japanese nationals either. She finished second there.

Vash

[guinevere]

I am guessing that Mao would have finished thrid or fourth, if she had been here. A combination of me thinking nerves would have affected her consistency, and me guessing by the way the judges handed out marks. I definitely think she would not have won.

[Mafke]

I am guessing that Mao would have finished thrid or fourth, if she had been here. A combination of me thinking nerves would have affected her consistency, and me guessing by the way the judges handed out marks. I definitely think she would not have won.

My thoughts exactly, especially the composition of this panel (who was on it?) leads me to think that Asada's particular strengths would not be rewarded so handsomely as they wee at GPF.

[bethissoawesome]

Mao's personal best (from the GPF) would still not have been enough to win; it would have gotten her silver... but you can never really know with Olympic pressure. Maybe she would have rose up to the challenge, maybe not. I hope she is skating in 2010... that way we will know for sure how she does at the Olympics.