Mao Asada | Page 19 | Golden Skate

Mao Asada

satine

v Yuki Ishikawa v
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Oh no, gotoschool, I wasn't criticizing her for taking the endorsement. I'd like her to profit as much as she can from her career, in many ways. I just personally would not buy it. I'm a cheapo though ;)
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
gotoschool, thank you for sharing the translation. It's good to know she's having fun and enjoying her break to the fullest.
 

hb2010

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Who is Ayaka Morimoto? She has so many fun photos with Mao :love:. Mao's fan thread will be inevitably quiet, but I'm so happy to see that she's having a blast.

Ayaka is Mao's best friend since they were three.
They were taking ballet lessons together :)
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Thank you hb2010 for telling us who Ayaka is.

I am posting this website here of my favorite commentary for Mao's Sochi freeskate. It is in Russian and it is the 8th screen down with a little blue Poccciya (that is Russiya) and a red number 1 next to it in the top right of the screen. Please see the translation below. My Russian isn't great, but I think it's pretty close. A few phrases are missing or not quite right.

http://skating.livedoor.biz/archives/51877523.html

It also has the sps, freeskates and expos for all the women and men at Sochi and an incredible number of comments in Japanese about Mao's freeskate. I have had a lot of fun trying to puzzle through the cryptic translations produced through google translate.

This one is the best to me, with Tarasova's being second. I can understand most of the words, and it is so much more profound in depth, spirit, empathy, understanding, praise and eloquence compared to anything you will hear in English. Mao obviously touched something special in the soul of at least one of the announcers with her performance and the help of Rachmaninoff. But, both were obviously really impressed.

Translation
First announcer: I never imagined Mao would be skating like this because she came here to at least."

Second announcer: Awful!

First announcer: It is such a pity that she fell into such a big hole in 16th place. It is a tragedy for Mao herself and her huge army of supporters in Japan. She's behind by almost 20 points. Nothing is left.

Second announcer: She is in the Guiness Book of World records for her triple axels. Let's watch!

First announcer: She did it. She did a simply magnificent triple axel! She is the only woman who executes this. Triple flip / Triple loop. Superb! This is Mao Asada. Then, in a soft voice, he says, "the 2nd Concerto Rachmaninoff is one of my most beloved musical compositions. Her figure skating suits it very well. Very expressive. Pleasing. Double Axel / Triple Toe. Yes of course today, Mao, this is as it should be. Important that it wasn't too late. Triple Salchow. Triple Flip / Double loop / Double loop. Insane competitor. She's skating the maximum level of difficulty today. Triple loop.

Second announcer: She's completed all her jumping elements.

First announcer: (As Mao does her spins ending in Biellmann) What she did yesterday has past. She's simply skating perfectly. Clean free program. She's the essence of a soldier: a real samurai!

First announcer: (step sequence) The crowd the crowd is into it. Listen to how the crowd (hall) is clapping. Today it is the performance of an Olympic medalist.

Second man: Interruption: Free program

First announcer: Free program of course a pity of course because 20 points. Mao today I think it will be a huge score. Today, everything fell into place.

Second announcer: Bravo! Bravo! Very Well Done! She starts to cry. She feels offended. She is offended with herself because the short was completely the opposite.

First announcer: I think she would have been the Olympic Champion. It is the performance that only an Olympic Champion can do.

Second announcer: Well done! Simply unbelievable story. When Mao lost to Yuna Kim in Vancouver, Mao decided to reconstruct her figure skating, learned the basics?, then the jumps, every hour how to land, and that period was very difficult. It was absolutely psychologically demoralizing. She couldn't deal with her defeat to Yuna Kim. Now, she has at last reconstructed, rebuilt the look of her skating. In December 2011 a great tragedy happened at the time of the Grand Prix Final. Her mother went into the hospital and Mao didn't return in time. And then Mao went to America where Lori Nichol made the program Marry Poppins to take her mind off the tragedy.

First announcer: It's been a long time since I saw that kind of skating in a woman's program. She did the maximum difficulty. (Names all the jumps). Maximum difficulty. Of course, she understands and it is such a pity. She thinks that she (became / would have become) Olympic champion with that free program. (Note: not clear on the meaning of the verb in this sentence).

Second announcer: says maybe

First announcer: Yes maybe



The first announcer's overall meaning is that Mao gave the performance of the Olympic champion before he had even seen the others' skate (as if he was confident nobody would perform better), while the second announcer tries to rein in his excitement and praise. One poster I read said that they think the first announcer is Maxim Trankov who won the pairs competition. I did find out that he has done broadcasting before, but I cannot verify that he is the one announcing. One funny side note is that it would be wholly appropriate if it was in fact Maxim announcing because he used the phrase "maximum difficulty" 4 times when describing Mao's performance. I have heard that Olympic medalists and champions were most impressed with Mao's performance.

This first Russian announcer gave the highest praise I have heard. But One American announcer said, "There will not be a more gutsy, determined impressive performance the rest of the night."
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Country
United-States
Thank you for sharing. Mao's character is one of greatness.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Thank you, Gotoschool, for sharing and translating.

She's the essence of a fighter: a true samurai!
:yes: :cry:

Maybe it's just me, but despite Mao coming in second in 2010 and "only" sixth in 2014, Sochi seems to feel more like a triumph than a defeat. There was something transcendent about that LP, something bigger than just winning/losing against Yuna. I hope Mao, whatever she decides to do in the future, is able to look back on Sochi with pride.
 

satine

v Yuki Ishikawa v
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
:yes: :cry:

Maybe it's just me, but despite Mao coming in second in 2010 and "only" sixth in 2014, Sochi seems to feel more like a triumph than a defeat. There was something transcendent about that LP, something bigger than just winning/losing against Yuna. I hope Mao, whatever she decides to do in the future, is able to look back on Sochi with pride.

Absolutely! :clap: :points:
 

sunnybear

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Awww thanks for the translation gotoschool! It brought tears to my eyes :cry: I can't believe we won't be seeing Mao this season, it feels so odd... ))):
 

aromaticchicken

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
So true!! I mean there's a reason why I rewatch her Sochi fs all the time but don't have much interest to watch adelinas or yunas or carolinas....
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Looking at how Mao is relaxing during her time off... now I feel a little selfish for wanting her to come back/blindly believing she'll come back. But her Sochi LP and Saitama SP were just too good--I feel like she's still got more to show us!
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Looking at how Mao is relaxing during her time off... now I feel a little selfish for wanting her to come back/blindly believing she'll come back. But her Sochi LP and Saitama SP were just too good--I feel like she's still got more to show us!


I think many of us, including me, really have no idea how much effort and sacrifice it takes to reach, much less maintain, the incredibly high performance level Mao peaked at at the end of last season. Also, she has been suffering from back pain fairly often for the last two seasons. I have read that she had a lot of difficulty feeling her legs and that she suffered from back pain during her Worlds 2013 LP while doing her Biellmann. I also know that she took off a couple of weeks in late December 2013 / early January 2014 due to fairly severe back pain that precluded her from training. If you notice her performance during the LP at Nationals in late December, it appears evident to me that she is injured, which I believe was the main reason for her jumping problems.

If you combine these back issues with her being underscored in the Sochi and the Worlds LP through either suspicious or bogus tech calls, rock bottom GOE or deflated PCS (or all three) while other competitors are over-scored, along with the new harsher edge and ur rules that have been instituted, which could be targeted at her on the specious basis of "reputation based" scoring. it seems quite unlikely to me that she will continue. Besides, if she doesn't come back, she went out on such a high note with her third world title, what many consider to be one of the greatest womens' LP performances ever on the grand Olympic or any stage, and a new world record score in the SP, which was a historic performance for me as well, not to mention a wonderfully compelling final skate when the other top competitor's were faltering.

There is also the fact that most figure skaters seem to be focused primarily on the Olympics, and Mao is no exception, which I think is unfortunate due to the scoring bias that appears to be such an inherent part of it these days. But, the next Olympics is still 4 years away, which is a long time to continue the wear and tear on her back, at the very least. In addition, the next Olympics are in South Korea, which in my opinion would not offer the best prospects for a gold due to the tense relations between South Korea and Japan, especially with the history of the Kim and Mao rivalry. I am not blaming anyone just stating facts of history. All you have to do is go to the youtube videos for Mao and Kim to find out the hostility on both sides by many people. To be honest, under the videos I have noticed there are more negative comments coming from Kim fans, but I know both sides are guilty of it. Again, I am just stating what I have actually seen. That said many Kim and Mao fans have also complimented the other skater. For all these reasons, I really doubt she will come back. Of course, I really hope she does because she is my all-time favorite.

What I found so incredible about the Russian broadcast I tried to translate above is that a Russian announcer on Russian TV in an Olympic Games held in Russia with two Russian skaters contending for medals yet to skate, openly stated on three different occasions during and after Mao's skate that she gave the performance of an Olympic champion and that he had not seen a women's skate like that for a long time. To me, this is amazing praise coming from a "miraculous organ" and the highest compliment and "award" Mao could receive, in addition to the loud rhythmic clapping from a half empty auditorium. Like you said Sandpiper, the transcendence of the performance far outweighs the deflated score, so her "loss" seems trivial.

As I wrote, during this performance the grandeur built and built as the her speed gradually increased perfectly in sync with the sound of the music until it reached its ultimate climax and release in the step sequence, when she leapt into the air with arms and legs outstretched, then tread into a transcendent dimension that exorcised all her Olympic heart aches, grievous mistakes and humiliations to embrace a peak performance that surmounted Everest. She flew so high into the clouds that no "base" score could ever degrade her or bring her down.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I understand what you're saying. Even though Mao is still young, she's been competing at the top level for a very long time. Maybe I should be grateful she's still in any shape to compete, because so many others aren't after eight gruelling years in seniors.

I guess I want to her to come back because of how amazing those final three performances were (Sochi LP, Saitama SP, Saitama LP). Her abilities clearly haven't dropped off. Sochi showed what she could do once the pressure was off her, while Saitama proved she can still deliver even when pressure was on (The Saitama LP, while not perfect, was also a huge achievement. I thought she might struggle because of the enormous pressure: being in her home country, getting WR for the SP, and perhaps wanting "redemption" for the Olympics. Instead, she delivered a great 7-triple LP; because yes, even when Mao Asada stumbles and misses a triple, she still has as many triples as the next skater can do on their best day :yes:).

I feel like Mao might return because she seemed adamant about retiring after the Olympics... but afterwards she was no longer sure. Clearly she feels like there's something left for her in competition, if she's actually become less interested in retirement after Sochi and Saitama. If it weren't for the new edge rules + 2018 Olympics in Korea, I think she'd be back for sure. Sadly, seems like those things are geared toward pushing her into retirement.

I still think Mao could make it to 2018 though. If she paces herself and doesn't compete full seasons, in addition to resting during injury rather than pushing herself... I don't know if she'll be able to win the Olympics in Korea, but I certainly wouldn't put it past her. Not all Olympics are as well-skated as the one in Sochi. And I'm still dreaming of Mao putting together that perfect SP+LP. Of course, best wishes to her, whatever she decides to do; I trust her to make the best choice for herself. ;)
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
I honestly think that one of the reasons I secretly want her to retire is because I don't want to go through the turmoil of once again seeing deflated scores in the 2007 Worlds LP, 2010 Worlds, Sochi LP and the Worlds 2014 LP, especially because I could see the tech counter corruptly ticking down by multiple digits live on my screen. If continuing to skate isn't bad for Mao's health, then at least she could have the decency to think of mine. :laugh:

Mao's programs in 2010, Waltz Masquerade for the SP and Bells of Moscow LP, for some reason cut skating fans like a double edged sword with people usually loving them or lambasting them, but I find Mao's clean and compelling performances in the SP and LP in 2010 Worlds to be as perfect as you can get: the stunningly dramatic and flexible fan, cross grab and arabesque spirals (which I miss so much in her performances), a trio of triple axels with more height than today's, and the one handed Biellmann with the black gloved hand cupped against her chest. To be honest, I like these performances almost as much as the ones in Saitama.

I agree to a certain extent about the pressure to medal not being on Mao in the Sochi LP. Even Mao said that she would not have skated that way had she had a better performance in the SP. However, I think there was a totally different kind of pressure that in some ways was even more intense because it was limited to only one performance: that of preserving the last shreds of her dignity and justifying in 4 minute's time what she had spent 4 year's trying to rebuild in her technique: her stated intention of staking her entire reputation on the Sochi season. There was also the weight of an entire nation on her shoulders in the wake of the insulting comments made by Prime Minister Mori the night of her devastating SP.

To make such a stunning about face in one day is truly exceptional and barely believable because the demoralizing effects of such a profound humiliation usually persist in a sense of inadequacy or are cast off in resignation. Fortunately, she had had experience with these "about faces" between the SP and LP in the 2007 Worlds (her first tears of redemption LP), the 2007 Grand Prix Final and to a lesser extent 2013 Worlds. But, Sochi was the most bi-polar of all.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I love Bells of Moscow! I spent a lot of time--probably more time than I should've--arguing she should've easily won the LP in 2010 Worlds. I'd love to see her do something dark and dramatic again.

I wish broadcasts would forgo that stupid tech counter. For one, it's just plain distracting. For two, it makes me even more livid when I see the "could have been's" (Mao's tech score was, what, ten points higher than the previous high score... and eventually dropped to below said score).

But even so, I want Mao to skate if her body feels up for it, and she still finds something left in competitions. Since she's still got her triple axel going--maybe not as consistent as before, but she still landed it 3/4 times in her last four skates, and two of those times with great quality--I'd never, ever write her off regardless of the edge rules.
 

bebece

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 14, 2014
i agree i want mao to skate to some dark, dramatic and haunting piece of music

i know that a lot of people said that
mao born to skate to chopin

but i want to say that

mao born to skate to rachmaninoff
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Here's some news from rosewood at fsuniverse http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...hread-starting-on-her-23rd-bd-3.89260/page-16 :

One more news about Mao. I posted earlier on this thread that Mai did bungy jump in New Zealand, and it turned out that it was for another TV show! Yay!

TV Tokyo will air a travel show? named "Mao&Mai Asada-TRY and GO-" on 21st September from 16:00(Japan Time)
Pictures http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/official/asada-trygo/

Mao announced her break and it enabled her to have relaxed time with her sister Mai at last. They went on a three days trip to New Zealand. They tried various things there. They experiended working as food reporters in restaurants, learned traditional Maori dance, tried jet boards--they realy loved exciting challenges. They tried bungy jump for the first time! They hepled feeding cows and pigs in a farm. Mao learned home cooking from a mom of a family living there. The climax of the trip was her skating on the natural ice. She dreamed of skating on the natural ice. However, the unsually warm winter made it difficult. Well, did she really make it?

Here is another post describing what Mao did on her vacation in Los Angeles and what she has done since World Championships again posted by rosewood:

However, in a sense, she'd already done that doron when she stayed with one of her best friends in LA for a couple of weeks in the middle of August. Smile It was a totally private vacation. She looked really relaxed threre. I saw photos in which she enjoyed shopping(I guess she bought bathing suits), did funny things on a beach such as doing cartwheels and junping up together with several friends, took photos on a hill from where one can enjoy beautiful night view, helped her friend with cooking, did sightseeing in Hollywood, enjoyed rides in Disneyland...etc etc. She did the ice bucket challenge as well. The ice looked melted under the sun, though. Her friend posted the challenge on her facebook and peole noticed that Mao was with her. I'm glad she had good time without being bothered by media people. I found she's a master of stealth traveling. Wink Before knowing her vacation in LA, I was a bit afraid when I read a crappy article that paparazzi's eyes were on her to shoot her in bathing suit since she indicated visiting Okinawa(where is famouse for beautiful beaches) for doron(=private vacation). I think it was a good choice for her to visit LA where she's not a stranger since she once stayed there to work with RA. I'm glad one of her dreams came true. The dream to travel without taking skating boots.Smile

*Mao after announcing her break*
Lots of ice shows and several live TV & radio shows-->Kazakhstan show-->Toronto for choreography with Lori-->filming "Mystery hunter" in Europe-->back in school(takig classes and preparing for THE ICE)-->filming CMs-->THE ICE tour--> sponsor's events & opening ceremony of the last stop of her exhibition for which she transformed into Maiko style-->private vacation in LA for a couple of weeks--.>filming a TV show in New Zealand with her sister-->(I'm not sure about this)taking scuba diving classes in Okinawa to take a lisence-->the second semester just started from September. Cheering
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
rosewood at fsuniverse provided a picture of Mao finishing her scuba diving training.

Look closely and find which one is Mao!
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/the_dives2008/e/294a84c87d5d1c5875f3da565ece4452


Brief summary of her message. Full post at: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...hread-starting-on-her-23rd-bd-3.89260/page-16

Summary of caption beneath picture: Chukyo University students have successfully completed their scuba diving training and they have all received certification as 'open water divers'. :) We are really happy that Mao-chan took part in it.


So, Mao took part in the scuba diving classes without being bothered by any paparazzis. The scuba diving classes took place in Hamamatsu which is a few hours drive from Nagoya(her home town).
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Mao's exh. program in Sochi: https://vimeo.com/105686001

You read my mind. I posted this version earlier today as fsuniverse.

From the same site, here is an HD quality video of Mao's Sochi LP. I haven't been able to find any of this quality on youtube.
http://vimeo.com/87275728

Here is another HD quality video of Mao's Gala at Sochi with Adelina Sotnikova commentating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a11zVxJbQd8

Here is a translation of Mao Asada's Gala at Sochi with Adelina Sotnikova and another male announcer, which I gave a link for in the post just above this one:

Adelina: Mao is a great athlete who rebounded.

Male announcer: By chance.

Adelina: By chance: maybe. She was the kind who spent a long time preparing to become first place. Nobody in Japan hid that fact. You can't imagine what happened in Japan. Mao Asada, it is a name like only the president of the country can compare.

Male announcer: Mao Asada I know. But the President and Prime Minister of the country, I don't know.

Adelina: Therefore, it seems to me that she is the second person in the country. And of course all of Japan. I think they became (felt) better.

After Mao finishes, male announcer: The piece that Mao Asada danced for us Smile What a Wonderful World are words that show that all of life depends on joy without any difference. And the ice in Iceburg Palace was all flowers while Asada danced. She somehow forgave herself. I don't know if she will announce the end of her career or not. That is a matter for her and her trainer. But, what she performed here in the Sochi dance as a symbolic goodbye I will remember.
 
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