Mao Asada: Olympic Gold Medal Favourite? | Golden Skate

Mao Asada: Olympic Gold Medal Favourite?

Mao88

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
What a fabulous performance by Mao at the NHK Trophy! A new personal best score in the FS of 136.33 and a new personal best combined total of 207.59.

With Kim having lost a lot of training time, and given Kostner's poor performance at the Cup of China, in my view Mao is now the favourite for the Olympic title in Sochi.

It is also worth noting that Mao's scores in the SP and LP at NHK, were higher than Kostner's personal best SP and LP scores. Hence, even if Kostner is able to get back to her best, so long as Mao maintains her current form, then Kostner cannot beat Mao. Accordingly, the battle for the Olympic gold medal would appear to be a straight fight between Mao and Kim.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
For me, Kim is still the favorite. Mao hasn't yet this season rotated six triples, and Kim can easily do so. I'd prefer Mao to win OGM because I think she and Yuna are two of the most deserving athletes of that title, but Mao needs to clean up all the little mistakes she tends to make in the LP to take the gold.
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
depends on how lenient the panels, but I agree she is capitalizing on Yuna's absence in the GP
right now she has a shot for gold but if Kim shows up clean, she wont beat her, Kim can score 140+ in FS

Kostner is another story, she is a hit or miss
and tends to bomb in Olympics season
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I love Mao and would love for her to win, but I also love Kim and see that the quality of Kim's jumps (among other things) might weigh overwhelmingly in her favor. For either one to win would be splendid, because they are the two premiere skaters of this generation. The thing about Mao is that she'll never say die and never pull back. This gives a huge boost to her chances to win.

My hope is that both of these ladies give performances in Sochi that are OGM-worthy, and that it comes down to the judges. And maybe that there has to be a tie! Why not dream?
 

hurrah

Medalist
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
I do think that the stars have aligned themselves to put Mao as the prime favorite.

Mao definitely has it in her to beat Yuna. Right now, Mao skating to her potential can beat Yuna even at her best, which probably was during Vancouver season.

But... ice is slippery.
 

gimble

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
What a fabulous performance by Mao at the NHK Trophy! A new personal best score in the FS of 136.33 and a new personal best combined total of 207.59.

I didn't think Asada's today's performance was that great personally. I hope it will be better at GPF. Compared to her SP, her LP didn't feel really 'gelled'.

On a given day, let the best skate win for any competition. I hope. I suppose two skates over two days really.
 

Rachmaninoff

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Can't say until we see Kim this season, which we haven't yet. It certainly looks like Kim will have more of a challenge than she did last year, though, and competition is always good.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
For me, Kim is still the favorite. Mao hasn't yet this season rotated six triples, and Kim can easily do so. I'd prefer Mao to win OGM because I think she and Yuna are two of the most deserving athletes of that title, but Mao needs to clean up all the little mistakes she tends to make in the LP to take the gold.

I'm not Team Mao very much, but I do think she was robbed of the chance to win OGM in 2006. So if she wins, I will be happy for her. However, what she is showing won't hold up to a clean Yuna. Not even close. But good luck.
 

koatcue

Medalist
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Country
Russia
Mao is a lock for silver at least right now. I'd give an edge to Yuna. I think she'll be as strong as ever to the Olympics.
 

YunaBliss

On the Ice
Joined
May 11, 2010
Mao definitely has it in her to beat Yuna. Right now, Mao skating to her potential can beat Yuna even at her best, which probably was during Vancouver season.

Sorry to turn this into another Mao-Yuna war, but NO WAY Mao can beat Yuna at her best with her pseudo 3-axel. Mao is scoring 207+ not because she became that much better from 2-3 years ago, but only because "another skater" is getting 200+ points so many times.
 

Shayuki

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
It'll not be in Japan so she'll score around 8 points lower so no, not really as long as Kim Yu-Na recovers properly. Even so, she's the favorite for Silver, pretty clearly. If Kim Yu-Na won't recover properly, Mao Asada is the favorite for gold but not that clear of a favorite, and Julia at her best, with home field advantage, has the potential to defeat her.
 

andyjo24

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Mao has been doing very well, but you have to consider the inflation in the scores this season. If Kim goes clean now, her PCS (and maybe even TES) will be even higher than the one she received in Worlds 2013, which would maybe even beat out her world record in the free of 150.06....
 

andyjo24

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
And plus, we haven't yet seen Kostner at her best. Kostner always makes mistakes in her program. But who knows, if she goes fully clean at the Olympics with 3-3? She'll most likely score higher than Asada.
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
I will never call Kostner or Asada a "lock" for anything. Last season, we saw Asada's scores keep going up until she ran into trouble on her SP (again) when it mattered most. And her PCS advantage is no advantage over Kim who will always be 5 points ahead. Kostner is not a lock because well... She's Kostner. Granted we haven't seen any meltdowns from Asada but her jumps are not the most dependable things anyway.
 

Krislite

Medalist
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Mao is definitely a favorite, but not the "prime" favorite. People here have a tendency to put way too much weight in such few competition results. One comp they're a medal favorite, the next they're doomed. You can't really do that with highly inconsistent skaters like Gold, Asada or Kostner. You never really know what you'll get from competition to competition.
 

chloepoco

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Mao is definitely a favorite, but not the "prime" favorite. People here have a tendency to put way too much weight in such few competition results. One comp their a medal favorite, the next they're doomed. You can't really do that with highly inconsistent skaters like Gold, Asada or Kostner. You never really know what you'll get from competition to competition.

I agree with this.
 

minze

Medalist
Joined
Dec 22, 2012
Give Mao some credit, she is becoming more consistent and we not see meltdowns from her in a long time. Even at 2013 worlds she pulled her self together after an ok SP to the podium. Also, Mao is a skater who progress it thought the season. Last season her performances kept getting better and better after each competition. So after two competitions, I think she is on the right track. One good sing for Asada is that the judges are rewarding her presentation and that is well deserved
 

Mao88

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
People here have a tendency to put way too much weight in such few competition results. One comp they're a medal favorite.

One competition? It's 3 convincing wins out of 3 for Mao this season. Winner of the Japan Open. Winner of Skate America with a score of 204.55. Winner of the NHK Trophy with a score of 207.59. She is performing consistently well, is getting better and better, and the momentum is with her
 

andyjo24

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Yes, Mao is getting more consistent, but you can't rule out Kostner yet just based off of COC results. She may come back stronger than ever in the next competition. And also, Kim has stated that she is able to land all her triples, so it does not seem that the injury was too major. Nothing is guaranteed. But yes, I do agree that Mao is one of the favorites for the gold but as Krislite stated, she is definitely not the "prime favorite" IMO. Maybe, later throughout the season, if Kim performs horribly at her senior-B event.
 
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