Mao Asada: Olympic Thread
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I guess I don't really understand what happened mechanically. Why didn't she do a combo? I saw the score / placement before I watched the video and I was expecting to see her just laying flat on the ice the whole time! It's not as though she fell out of her jumps after the triple axel and it wasn't possible to make a combination out of one of them.....why didn't she do it?
I was devastated and felt so bad for her! She is one of my favorite skaters as well and to see her finishing in 16th after the short program, there is definitely going to be no way for her to finish in the top 3 I think, clean lp or not. There will most likely be at least 3 out of the 15 skaters in front of Mao that will skate nearly clean and score big. The gap is just too wide for her and at this rate, I doubt she will be able to do a clean 3A on her lp. I hope she takes it easy and with minimum level of stress. She deserves every achievement she has earned in her career.
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- Sep 13, 2010
That's exactly the point I've made, she landed it three times in that Olympics. Why does she insist on it. It seems like Akiko won't include 3-3 tonight, she will try to focus on each jump well. This is the right attitude - why Mao doesn't get it?
There were times that Miki was beautifully landing 4S at practice, but never put it in the competition. Neither Miki nor Morozov didn't want to try that. This time Coach Sato is taking blame, I've heard.
Anyway there was an article in a Japanese paper about Kostner (27)'s matured skating. She didn't do well in the last two Olympics (I think her placement of Vancouver was 15th), and now finally she is very happy with her skating from last night. Maybe Mao can continue another four years (she will be 27)?
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- Aug 8, 2009
I have never seen Mao bomb like that due to a mental breakdown. Whenever she bombed before, it could be attributed to growing spurt issues, technical issues, etc. It was heart-wrenching, mind-numbing to watch like her bomb like that, at this stage in their career, when she is so physically and technically primed. And it worries me more that she had such a breakdown because this is not normal for her. Other skaters who have mental breakdowns do so on a regular basis, and so they are probably used to recovering from it, but Mao, until now, was someone who tended to hold it together when it mattered the most. I'm really worried that the long will be even worse. I don't suppose she could sleep, and the mental and physical exhaustion will probably have gone far beyond anything that she's ever experienced in her life. I'm expecting a dirge.
If I could speak to Mao now, I would tell her that this experience will set her up well to live the rest of life with more confidence. She will become a stronger person for having experienced this monumental and epic disappointment, and for having recovered from it. Because if she can survive and overcome this, what else would she have to be afraid of?
If I could speak to Mao now, I would tell her that this experience will set her up well to live the rest of life with more confidence. She will become a stronger person for having experienced this monumental and epic disappointment, and for having recovered from it. Because if she can survive and overcome this, what else would she have to be afraid of?
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- Jan 19, 2014
for a lot athletes i like, when they bomb, i get really annoyed with them and pretty dismissive of their pain and disappointment in a 'ugh i wasted time rooting for you, how dare you let me down' kind of way. and for others, i am just so unbelievably sad for them and i think that's when it becomes obvious i've become attached to the person beyond the skater and that's really the biggest compliment any fan can give a skater. mao is obviously one of the very few in the latter category.
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- Feb 14, 2013
This. It's so hard watching a skater for so many years rooting for them only to watch them fail, you feel for them. Mao's career seemed ready to end in a fairytale manner here and instead, it's turned into a horror movie......poor Mao.
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This. It's so hard watching a skater for so many years rooting for them only to watch them fail, you feel for them. Mao's career seemed ready to end in a fairytale manner here and instead, it's turned into a horror movie......poor Mao.
I'm gutted for her. Hope she can skate lights out tonight!
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- Mar 23, 2010
i've been tagged as a yuna bot in this forum.. but if there's any skater who i respect the most as a competitor outside of yuna that will be mao... she's a great skater.. it will not diminish everything she has done for this sport and her country.. she's a champion.. she's a warrior.. and i'm hoping that she and yuna will take the final olympic performance as a farewell gift to their fans who supported them through the good and the bad since novice/junior..
cheers for one last time!!!
cheers for one last time!!!
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I, too, am in disbelief. Just utter disbelief and sadness at how her SP went. I don't think Mao has ever had a skate like that since becoming an elite skater. And she was practicing so well. Heartbreaking.
i've been tagged as a yuna bot in this forum.. but if there's any skater who i respect the most as a competitor outside of yuna that will be mao... she's a great skater.. it will not diminish everything she has done for this sport and her country.. she's a champion.. she's a warrior.. and i'm hoping that she and yuna will take the final olympic performance as a farewell gift to their fans who supported them through the good and the bad since novice/junior..
cheers for one last time!!!
I love the way you put that. I too hope for a splendid performance tonight, in the way that Kurt Browning gave us such a beautiful Casablanca after falling in the short program in 1994. There is no one like Mao, and as you say, her contributions to skating and to Japan will not be diminished by last night. In my deepest aspirations, I hope that even her opponents reach out to offer comfort to her.
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- Oct 23, 2011
We all love her. She has overcome the deepest loss. I love Akiko, too. Mao floats like Caro, I am gutted for her. I hope the people laughing at her or happy she had falls are ashamed. They are out there. One great LP for her mom please. I was thinking she could withdraw. Its just so sad to end this way.
Mao's interview after the LP
- What a performance
"I went for it thinking I could do it. This is the layout I wanted and I did it."
-What thoughts came to mind after your performance?
"The practice this morning wasn't great, so I thought I should just concentrate and do what I came here to do.
-How did you overcome yesterday?
"Lots went on... But I've been checking things one at a time. So I decided to concentrate on each jump."
-You nailed 6 different triples. Did you achieve what you've been working on in the past 4 years?
"Yes."
-How do you feel now?
"Yesterday was such a disappointment and I regretted it so much. I felt like I'd done something that couldn't be undone. In the free I wanted to show what I've been working on in the past 4 years. And I think tonight I was able to give back to so many people have supported me."
-Can you give us your thoughts for skating? Your thoughts for fans?
"As a national representative, I guess I'm not bringing back a medal. But today I delivered what I wanted. The result might not have been good, but I'd like to think I could pay back in my own way.
At this point the interviewer was sobbing- and so was I!
http://sochi.headlines.yahoo.co.jp/sochi/hl?a=20140220-00000076-dal-spo
- What a performance
"I went for it thinking I could do it. This is the layout I wanted and I did it."
-What thoughts came to mind after your performance?
"The practice this morning wasn't great, so I thought I should just concentrate and do what I came here to do.
-How did you overcome yesterday?
"Lots went on... But I've been checking things one at a time. So I decided to concentrate on each jump."
-You nailed 6 different triples. Did you achieve what you've been working on in the past 4 years?
"Yes."
-How do you feel now?
"Yesterday was such a disappointment and I regretted it so much. I felt like I'd done something that couldn't be undone. In the free I wanted to show what I've been working on in the past 4 years. And I think tonight I was able to give back to so many people have supported me."
-Can you give us your thoughts for skating? Your thoughts for fans?
"As a national representative, I guess I'm not bringing back a medal. But today I delivered what I wanted. The result might not have been good, but I'd like to think I could pay back in my own way.
At this point the interviewer was sobbing- and so was I!
http://sochi.headlines.yahoo.co.jp/sochi/hl?a=20140220-00000076-dal-spo
Congrats to Mao! What a heroic comeback in the free skate.
Incredible! Absolutely jaw dropping! I'm so proud of her accomplishment!
*I wish so much that her sp would have been better for her because she would have most probably been able to step on the podium with that fs!
Joannie Rochette @JoannieRochette
Mao Asada, WOW!!! What a skate! What a fighter! 142.71
Alexei Yagudin @yagudinofficial
Sochi. Ladies free skate! Mao Asada! WOW!!! Bravo!!! So sad for her short! :-(
Denis Ten @Tenis_Den
What a comeback by Mao!!! Amazing skate. So happy for her!
Michelle Kwan @MichelleWKwan
Mao Asada - made me cry.... a performance that we will all remember forever!
Kimmie Meissner ‏@kimmiemeissner ·
YES!!!! SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. TEARS OF JOY!!! GREAT JOB MAO!!!
Mao Asada, WOW!!! What a skate! What a fighter! 142.71
Alexei Yagudin @yagudinofficial
Sochi. Ladies free skate! Mao Asada! WOW!!! Bravo!!! So sad for her short! :-(
Denis Ten @Tenis_Den
What a comeback by Mao!!! Amazing skate. So happy for her!
Michelle Kwan @MichelleWKwan
Mao Asada - made me cry.... a performance that we will all remember forever!
Kimmie Meissner ‏@kimmiemeissner ·
YES!!!! SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. TEARS OF JOY!!! GREAT JOB MAO!!!
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