I feel like they should have thought this through and and a decision before Sochi and announced it. I feel like athletes who announce their retirement kinda falls into a limbo state and ends up not getting the respect and attention they deserve when they actually retire. Yuna Kim also was dragging after winning OGM and constantly mentioned how she suffered from lack of motivation, and that she only decided to go to Sochi to not only give her coaches and her fellow Korean skaters Olympic experience but to put a nice end to her career, thus gold was not necessarily important but participation itself mattered. I was surprised and awed that Yuna actually held up against competition. I hope the two ice dance couples and Mao and other skaters can be able to do the same so that we fans can send the off properly.
Most athletes make the decision based on their last performance and how they feel afterwards. Attention and respect? D/W are the OGM and 3 time Olympic medalists, they already have all the respect in the world. And lets face it, Yuna most likely had outside influences besides her own feelings when she decided to come back for Sochi.
As for Mao, if her winning the WC in front of a home crowd of 18,000 people isn't considered a proper send-off, then I don't what is. I'm sure many of her fans knew that this could very well be her last competitive skate and was prepared for it.