Mao-chan Topples Ichiro to Become Japan’s Favorite Sports Star

[SashaSpin]

Female figure skaters tend to be more popular than males. When I visited Japan years before Sochi, Mao was a considered a god there.

If only she was in top form during the winter olympics. -Sigh- Maybe there would've been less controversy over the podium placement. On second thought, maybe even more. Ha.

 

[gotoschool]

Female figure skaters tend to be more popular than males. When I visited Japan years before Sochi, Mao was a considered a god there.

If only she was in top form during the winter olympics. -Sigh- Maybe there would've been less controversy over the podium placement. On second thought, maybe even more. Ha.

It makes sense that women figure skater's would be more popular overall, since it is the marquee event, along with hockey, in the Winter Olympics. I am not saying that Mao was in top form for both the SP and LP. But in the LP (which is 2/3 of the competition), practically everyone thought that it was the best she had ever skated. In my opinion, it was the best LP for a woman I had ever seen. Even the Russian pair's gold medalist Maxim Tronkov announced on Russian TV that Mao had given the performance that only an Olympic champion could do. That's why so many people are upset about her absurd placement and scores in the LP. I'm sure she would not have been able to get the Gold medal no matter how well she skated in the SP, and ironically I think this may have given her some peace of mind.

Sometimes I wonder why medals of equal worth are not given for the overall score and the LP, since the LP represents the greatest long performance in the event and since this is what people come back to watch long afterwards, but even here Mao would not have won because of the "scoring irregularities."

 

[gravy]

But in the LP (which is 2/3 of the competition), practically everyone thought that it was the best she had ever skated. In my opinion, it was the best LP for a woman I had ever seen.

In my opinion, Mao skated the best two programs of her life back-to-back; unfortunately one was in Sochi, and the other in Saitama, so different competitions.

I have to agree with the last part though. Everything was so perfect; and her step sequence there will probably ruin future step sequences for me because I will probably end up comparing them all to this one.

 

[alebi]

This is very interesting, Japanese men are all for baseball players while women seem to appreciate a wider range of sports. I wonder how actually famous are some Japanese champions like Uchimura or Judo's athletes or female volleyball star Saori Kimura.

 

[bebece]

well in this fluff video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGDCo6222XM

yuka sato and fumie suguri kind a talk about the blooming of media covered of figure skater in japan

and in this Skate Canada Fluff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDTls1tKbRM

they said about the rating for Skate Amerika, 24 million people in japan watch the show

another fluff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gRb5EM5otM

what really amaze me in this video was that Fumie already call as veteran in this sport , and she is still compete until now wow
how old is she?
was she the oldes ever female skater ever compete ?

 

[begin]

I believe Mao won some kind of a poll for the most recognizable public figure as well?

It's kind of scary to think about what will happen now that huge ticket stars like her and Dai are retiring. Hopefully Japan's enthusiasm will stay at the forefront.

 

[gotoschool]

I believe Mao won some kind of a poll for the most recognizable public figure as well?

It's kind of scary to think about what will happen now that huge ticket stars like her and Dai are retiring. Hopefully Japan's enthusiasm will stay at the forefront.

You are really going to upset some people on this thread saying that Mao is retiring. But, I agree. I think it's better to think she has retired and then be pleasantly surprised if she decides to come back. Wakaba Higuchi won the freeskate today in the Grand Prix and she's only 13. Maybe she can generate some needed excitement. I was really impressed with her beautiful, big jumps and wonderful skating skills. I could hear her edges carving deeply into the ice. But, Mao will always be missed, no matter how great any other skater performs.

 

[NMURA]

If Japan could do better in Brazil, more football (soccer) players would be chosen.

All (men + women) voters
1. Mao Asada
2. Ichiro Suzuki (NY Yankees)
3. Masahiro Tanaka (NY Yankees)
4. Yuzuru Hanyu
5. Keisuke Honda (AC Milan)
6. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United) recently tranfered to Dortmund
7. Shigeo Nagashima (baseball legend)
8. Kei Nishikori (tennis)
9. Daisuke Takahashi
10. Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan)

There's no surprise to see no Summer Olympic athletes like Uchimura. It proves that there are only four sports (figure skating, soccer, baseball, tennis) which attract constant attentions from the general public. Sumo is still popular among old people but not as before since top Sumo wrestlers are dominated by foreigners (esp. Mongolians).

 

[begin]

You are really going to upset some people on this thread saying that Mao is retiring. But, I agree. I think it's better to think she has retired and then be pleasantly surprised if she decides to comes back. Wakaba Higuchi won the freeskate today in the Grand Prix and she's only 13. Maybe she can generate some needed excitement. I was really impressed with her beautiful, big jumps and wonderful skating skills. I could hear her edges carving deeply into the ice. But, Mao will always be missed, no matter how great any other skater performs.

Yeah, I realize she hasn't made it official. But I would like to think she has other pursuits beyond figure skating? IMO there's nothing left for her to prove and she's given Japan a lot already.

 

[ice coverage]

...
All (men + women) voters
1. Mao Asada
2. Ichiro Suzuki (NY Yankees)
3. Masahiro Tanaka (NY Yankees)
4. Yuzuru Hanyu
5. Keisuke Honda (AC Milan)
6. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United) recently tranfered to Dortmund
7. Shigeo Nagashima (baseball legend)
8. Kei Nishikori (tennis)
9. Daisuke Takahashi
10. Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan)

There's no surprise to see no Summer Olympic athletes like Uchimura. It proves that there are only four sports (figure skating, soccer, baseball, tennis) which attract constant attentions from the general public. Sumo is still popular among old people but not as before since top Sumo wrestlers are dominated by foreigners (esp. Mongolians).

After Kei Nishikori upset Djokovic in the U.S. Open tennis semifinal today, I immediately wondered whether and/or where KN appeared in this ranking. So you read my mind by translating all the names for us, NMURA. Domo.

And I see that Nishikori ranked sixth in the women's voting, but did not place in the top ten in the men's voting. :think:

Can't wait to see Nishikori play in Monday's final. Super excited for him. :yay:

 

[Interspectator]

If Japan could do better in Brazil, more football (soccer) players would be chosen.

All (men + women) voters
1. Mao Asada
2. Ichiro Suzuki (NY Yankees)
3. Masahiro Tanaka (NY Yankees)
4. Yuzuru Hanyu
5. Keisuke Honda (AC Milan)
6. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United) recently tranfered to Dortmund
7. Shigeo Nagashima (baseball legend)
8. Kei Nishikori (tennis)
9. Daisuke Takahashi
10. Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan)

There's no surprise to see no Summer Olympic athletes like Uchimura. It proves that there are only four sports (figure skating, soccer, baseball, tennis) which attract constant attentions from the general public. Sumo is still popular among old people but not as before since top Sumo wrestlers are dominated by foreigners (esp. Mongolians).

I LOVE Uchimura!
But I think one of the reasons he is not suuuper popular is because his personality is very quiet.
--But have you seen his AA routines? It's perfect almost every time. There are no controversial wins for Uchimura in the 5 years he's been at the top.

 

[gravy]

I LOVE Uchimura!
But I think one of the reasons he is not suuuper popular is because his personality is very quiet.
--But have you seen his AA routines? It's perfect almost every time. There are no controversial wins for Uchimura in the 5 years he's been at the top.

I primarily follow gymnastics and I think everyone in the sport has concluded that Uchimura simply isn't human. His difficulty is almost as phenomenal as his pristine execution.

I mean a triple twisting double back as an all around gymnast on the floor is just insane! And the fact that despite his "lower" difficulty (compared to event specialists), he is almost always in contention for individual event medals.

 

[Interspectator]

I primarily follow gymnastics and I think everyone in the sport has concluded that Uchimura simply isn't human. His difficulty is almost as phenomenal as his pristine execution.

I mean a triple twisting double back as an all around gymnast on the floor is just insane! And the fact that despite his "lower" difficulty (compared to event specialists), he is almost always in contention for individual event medals.

Yes, he's picked up individual world medals for the floor, the high-bar, and the parallel bars and he gets into the finals for most of the other ones too.

 

[rosewood]

Female figure skaters tend to be more popular than males. When I visited Japan years before Sochi, Mao was a considered a god there.

If only she was in top form during the winter olympics. -Sigh- Maybe there would've been less controversy over the podium placement. On second thought, maybe even more. Ha.

Sorry, but I don't agree with you about Mao being considered as a god in Japan. She's been respected as one of the great athletes for years, though. That's my take. Yokozuna sumo wrestlers are considered as gods, in a sense.

 

[gravy]

Yes, he's picked up individual world medals for the floor, the high-bar, and the parallel bars and he gets into the finals for most of the other ones too.

He is just ridiculous. :thumbsup:

 

[bebece]

okay can someone describe how populer figure skating in japan is in a big picture
like how the fans community or what a general public view on the matter

and what kind of treatmen someone get when they were considered being "god"

do you thing moa or dai or any other retired skater would turn into politician?
or active in the federation, so that theres balance between figure skating member and speed skating member in fed

 

[Interspectator]

Just from what I can see...
Skating competitions like NHK Trophy, GPF and Worlds are aired at primetime.
Figure skaters are invited to talk-shows and variety shows.
In the Sports Magazine Section in my small rural bookstore there were 4 different figure skating magazines available for purchase.
On daytime TV I have seen Mao, Daisuke, Hanyu, Kanako, Shizuka and Akiko in advertisements for chocolate, housing, perfume and makeup, phones etc.
Even such trivial things as Daisuke's hairstylist, Mao's vacation, Hanyu's love of earphones are shown on TV.
--and so on.
Maybe I notice it more because I'm a fan of figure skating.