What went wrong with Mao Asada? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

What went wrong with Mao Asada?

Components

Match Penalty
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
That's a lie.

Mao was undefeated on the GP the last two seasons in a row. She had some of her best performances from a technical standpoint this past season and was consistently hitting at least 5 triples whereas the season before her wins could be attributed to superior PCS.

She had a rough FS at nationals but everyone has an off night...but on the whole, Mao was "on" this past season which is why her meltdown in the SP in Sochi was such a shock. But she rebounded with a brilliant FS there and went on to throw down two excellent performances at worlds.


Mao struggled post-Vancouver with reworking/relearning jumps as well as outside factors (the earthquake in Japan, losing her mother). She basically bottomed out; yet she climbed her way back to the top. The fact that she continues to compete and win is a testament to what a resilient and amazing competitor she is. She's the only one of the Big Three who has competed year in and year out for the past two quads.

When you can turn in performances like this and still win competitions, then going undefeated on the overrated Grand Prix Series should be NO problem at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtrdqBtRNoA
 

mary01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
When you can turn in performances like this and still win competitions, then going undefeated on the overrated Grand Prix Series should be NO problem at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtrdqBtRNoA

Someones bitter here, finally showing your true color and inner hatred, if you can't appreciate beautiful skating that's fine, but don't spread your negativity here this is not the place to do it, oh and thanks for the link it was a joy to rewatch and brought back good memories of another delightful program of Mao.
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Man, I felt sad and confused the whole day after I watched the ladies' NHK competition

K back to topic, I think what usually gets Mao is her nerves.

That's what I've always thought. Even with nerves, Mao has had a great career (multiple World titles, multiple GPF titles, Olympic silver), so asking "what happened?" is a little hyperbolic. I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I find her to be a more engaging and musical presence on the ice than Yuna, but Yuna's consistency and jump technique have given her the upper hand in their rivalry.

Mao probably would have won the OGM in 2006 had she been able to compete, but that's a totally different conversation.
 

BounceAround

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 8, 2013
I love this question. It's probably obvious that I'm a huge fan of Mao, and part of what has drawn me to her is that she's a little bit crazy in all the right ways :biggrin:! Certain aspects of her mentality towards skating and certain choices she has made may not have been "smart", but they displayed a stubbornness and character that I enjoy.
 

TheCzar

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 30, 2013
Guys, I am the original poster and of course Mao has many achievements and it remains as fact that she is a fantastic skater. And I understand the sentiment that we should focus on what is right, but it is a fact that her performance did diminish since her prime years, and I just wanted to know what factors could influence a skater. I don't mean to diminish Mao in any way but I think any factors or problems that influenced her can and do influence other skaters as well, so I'd just like some insight.

It is a bit of a baited question but the truth of the matter is- it's age. AGE. Asada is still a top skater but a 23 year old woman cannot, and will not be able to jump as high as she did when she was 17 or 18. Kim's jumps are not as big as they were in Vancouver when she was 19. Carolina can't land a difficult combination more than once these days because it is simply too hard at her age. Suzuki's jumps are relatively tiny, even more so over the last few years.

It's a simple fact of life, and at some point- training can only be maintained for so long until the body cannot longer handle the pressures of high difficulty programmes. Bear in mind, a triple axel and a triple flip-triple loop would be elements that would take its toll on the body. The fact that Asada managed to maintain it for just under ten years is a feat. Flawed technique? Sure. Bad basics? Fair enough. At the end of the day however, gravity will just take it's toll.
 

TheCzar

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 30, 2013
Was the level of competition in the GP for the last two seasons that strong?

That aside, I'll correct my original statement. I do remember a lot of teeth gnashing from posters over her Olympic prospects prior to the Olympics though.

Lipnitskaia was a major threat, Kostner and Radionova were also hot on Asada's heels. Wagner put in a decent effort. Even Pogorilaya was a surprise shot from a technical standpoint. Asada was in a tight horserace. Take Kim and Sochi Sotnikova out of the OG, and the GP was not that different from Sochi.
 

minze

Medalist
Joined
Dec 22, 2012
Someones bitter here, finally showing your true color and inner hatred, if you can't appreciate beautiful skating that's fine, but don't spread your negativity here this is not the place to do it, oh and thanks for the link it was a joy to rewatch and brought back good memories of another delightful program of Mao.

Hahaaaaa
 

Components

Match Penalty
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Lipnitskaia was a major threat, Kostner and Radionova were also hot on Asada's heels. Wagner put in a decent effort. Even Pogorilaya was a surprise shot from a technical standpoint. Asada was in a tight horserace. Take Kim and Sochi Sotnikova out of the OG, and the GP was not that different from Sochi.

Most of the pressure on the GP has been coming from Junior skaters, for quite a few years now. Back in 2011/12 you had Tuktamysheva and Sotnikova. Then it was Lipnitskaya and Gold popping onto the Senior GP scene, but she had growth issues and we know how reliable Gold is in early season. This season you had Radionova, and Pogorilaya jumped onto the scene.

But in Major championships like Europeans, Worlds, and Olympics you have to skate lights out to beat skaters like Kostner, Asada, and Kim unless they leave room in the technical mark (Falls, URs, Pops, Bailed Jumps, etc.) cause the judges always tended to give veterans significant PCS advantage over the newer skaters.

Especially Juniors. Cause it would make no sense for Radionova (for example) to be scoring 140+ on the Senior Grand Prix only to be scoring ~130 at Junior worlds so that her scoring wasn't so astronomically higher than her competitors there (who have never skated at a Senior event before, most of them).
 

Components

Match Penalty
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Someones bitter here, finally showing your true color and inner hatred, if you can't appreciate beautiful skating that's fine, but don't spread your negativity here this is not the place to do it, oh and thanks for the link it was a joy to rewatch and brought back good memories of another delightful program of Mao.

Wait, did you seriously completely avoid the point I was trying to make and resort to personally attacking me instead?

And you're calling me Bitter and full of Inner Hatred?

If skating didn't involve jumps then I'd be more inclined to empathize with you. Unfortunately, as Asada found out in the Olympic SP... That's not the way this *sport* works.
 

mary01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Mary01 is a particularly zealous Mao fan, it seems.

It never ceases to amaze me how much hate some poster have, I find it very amusing to observe the negative comment from the same posters in every thread I open it's quite baffling to be frank, I always end up wondering whether they actually hate the sport more then they love it, or if their hatred is only is restricted to some skaters lol.
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
It never ceases to amaze me how much hate some poster have, I find it very amusing to observe the negative comment from the same posters in every thread I open it's quite baffling to be frank, I always end up wondering whether they actually hate the sport more then they love it, or if their hatred is only is restricted to some skaters lol.
Lol don't worry. I have only watched 3-4 of Mao's performances (out of all her entire career's programs) and they say I am a big Mao fan. Simply because I think Mao performed better than Yuna in the free skate at Sochi. I don't even know her birthday. Lol :rolleye:
What a pity I don't even follow Mao's career that much, heck, I didn't even watch her at Vancouver. :laugh: how come I am her big fan?
 

Ophelia

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
^Praise is one thing. Calling another poster bitter and hateful (Components isn't spewing diatribe) and mistaking this for a Mao's fan fest thread where no negativity is allowed is another matter.
 

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
Well, i am called a Yuna hater when I am in a thread about Yuna if I dont say something positive or I critize her. This kind of situation always will happen in both sides.
 

nguyenghita

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Well, i am called a Yuna hater when I am in a thread about Yuna if I dont say something positive or I critize her. This kind of situation always will happen in both sides.
For the record, this is probably the first time I'm quite agree with you, ha
 

Jump

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Kind of off topic but do you feel like Mao's FS score at the '14 Worlds was purposely held down so she wouldn't also break the FS and total score WR as to motivate her to come back and not retire?
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I don't think she was going to break the FS record anyhow. It wasn't the quality of her Sochi skate--she did have one obvious stumble (double axel I think?). I dunno if all the UR calls were deserved or not... I think she should've scored a bit higher, but I'm not the expert. Breaking Yuna's record though... I don't think so.

New edge rules seemed geared toward pushing her into retirement. :no:
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
I don't think she was going to break the FS record anyhow. It wasn't the quality of her Sochi skate--she did have one obvious stumble (double axel I think?). I dunno if all the UR calls were deserved or not... I think she should've scored a bit higher, but I'm not the expert. Breaking Yuna's record though... I don't think so.
She was at almost 77 TES before any deductions with 72 PCS. I'd agree she wasn't breaking the record, but without UR calls it would've been very close. Though the quality of most of the elements in her Sochi skate were not up to what they were at Worlds - the 3A and 3-3 were noticeably better in Saitama, and in Sochi her flying camel was shaky. IMO her Worlds skate should've scored only a bit lower than her Sochi skate, both in the high 140s.
 
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