I love the story of Mao and Zhenya. Mao was a visionary
Here a translation of another part of the interview ...An interesting reflection
https://mobile.twitter.com/marr_1704/status/1275114194929618944
I love the story about Mao and Evgenia. I always forget Zhenya actually competed against Mao a few times - it always seems like such different eras to me. Mao is such a legend, I can only imagine how little Zhenya must have felt - at her first worlds, proudly but nervously telling her idol about a song she‘d learned in her mother tongue. And Mao‘s reaction is pure gold, of course, especially since it led to Zhenya being recognized by the Japanese media for the first time and them all falling in love with her. She was adorably but unashamedly nerdy back then (and even now), one of the reasons I like her so much. I‘m so sad we didn‘t get to see her Sailor Moon show this year, it would have been amazing!
The second part is deeper. She‘s had to learn many lessons the hard way, about trusting the wrong people with your secrets, I‘m sure of that. But she did and I think it made her wiser.
Favourite LP: W.E.
Favourite SP: Tosca tied with Exogesis
Favourite Ex: Billie Elish,
RU: Beautiful Mess
Favorite element: 3S-3L
I‘ll give it a try, too:
Favorite FS: probably has to be Anna Karenina at the Olympics. It was just THE Olympic performance for me, she was closing the ladies competition and it just felt so right. It was heartfelt and painful and personal and yes, heartbreaking too. But that‘s what made it so outstanding - the raw emotion.
Strictly choreographically speaking, probably W.E. or Memoirs of a Geisha. But from the emotional impact, nothing beats that Olynpic skate.
Favorite SP: Nocturne, since it was the one that made me fall in love with her once and for all. Closely followed by River Flows in You.
Favorite Ex: Experience. I just love how the program grew with her. After the Olympic season it showed all the pain, it ended with that slap in the face (that metaphor, though). She was closed in on herself, the program ended with her withdrawing from others, eyes closed. Then, after Worlds 2019, it grew and still reflected the pain and difficulties she went through but ended on a much more hopeful note, with her reaching out to someone else, opening her eyes again. It‘s beautiful.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hgEYGJagG/?igshid=200lc29h2j7v
Favorite Jump: 3Lo, followed by her 3F with the new entry
Favorite combination: 3S+3Lo
Favorite spin: CCoSp4
Favorite non-jump/spin element: her famous skid spiral
Favorite competition: Worlds 2016 and/or Worlds 2019 for different reasons. The first one was her first world title, the beginning of an era for her, filled with many more victories and titles and probably one of the longest winning streaks in the history of ladies figure skating. She was catching up after the FS with a record score and then being all giddy with her win, just great to watch. The second one - 2019 - is her fighting back after injuries, betrayal of trust, media wars, slandering and a resulting lack of confidence to make the podium at a competition where everybody predicted her to be fifth at best.
Favorite costume: so hard. I think I‘ll go with Memoirs of a Geisha, even though I didn‘t like it too much at the beginning of the season. Or the Milky Way SP Nocturne dress that fit so well with the purple background at the Olympic rink.
