Butterflies on her shoulders and Mao herself, a butterfly
Coach Nobuo Sato attentively watches Mao as she takes the ice for her short program. He looks calm – as so does she; the only one nervous here is me, since I’ve missed her dearly last season and I was looking forward to her comeback. Well, the wait is finally over, and this is me paying gratitude to this beautiful 25-year-old lady for everything she has given to figure skating all over the years – and continuing to do so.
Ten years after winning silver at Cup of China, her first senior Grand Prix medal, Mao Asada returned to Beijing, and the ice of Capital Indoor Stadium was once again her stage. Skating to “Bei Mir Bis Du Schoen”, a short program choreographed by Lori Nichol, Mao was everything you expected – and more. I loved the dress, the red lipstick, the carefree attitude of this amazing skater who, a while ago, stated loud and clear: “I could truly say figure skating is wonderful”. This waggish, playful routine embraces Mao’s fluid, smooth skating – and watching her glide over the ice you feel like singing, as the song says, “Bella, bella…”. In her comeback, Mao Asada received 71.73 points for her short program – but, truthfully told, you can’t put a scores tag on her: the Japanese lady is in a class of her own.
A day later, butterflies on her shoulders, Mao Asada is the last to take the ice in the ladies’ event; she hasn’t even started and I already have my own butterflies. As the first music notes diffuse in the arena, she takes a deep breath and enters the role of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. A nervy, flawed routine this was (after hitting a cracking triple Axel, Mao’s knees jellified during the opening combination – and she did give up on some of her jumps while in the air), but the softness, the fluidity, the elegance of her skating, the fragile, graceful arms in the air, there’s truly no comparison to that. Third in terms of scores in Beijing, Mao’s free program has amazing potential – and it will only grow during the season. As for Mao, she was harsh on herself during the press conference at the end of the event: “I am not satisfied with my free skating today as I didn’t do all the elements. I have some problems to solve. I won thanks to my short program, but it doesn’t satisfy me to have won this way”. Her next Grand Prix assignment is NHK Trophy.