Mao - WOW!

[Ladskater]

This is the first time I have seen this fifteen year old phenom from Japan skate. I watched the GPF this weekend and I was absolutely captivated by this young lady. Up until now, Sasha has been my favorite, but this kid is amazing. I wondered what all the fuss was about - now I know. Barb and Paul both said if she was allowed to skate at Turin she would easily skate away with the gold. I think Irina is breathing a sigh of relief Mao is too young this time around for the Olympics.

What a treat is to watch her skate.

 

[millie]

It's sad that she is not eligible to skate in Turin but I bet the rest of the skaters are happy that she is not skating. Watching her skate this weekend, she reminded me of Michelle when she was 15 (minus the triple axel). It will be exciting to see what happens next skating season if the older ladies decide to stick around(Irina, Sasha, Michelle etc.)

 

[chuckm]

I would be really surprised to see Irina competing after this season. She mentioned in a recent interview that she has to be on prednisone all the time in order to be able to compete. She has mentioned many times in the past that she wants to "born a baby". With her health problems, she will probably want to do that (have a baby) sooner rather than later.

 

[Vash01]

This is the first time I have seen this fifteen year old phenom from Japan skate. I watched the GPF this weekend and I was absolutely captivated by this young lady. Up until now, Sasha has been my favorite, but this kid is amazing. I wondered what all the fuss was about - now I know. Barb and Paul both said if she was allowed to skate at Turin she would easily skate away with the gold. I think Irina is breathing a sigh of relief Mao is too young this time around for the Olympics.

What a treat is to watch her skate.

Mao did not exactly blow away Irina, so I don't think Mao would easily win the gold in Turin. She is young enough to be in the same age bracket as the past 3 Olympic champions, but if she were to skate there, there will be tremendous pressure on her (unlike Sarah 2002 and Tara 1998). Can she handle this? IMO it is premature to say she would win the OGM if she is allowed to compete. I am surprised if Barb and Paul (Martini) said she would easily win.

Mao is wonderful and I would love to see her compete in the Olympics in 2006. She is good enough to compete with the best but I don't see her (anyone else) as a sure bet to win the OGM.

Vash

 

[SkateFan4Life]

This is the first time I have seen this fifteen year old phenom from Japan skate. I watched the GPF this weekend and I was absolutely captivated by this young lady. Up until now, Sasha has been my favorite, but this kid is amazing. I wondered what all the fuss was about - now I know. Barb and Paul both said if she was allowed to skate at Turin she would easily skate away with the gold. I think Irina is breathing a sigh of relief Mao is too young this time around for the Olympics. What a treat is to watch her skate.

Mao is, indeed, a exceptional 15-year-old, and she has a bright future ahead of her. I can see future World and Olympic medals, quite possibly gold.

I would respectively disagree with Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini (assumed they were commentating for CTV) in saying that Mao would "easily skate away with the gold". That's making a huge assumption, IMHO. The scenario would be that Mao skated two perfect programs with her triple axels and that the rest of the field made at least one or two mistakes in their short and/or long programs.

Mao recently made several mistakes in her short and long programs at the Japanese natioanals, and she did not win the title. The possibility exists that she would do the same, if she competed in Torino. We have to remember that this girl is only 15 and she has not competed at Worlds or the Olympics. She's the new star on the block, without a doubt, but she's inexperienced at this point. Please don't take this as a criticism of Mao - she's fantastic.

 

[R.D.]

ITA- there's no guarantee she would win if she went. But she's not going, so this is all a moot point.

 

[Vash01]

I really think it is unfair to Mao to not be allowed to compete in the Olympics. If they change the rule next year to allow an exception, she will not benefit from it. She has to wait 4 years just to go to the Olympics. At age 19 there is no guarantee she will have the athletic ability she has now.

Vash

 

[SkateFan4Life]

I really think it is unfair to Mao to not be allowed to compete in the Olympics. If they change the rule next year to allow an exception, she will not benefit from it. She has to wait 4 years just to go to the Olympics. At age 19 there is no guarantee she will have the athletic ability she has now.

Vash

I respectfully disagree with you, Vash01. If the rules are changed to make an exception for Mao so she can compete in Torino, what will be the next rule that will be changed to permit an otherwise unqualified athlete to participate in the Olympics?

I don't always agree with the ISU President, but I did agree with his responses to the Japanese press when they asked him if he would like to see Mao compete in Torino. To paraphrase he said, "As a person, I would love to see Mao skate in the Olympics, but as the ISU President I have to say that I think she is a wonderful skater who is too young to compete in the Olympics."

End of story, or so it seems.

 

[chuckm]

As others have mentioned, one of the reasons that Mao can do the 3As is that she IS 15. When a young girl has no bust and hips to interfere with her jump technique, she has a definite advantage over older skaters who've already gone through puberty. All of Mao's jumps are small compared to what many of the more mature skaters can do. Remember, Miki at the same age as Mao had a quad salchow which she doesn't seem to have any more.

While it is true that in another 4 years Mao may not have the jumps she has now, what does that have to do with her eligibility now?

 

[Sk8n Mama]

I love little Mao and the 3 ax has nothing to do with it! She's got the grace most 15-yr-olds don't have. And that one-handed bielmann! She's my new favourite. When I saw her at J Worlds last year she floored me in a way that only a junior Katia Gordeeva and Tara Lipinski have.

 

[Piel]

Just imagine how breathtaking her artistry might be in four years!

 

[slutskayafan21]

This is the first time I have seen this fifteen year old phenom from Japan skate. I watched the GPF this weekend and I was absolutely captivated by this young lady. Up until now, Sasha has been my favorite, but this kid is amazing. I wondered what all the fuss was about - now I know. Barb and Paul both said if she was allowed to skate at Turin she would easily skate away with the gold. I think Irina is breathing a sigh of relief Mao is too young this time around for the Olympics.

Barb and Paul did not say this. They said she could potentialy win the gold in Turin, had she been eligable. They did not say she would definitely easily skate off with it by any means.

 

[shine]

I'm not seeing the artistry everybody is raving about her. What am I missing? I find her LP this year quite boring just like last year's LP, and her performance from GPF was quite bland for me after reading about how great and amazing it was. Her SP's have been better in that regard, probably because they are shorter.

 

[dancindiva03]

As others have mentioned, one of the reasons that Mao can do the 3As is that she IS 15. When a young girl has no bust and hips to interfere with her jump technique, she has a definite advantage over older skaters who've already gone through puberty.

Then why aren't there more 15 year olds landing triple axels? Being small does have its advantages, but lets remember the first 2 ladies to land triple axels. Both Tonya Harding and Midori Ito were landing triple axels well beyond puberty, and IIRC they both were fairly well developed as far as skater's bodies go. Not that Midori was even close to being large, not by any stretch of the imagination, but she wasn't exactly a waif, either. While it might be quite difficult, or even impossible, for a girl to learn her triple axel after her body has developed, I don't see why Mao should have any difficulty with keeping her 3A as it is sooooo easy for her now. Also, if she takes after her sister, Mao probably isn't going to grow a whole lot. So, saying that Mao is only landing them now because she is 15 and has not gone through puberty does not, for me, mean that she won't have them 4, or even 8, years from now.

 

[Mathman]

I wonder if the New Judging System will encourage little girls in the potentially elite ranks to undergo execise regimens designed to delay the onset of puberty, like gymnasts do.

Will we see a bunch of teens with squeaky voices and fire-plug bodies out there reeling off the triple Axels and quads?

MM

 

[brinababy87]

Mao is different from other younger skaters in that her basics are so very strong. She gets so much speed and has as much speed out of her jumps as she gets going into them. The way she prances around on her toepicks is cute, but it shows she is so comfortable on all parts of the blade. Sure, her choreography could be better, but in terms of interpreting the music she is doing an excellent job. It's crazy how easy the triple jumps look for her.

It's not hype. It's reality.

ETA: And about the size issue: I don't think Mao has to worry about hips and bust too much. Her older sister is also very willowy. She DID hit a growth spurt this year, but has not changed much in terms of shape.

 

[rain]

One thing that gives me pause about Asada is that she can't do all of the triples, in spite of the fact she has a triple axel. This is a major failing, IMO. Seems to me, that's one of the basics. So far she's managed to get around it, which to my mind, is not a good thing. Where's the motivation for her to learn what she doesn't know if it seems as if she doesn't need it? And what kind of message does that send? Will we now be subjected to a series of skaters following in Asada's footsteps who basically "specialize" in certain jumps?
I, for one, won't miss her at the Olympics. She hasn't blown me away yet, though I think she has tremendous potential.

 

[kyla2]

Rain and Shine

(I can't believe I wrote that title ). I totally agree with what you both said about her. She has very little artistry at this point, that's the problem. She still floats around the ice like a junior skater. Her spins and spirals aren't even close to Irina's or Sasha's. It would be a joke to hand a gold medal to this kid no matter how many triple axels she lands or how many loop combinations she completes. She is not a complete skater yet.

 

[Enero]

One thing that gives me pause about Asada is that she can't do all of the triples, in spite of the fact she has a triple axel. This is a major failing, IMO. Seems to me, that's one of the basics. So far she's managed to get around it, which to my mind, is not a good thing. Where's the motivation for her to learn what she doesn't know if it seems as if she doesn't need it? And what kind of message does that send? Will we now be subjected to a series of skaters following in Asada's footsteps who basically "specialize" in certain jumps?
I, for one, won't miss her at the Olympics. She hasn't blown me away yet, though I think she has tremendous potential.

ITA! Though Mao has great potential, I too take issue with the fact that she can't do all of the triples. Outside of the triple axel (which is great but...) she really doesn't have much in the way of jumps.

 

[Mathman]

Rain and Shine: (I can't believe I wrote that title ).