Should there be an Exception for Mao?

[euterpe]

If the pressure was on Mao to qualify for the Olympic team, she might have been much more cautious and it is possible that she wouldn't have finished as high in some of her events.

It's easy to pull all the stops out when there's nothing to lose, but quite another thing to know that every move you make could be the difference between making it and not making it to Torino. It would also be very demoralizing for the other Japanese skaters and might have affected them even worse than the pressure already did.

 

[mzheng]

Mao is awsome. But rule is rule, you don't change the rule just because a phenomeno youngst rise up in the rank.

Besides, so far Mao has been skating under no pressure. If granted her special treatment to Olympics, she might skate under tremondus pressure, since subconsiously she knew she is expected to skate for the Gold there, that's what special exception is, and she her own will have the expectation to win......there is no garentee how she will do there.

 

[skatergirlaj]

Mao is a excellent skater,but as has been mentioned if you change it for her,then it leaves the door open for so much more crap.
As far as she can't wait 4 yrs....barring freak accidents,if Mao takes care of her body,and if she is as good as everyone thinks she is...then she'll make it to the next one...if not then she was just a flash in the pan and will join the ranks of some of the other flash in the pan female skaters. Personally I'd rather watch a skater that has lasting power than one who is on top of the world and is gone a year later.Lasting power,is the true test of greatness.

 

[Frau Muller]

Mao is awsome. But rule is rule, you don't change the rule.......

Yeah, just like no rule could be changed in the middle of an Olympics to allow a second set of gold medals tot he Canadians? Changing the entry rule for Mao would be lame compared with what was done in Salt Lake *after* the competition had been decided using the then-existing rules!!!

Curious: No - I don't want to see "anyone" beat Irina. If anything, I'd be pulling for Irina to beat the inventor of the Sasha Curl. But Mao has already copied & even surpassed the 'Sasha Curl' in her own Nutcracker LP!

 

[floskate]

The Japanese Federation has known for years that they had a phenom on their hands. They could have requested a review of the age rules as long as two years ago, before Mao even entered her first JGP event. They could have done so even as late as the start of last season......


But they didn't. They entered Mao in the GP and waited to pounce once she'd won a few medals and demanded an exception JUST FOR HER.

The age rule is part of the General Rules of the ISU, which can be changed only by vote of the ISU Congress, which meets once a year in June. There is nothing in the current rule that allows for an exception.

Changing the rule in mid-season is a no-no, and if it WERE allowed, would be grossly unfair.

The JF knew the rule was in place and chose to do nothing about it until the 11th hour. Sorry, no can do......



IMO, she is a lovely skater with loads of talent, but she also has a few faults. She is the worst flutzer since Sarah Hughes, and she avoids doing 3T or 2T because she tends to toe-axel those jumps. Instead of working on improving her technique, she works on 3/3/3s, 3As and quads. She does only 4 types of jumps: axel, loop, flip and flutz, never a toe loop, and never a salchow. A complete, well rounded skater? Not quite.

Erm, the JF is not taking any action that we know of. Shirota is on record as saying that to petition the ISU would be very demoralising for the other lady skaters. So why are you making out that the JF is some greedy monster willing to do just about anything to get Mao to the Olympics when the opposite is true. It's the media and the Japanese public that want her there from what I've read in articles.

As for her toe and sal - the toe was in every one of her LP's last season as part of a 3f/3t combo. But it was downgraded more often than not, so until she has fixed this problem it's out. A wise move under CoP. She is training a quad sal so thats why the sal is missing as the timing isn't reliable. And I'm quite sure she is NOT working on 3/3/3.

You can say what you like about her jump layout but it pays off under the new system and she does what she needs to to get massive TES scores. Blame the NJS if you don't like it - not her for playing it smart!!

 

[mandykane21]

On the subject of whether she should go to the Olympics, I say no. It's just not fair to change the rules for one person in the middle of the season. Others have pointed out that it wouldn't be fair to others. True, the Olympic season is about having your best represent you, but it's also supposed to be about fair play. Sometimes you just have to play the game the way the ref calls it and everyone knew for years that this girl was incredible but wouldn't be able to go. That's just life. But that's not even the real shame of the whole situation to me. If she goes, she'll be expected to win. Not get more exposure or build her reputation, not for the experience or because she earned her chance, but to win. What do you think will happen if she goes and ends up 5th or has a complete meltdown because of the expectations? If she does anything less than gold, they're not gonna go, 'Oh well, this is valuble experience for her. She's gonna be so much better next time!' They're gonna treat her like a failure and no matter what else she does, until she wins the Olympics, they're gonna always refer to her 'failure'. SHe may be tough as nails and can handle it, but what if she can't yet? It's her time now? It was supposed to be Michelle's time in Nagano, and in Salt Lake. Heck, you can also say it was supposed to be Irina's time in Salt Lake, she was winning left right and center with only one loss that year. The ones who won weren't just young jumping bean, but they were the ones who weren't supposed to win. They were the ones with slim chances and almost no pressure. That will not be the case with Mao if she goes.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Really? Then how come there were so many girls in US trials coming back from serious injuries. Vise had problems with her back, Kupets a torn Achilles, Ishiro tore her achilles before she could even go to training camp etc. Injuries aren't lessening in gymnastics due to the age rule. However they also made huge changes to the vault to lessen the likelihood of a gymnast breaking her neck on the thing.

The only way to prevent accidents is to prohibit practicing until they are 16.
:sheesh12 y.o. girls aren't dumb. They know what jumps can win and they will practice them regardless of whether they can enter a competition or not.

Joe

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

On another note: Do you (everyone) believe that the Oly Gold proves that the skater is the BEST in the World? The fans want their favorite to win it so badly.

If it is encumbent on the countries to send their 'best' to the Olympics, should the 'best' be prevented because of a rule from some other Organization?

I believe Mao should be allowd to go to the Olympics as the 'best' that Japan has to offer. However, I believe she will have to accept the consequences of the ISU which forbids her to do this.

Classic Catch2.

Joe

 

[Bijoux]

no exception

 

[hockeyfan228]

The Japanese Federation has known for years that they had a phenom on their hands. They could have requested a review of the age rules as long as two years ago, before Mao even entered her first JGP event. They could have done so even as late as the start of last season

I agree. Asada has been an up-and-coming star for the last two years, and the time to ask for a rule change was before the 2004 or 2005 ISU congress.

 

[dizzydi7]

Exception for Mao

As others have stated, an exception should not be made for Mao. I agree that she is an exceptionally lovely and gifted skater but she should be forced to adhere to the rules as every other skater. What is so special about her that the rules should be changed? Other skaters work just as hard and many have great potential as well. There is no guarantee that Mao will perform up to her GPF perfomance. How soon people forget what happened to Arakawa who won the world championship and then.............

As far as injury goes, Mao is taking the same risks as all the other ladies and should not be given special consideration because of the GPF win. I find the consideration of such a rule change ridiculous and think the Japanese federation are shameful. They are showing no confidence in their skater if they think this will be the best year for Mao or that she will be unsuccesful in the future.

Dizzy

 

[Jhar55]

Keep the rule as is, if the IOC wants to change it later (after the Oylmpics) then fine.
I've always wondered if the ICO hadn't changed the Olympics by 2 years would Michelle have won her gold medal because it seems that was about the time she really peaked. Also where would all the others fit into the picture because of the time change? The IOC could change the citzenship rule, but don't see any one asking for that!!

 

[julietvalcouer]

Comparing the situation to Belbin/Agosto or to the 2002 Pairs judging scandal is not accurate. Belbin is suffering from a non-sports-related bureaucratic snafu and is attempting to fix it through the US government, not by asking the IOC to make an exception about the citizenship rule. The 2002 double gold resulted not because people didn't like the results (there have been 'wuz robbed' arguments for years about lots of skating events) but because this time one judge went public and admitted to cheating in collusion with another country's judge, affecting the results of the competition in a way unrelated to the athletes' performances. In this case, there is no impropriety on the part of the IOC or anyone--the rule is in place. The JF has known about the rule all along. As others have said, the time to petition for a rule change was before the start of the season, and have it affect ALL skaters. To ask now, as the federation seems to understand even if the press doesn't, for an exception for an individual, would be unfair. Especially to the Japanese women who have been fighting for the spots on the team, some of whom have been waiting a lot longer than Mao will.

As for it being 'her time', oh, whatever. How many skaters have peaked the year before or after an Olympics? If she's really a great skater, she'll hang in there for one more cycle, pacing herself and playing it smart. If she's another flash-in-pan cutesy-little-girl skater whose prepubescent body gives her an edge on jumps, she won't and no great loss. If we're lucky what will happen is this will give her time for her body to mature, for her artistry to improve, and for her to become a well-rounded skater with a distinctive style of her own. I would far rather see that, even if age costs her a triple axel, than another here-today, gone-tomorrow jumping bean.

 

[bronxgirl]

I have no interest in watching children skate, no matter how many revolutions they can do in a jump. I prefer to watch young adults, who have had the time to grow artistically, as well as jump, perform in figure skating. If the US had a young boy who missed the age requirement but won the senior GP, what would everyone say if the American Federation suddenly wanted the rules changed.
We'd all be hearing the world-wide sniping through every media:yes:

 

[kyla2]

Amen To That

ITA with the above post by Bronxgirl. I couldn't have said it better. She is too young to be in the Olympics for her own sake as well. If she has the right stuff, she will last.

 

[rain]

Absolutely not. That's my answer to the question in the title. As many others here have said, why bother with a rule if you're not going to follow it? It's not a surprise to anyone. Just because she's doing well in her first year of seniors competition, suddenly she should be allowed an exception? No, no, no.

As for the age rule itself, I'm actually one of those who believes in it. I don't want skating to become any more like gymnastics where they haul little girls in as young as possible - and often do irreparable harm to them in the process. This is womens figure skating, not girls figure skating.

 

[qoo]

She has been great and it's against the Olympic spirt that the best athletes should compete. It's not like she's 12 or 13... she miss it by only 3 months. So my answer is YES but only if Mao hopes to go.

 

[tripleflutz]

...I don't know how its going to work out with Mao, Japan has some angles to work and $peedy will make a deal for the right offer. Also the IOC must want Mao to skate. So who knows, there are two very crooked organizations involved, the ISU and the IOC, so anythings possible.
...But I don't think there will be any "byes" past US Nats to the Olympics. The USFSA rule that they adopted in1998 removed the invitational aspect from the process. They three spots automaticly go to the three highest finishers that are old enough to go. They changed the rule to make it fair. honest, and transparent. So there isn't going to be a bye for anybody.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Keep the rule as is, if the IOC wants to change it later (after the Oylmpics) then fine.

It's not an IOC rule. It's an ISU rule. The IOC just says, send me your best (no age requirement) but they must be citizens. That's Belbin's problem.

The ISU has the age rule and why I can not remember. It has something to do with Tara but Tara won the Olympics. I don't get it.

Joe

 

[purplecat]

There shouldn't be an exception made. If people don't like the age rule, then they should've changed the age rule prior to all this. But don't make one exception. Personally I've never liked the age rule, but since it's there in the rules... everyone should abide by it.

BTW, the rule was not made because of Tara. She was grandfathered in because she skated at Worlds prior to the rule being in effect. But the rule predates Tara's sudden success.