- Joined
- Nov 10, 2004
OK, so I am thinking?? Was 2006 a "what would have happened for Mao" had she been 2-3 months older? Anyone have COP comparison for this? Are her best days behind her? FLAME AWAY!!!
There's no way of knowing what she would have done at 2006 Olympics. She may have skated like she did at the GPF or she may have skated like she did at Junior Worlds.
I don't think she would have won either way. Her presentation ability lacked depth. Arakawa is still the most likely winner, when you look at how well she was skating. Arakawa with 5 Triples in the LP at the Olympics (and no 3-3 in the SP) scored higher than what Mao got at the GPF.
There's no way of knowing what she would have done at 2006 Olympics. She may have skated like she did at the GPF or she may have skated like she did at Junior Worlds.
I don't think she would have won either way. Her presentation ability lacked depth. Arakawa is still the most likely winner, when you look at how well she was skating. Arakawa with 5 Triples in the LP at the Olympics (and no 3-3 in the SP) scored higher than what Mao got at the GPF.
Ability-wise, I think Mao very well could have won the gold at 2006 Oly's, but even back then she was widely considered the best Japanese ladies skater, so I think she would have had a lot of pressure. It's hard to say how a 15 year old Mao would have handled it, but I think she would have handled it fine. She was fearless and very confident at the time.
Mao's best SP + LP that year beats Shizuka's 2006 total score. Yes, Shizuka downgraded some elements she may have risked were she more threatened, but in every event that Mao and Shizuka were both attending, Mao came out on top, and Mao was more consistent that year (nothing lower than 2nd place finishes everywhere she went.)
In the following season, Mao was breaking and setting records.
So my guess would have to go to Mao winning.
Mao scored more at 2007 Worlds than Arakawa at the Olympics.
Still, I think Arakawa would have performed the 3Sal-3Toe at the Olympics if there had been the threat of people skating so well technically.
Nothing wrong with Mao. She is a beautiful skater and was acknowledged for it in 2007 Worlds. Her trespacing around the globe looking for some other coach did not turn out for her. It's mostly that horrendous (imo) music she is using which is a downer. Only a Russian can understand that C#Minor Concerto. The opening bells to me forbear doom ahead. and I immediately think of John Dunne and his poetry which reads in part: For Whom the Bells Toll; They Toll for thee. Scary! Too late now to change but in future something more lively, please. She is too talented to be stuck with that kind of music. She is not a dramatic actress.
Yeah, I definitely don't want to take away from Shizuka's accomplishment. She was and still is a lovely, talented skater.I hate to think of eighteen-year-olds as has-beens, which may be why I'm putting this spin on things. But when I look at Mao's skating, I see something very few of her contemporaries have. (Except for YuNa, of course.) She has a way of interpreting music that rivets my attention. It's the same thing I saw in Paul Wylie during those years when he came in fourth, and sixth, and worse. So I live in hope and look toward 2010 and even 2014, not back to 2006.
Points, schmoints - CoP voodoo
I have seen both programs and if Mao skated at Torino the way she did at '07 Worlds that would not have beaten Shiz.
Mao had a fall in each program, and if it had been Olympic pressure of '06 as opposed to Worlds pressure of '07 it is not too hard to consider Mao would have been even worse.
Poor Tat, she is an artist - and not a schlocky "pointmeister."
OMG that has GOT to be the most succinct yet telling way of expressing one of the things I hate most about programs designed for COP! What a great analogy, artist v. schlocky pointmeister. Ouch! for COP.
Mao didn't fall at 2007 Worlds?
She popped the second part of her combination in the SP and she double-footed her 3Toe in combination in the LP. Those were her only mistakes. Her LP was incredibly difficult technically.
Shiz definitely would have deserved to win the second mark, though.
OMG that has GOT to be the most succinct yet telling way of expressing one of the things I hate most about programs designed for COP! What a great analogy, artist v. schlocky pointmeister. Ouch! for COP.
I disagree with the statement that there is such a strict dichotomy between "artist" and "pointmeister" in CoP. Tatiana Tarasova may not have found a way of balancing between the two, but choreographers such as Salome Brunner and Tom Dickson, IMO, have designed programs for CoP that are artistic and rack up the points.
Originally Posted by Blades of Passion
Mao didn't fall at 2007 Worlds?
She popped the second part of her combination in the SP and she double-footed her 3Toe in combination in the LP. Those were her only mistakes. Her LP was incredibly difficult technically.
Shiz definitely would have deserved to win the second mark, though.