When will Mao Be Joyful Again?

[Spun Silver]

Mao skated fabulously last night. Forget the mistakes - she landed the 3As and finally interpreted that heavy music from beginning to end. She created a character who personified glittering evil, like Tschaikovsky's Black Swan (quite different from Oksana's) - or Cruella de Vil!

It might have worked if her SP had been lighter and brighter, but unfortunately to have two dark heavy programs, IMO, just killed her with the judges. I think that while male skaters can get away with being serious, lady skaters have to smile and look happy. It's quite sexist, actually!

Nonetheless, I think even Mao's biggest fans miss the lightness and joy she used to show when she skated. I want her to be happy and to show us her love of skating, which we hardly saw all season.

Last night she was too upset about her mistakes and missing the gold medal to celebrate what she achieved - a historic first and an amazing comeback from a harsh season.

Will Japan welcome her home with love and help her recover her love of skating? Will she be able to put together the team, programs, and other changes she needs to skate joyfully next season?

Mao's ability to recover her former delightfulness and challenge Yu Na in the future may depend on her personal joy in skating. It's something that can't be commanded but could be killed by those who surround her.

 

[millie]

There is a familiar quote that can appy to this post "If you can't stand the heat you should get out of the kitchen". Same goes for Mao. If she can't take the competitions and the concept of losing to the other competitors, she should retire and go on with something that will make her happier than she is now. Until then, she is going to wait like the other skater, for Yu-na to retire.

 

[miki88]

IMAO. What's is so wrong with being upset after a defeat? Isn't it a natural feeling? :sheesh: Anyways, Mao was upset with her performance as she stated in the interview not losing to her competitor (a la Plushenko). Just because she is upset now doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy skating. In all of her interviews, Mao has always expressed her passion for skating. And in my opinion, I don't think Mao wants Yuna to retire. Perhaps in the same way Michelle probably didn't like it that Tara retired since there was no chance for a rematch.

 

[dlgpffps]

I don't think we have to worry about Mao losing her "personal joy in skating." I felt it in her SP She loves skating, but she judges everything against perfection. That's probably her biggest source of unhappiness. I do agree, however, that her programs this year didn't do justice to her natural grace and buoyant skating... But I get this bad feeling that she won't leave TAT :scowl: Just a hunch. Mao seems to love her.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I think Mao will leave Tat and go to Worlds solo where she will win easily. That win will make her happy but she will realize she has some big decisons to make about next season.

 

[miki88]

I don't think we have to worry about Mao losing her "personal joy in skating." I felt it in her SP She loves skating, but she judges everything against perfection. That's probably her biggest source of unhappiness. I do agree, however, that her programs this year didn't do justice to her natural grace and buoyant skating... But I get this bad feeling that she won't leave TAT :scowl: Just a hunch. Mao seems to love her.

Can Tat just let Mao go? I mean she has health issues. At least that's my hope!

 

[SweetPea21307]

There is a familiar quote that can appy to this post "If you can't stand the heat you should get out of the kitchen". Same goes for Mao. If she can't take the competitions and the concept of losing to the other competitors, she should retire and go on with something that will make her happier than she is now. Until then, she is going to wait like the other skater, for Yu-na to retire.

I think Mao skated wonderfully, but she cleary gets dissappointed when she doesn't win. Wasn't there this one competition a few years ago where she completely bombed and was absolutely inconsolable? If she can't handle the thought of losing to other skaters or handle the pressure of competition, then why does she even bother to compete at all? If it gives her that much grief, then maybe she should retire from competition and become a coach or cheorographer, take a break from skating or even do something totally unrelated to skating. I understand that if you're the gold medal favorite and you come up short that can be disappointing. I'm sure skating your best and its still not good enough is disappointing as well. But she's not the only gold medal favorite who fell short: Michelle, Irina, Sasha, Midori, Janet Lynn, Roz even Dan Jansen from long track speedskating. So I would say she's in some pretty good company.

Brian Orser said it took him 10 years to be able to watch his performance at Calgary. I hope it doesn't take Mao 10 years to be able to watch her performance and to be able to look back on Vancouver with a smile. It's hurts now, but maybe in time, it won't hurt as much if at all.

Regardless of what she does, I hope she can find something that makes her happy.

 

[Dee4707]

I think Mao will leave Tat and go to Worlds solo where she will win easily. That win will make her happy but she will realize she has some big decisons to make about next season.

Why does Mao have to leave Tat???

 

[Moxie]

I think Mao either needs to either be willing to leave TAT or leave Japan.
But hopefully this will convince her to bring back the 3/3. It's not just Yuna that's her rival. Mirai, Christina Gao and a few others look to be rising up before Sochi.

 

[prettykeys]

I don't think we have to worry about Mao losing her "personal joy in skating." I felt it in her SP She loves skating, but she judges everything against perfection. That's probably her biggest source of unhappiness. I do agree, however, that her programs this year didn't do justice to her natural grace and buoyant skating...

I agree. I don't think Mao has lost her joy in skating, but I do believe her recent programs have obscured her finest expression of it. She had a rough year and took it upon herself to challenge herself in every way: with the 3axel ambitions, with the dark, foreboding themes...and I think she really grew and improved a lot (thank you, Tatiana). My biggest hope is now for her to feel confident in stepping back into her best element, and do programs that are lyrical, light...maybe emotional. And then to go back to practicing her other triples, now that her 3A is fairly secure.

I actually do hope Mao can put away her memory of last night. The scoring was excessive and an injustice to her. It must have seemed like a nightmare, with no escape.

I would love to see her skate exquisitely again.

 

[rtureck]

I disagree that losing makes Mao upset. I think not skating her best makes her upset. I don't worry about Mao, she loves to skate. She isone of those skaters that coaches have to tell her to stop practicing. Ok interpreting dark musiic is a challenge, and I think she finally lived up to that challenge. Mao is naturally etheral and light, I hope she will find a choreographer to help her show off that side of her again.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

But here's the thing - maybe Mao wanted to challenge herself artistically with something heavy and dark? Maybe she had a bad season - like most skaters do. Or maybe, just maybe its the FANS that want her to show a side of her skating that she's simply outgrown...

 

[iluvtodd]

I hope the Japanese Federation will not treat her Olympic silver medal as a failure. Winning silver is a great accomplishment. I can't forget how Midori Ito felt like she had to apologize to the Japanese people for winning silver in 1992. I am so proud of Mao and how she skated at these Olympics (and that she won Japanese nationals).

 

[Wrlmy]

^ ITA. Despite my doubt, she finally accomplished what she set out to do by landing two triple axels as well as interpreting "Bell". Yes that might have cost her gold here, but she is more versatile and determined than ever. Look for her to come back with two magnificent programs.

 

[rtureck]

I hope the Japanese Federation will not treat her Olympic silver medal as a failure. Winning silver is a great accomplishment. I can't forget how Midori Ito felt like she had to apologize to the Japanese people for winning silver in 1992. I am so proud of Mao and how she skated at these Olympics (and that she won Japanese nationals).

I am just wondering whether the Japanese federation has the time and attention to give to Mao, sin ce they have so many outstanding skaters. Thinking about Midori's apology to her ppl still makes me sad

 

[mylastduchess]

Why does Mao have to leave Tat???

Well for starters they don't live in the same country, I was very surprised when Mao said the last time she saw Tarasova before 4cc was in COR. Also her choreography nad Mao's skating style just didn't mesh well

 

[treshot]

I think Mao being upset has at least something to do with losing - it's not just about perfection, although she may not come out and acknowledge it. In 2008 Worlds, she took that horrible fall while attempting 3A and was sliding down the ice for about 30 seconds - that's huge chunk of time that nothing was happening except for crowd gasping in horror. Yet she still managed to win it, and looked happy enough about it, although that was as far from perfection as you can go. So... I think Mao not being content with herself has more to do with the color of her medal than making those little mistakes. There's nothing wrong with it. She is a great competitor as well as a great skater, and I wouldn't have her any other way.

Having said that... I do hope she will go back to her airy, soft skating that delighted me so much. I finally realized the magnificence of "Bells" at the Olympics, but my opinion remains the same - it just doesn't suit her like Nocturne does. Mao skating to Bells reminded me of my tiny friend who was desperately trying ball gown wedding dress for her wedding - the dress was gorgeous, but it didn't change the fact that it totally engulfed my tiny friend and looked even borderline ridiculous.

 

[bethissoawesome]

I think Mao will leave Tat and go to Worlds solo where she will win easily. That win will make her happy but she will realize she has some big decisons to make about next season.

ITA. If Mao had something like "Team Yu-Na" behind her instead of Tat the dictator, I think we would see very different programs from her. I think her biggest fear was losing her 3A. Now that she landed it clean, 3 times, at the Olympics (of all places to do it)... I think we will see more variety from her regardless. But what she needs most is a new environment that's more relaxing and out of the Japanese media spotlight, a fun choreographer (Brian Wilson would be great for her), and a more supportive group behind her that let her know it's okay not to be 1st every single time you compete, because she already has to deal with pressure from her country when she fails... she doesn't need it from her direct support network too.

 

[pshla]

ITA. If Mao had something like "Team Yu-Na" behind her instead of Tat the dictator, I think we would see very different programs from her. I think her biggest fear was losing her 3A. Now that she landed it clean, 3 times, at the Olympics (of all places to do it)... I think we will see more variety from her regardless. But what she needs most is a new environment that's more relaxing and out of the Japanese media spotlight, a fun choreographer (Brian Wilson would be great for her), and a more supportive group behind her that let her know it's okay not to be 1st every single time you compete, because she already has to deal with pressure from her country when she fails... she doesn't need it from her direct support network too.

Mao just seems really different under TaT compared to before, and I'm not really sure I like the difference. I think TaT could be capable of being encouraging and inspiring. Isn't that why Yagudin loves her so much? I just don't think she really understands Mao. It's important to have a coach who "gets" you - your weaknesses, strengths, goals and fears. I don't think TaT can do that for Mao.

 

[BlackAxel]

At the beginning of the season, I didnt think tht the whole match-up of Mao and TAT was working out, but ever since yesterday I have started to think differently. Although I am not against the notion of getting back Artunian as her coach, Mao has really grew and matured under TAT. Mao is skating to more expressive music, has strengthened her stamina, and has developed more consistency with her 3A. If Mao can put all her skills together and gain back tht 3-3 combo, Mao will not have to worry about being joyful again.