Mao Asada is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in figure skating for Japan.
Career Highlights
2008 World Champion, two-time Grand Prix Final Champion
2009-10 Music
Short Program: "Waltz" from Masquerade Suite by Aram Khatchaturian
Free Skate: "The Bells of Moscow" by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Prior to Worlds, defending champion Mao Asada never had entered a major international event and failed to win a medal. A doubled Lutz in the short left Mao in third but didn't cause alarm. After boldly opening her free skate with a triple Axel-double toe, she fell on a second triple Axel attempt, for which she essentially received zero points. That error, plus the absence of a triple Lutz and her usual spark, dropped Asada to fourth. Still, she remains the skater most capable of challenging Kim for gold in Vancouver. And it's worth remembering the circumstances under which Japan's Shizuka Arakawa triumphed in Torino: After taking the world title two years prior to the Games, she fizzled to ninth in 2005 before emerging to claim Olympic gold.
Asada landed a triple Axel for the first time at age 13 and for the first time in international competition at age 14 during the 2004-05 Junior Grand Prix Final, an event she won by more than 35 points. Mao often struggles in the short program and has to come from behind in the free skate, which is somewhat easier for her to do with a triple Axel (or two) in her program. She's landed a triple Axel-triple toe loop in combination and, according to coach Tatyana Tarasova, will attempt a triple Axel-triple toe combination this season.
The much-anticipated Asada-Kim rivalry did not continue in 2009. Surprisingly, Asada struggled with her jumps on the Grand Prix circuit during the regular season and failed to make the Grand Prix Final. Without a reliable triple Axel, her scores dropped as did her standing.
"She (Asada) can win by doing what nobody else can do," Tarasova told the AFP of her strategy for Asada . "Her body has become perfect for an athlete after power and speed training. A little girl has grown into a mature beauty." Says Asada, "This year I would like to work on expressions, not just jumps but more artistic expressions of the program as a whole."
Asada and Kim Yu-Na have been competing against each other since their junior days. "I do consider her my rival, but ... the thing is ... because of her I have been motivated to get better," Asada says. "I believe I indeed improved in many areas. So it wou'd be ideal if we could remain good rivals." Asada won the 2005 World Junior title over Kim, but Kim won in 2006 with Asada finishing second. In 2009, Asada bested Kim for the Grand Prix Final title for the first time in three seasons, but Kim topped Asada, who finished third, at the Four Continents. In senior world championships, Asada finished second in 2007, first in 2008 and fourth in 2009 with Kim finishing third twice and winning in 2009.
Asada was too young to compete at the 2006 Olympics; she missed the July 1st cutoff by 86 days. In the season leading up to the 2006 Olympics, Asada beat all three skaters who would go onto win medals in Torino. Asada beat eventual Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa and silver medalist Sasha Cohen on the Grand Prix circuit and then bested the eventual Olympic bronze medalist, two-time world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia, at the Grand Prix final. Despite speculation that the Japanese Skating Federation would petition against the age limit, they did not, leaving many journalists to suggest the best skater was not in Torino. (Kim Yu-Na missed the also missed the cut-off.) Asked at a press conference, International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta stated that as a person he would love to see Asada in Torino, but as a president the rules were the rules. That sentiment was echoed by Asada. "It was the rule and I was okay with it because I still have Vancouver," she says. "But, since I knew I wanted to eventually go to the Olympics, I was visualizing myself participating in Torino while watching TV."
Asada and older sister Mai originally studied ballet but began skating when it was suggested that the girls needed stronger ankles. Asada takes one day off per week, but other than that, she says that she's skated every day since she was five. She watched Tara Lipinski win the 1998 Nagano Games on television ("[Tara] was very ... very small. I was small too. I was impressed.") and though she didn't understand the importance of the event, she knew she wanted to compete in an Olympics one day.
Career Highlights
2008 World Champion, two-time Grand Prix Final Champion
2009-10 Music
Short Program: "Waltz" from Masquerade Suite by Aram Khatchaturian
Free Skate: "The Bells of Moscow" by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Prior to Worlds, defending champion Mao Asada never had entered a major international event and failed to win a medal. A doubled Lutz in the short left Mao in third but didn't cause alarm. After boldly opening her free skate with a triple Axel-double toe, she fell on a second triple Axel attempt, for which she essentially received zero points. That error, plus the absence of a triple Lutz and her usual spark, dropped Asada to fourth. Still, she remains the skater most capable of challenging Kim for gold in Vancouver. And it's worth remembering the circumstances under which Japan's Shizuka Arakawa triumphed in Torino: After taking the world title two years prior to the Games, she fizzled to ninth in 2005 before emerging to claim Olympic gold.
Asada landed a triple Axel for the first time at age 13 and for the first time in international competition at age 14 during the 2004-05 Junior Grand Prix Final, an event she won by more than 35 points. Mao often struggles in the short program and has to come from behind in the free skate, which is somewhat easier for her to do with a triple Axel (or two) in her program. She's landed a triple Axel-triple toe loop in combination and, according to coach Tatyana Tarasova, will attempt a triple Axel-triple toe combination this season.
The much-anticipated Asada-Kim rivalry did not continue in 2009. Surprisingly, Asada struggled with her jumps on the Grand Prix circuit during the regular season and failed to make the Grand Prix Final. Without a reliable triple Axel, her scores dropped as did her standing.
"She (Asada) can win by doing what nobody else can do," Tarasova told the AFP of her strategy for Asada . "Her body has become perfect for an athlete after power and speed training. A little girl has grown into a mature beauty." Says Asada, "This year I would like to work on expressions, not just jumps but more artistic expressions of the program as a whole."
Asada and Kim Yu-Na have been competing against each other since their junior days. "I do consider her my rival, but ... the thing is ... because of her I have been motivated to get better," Asada says. "I believe I indeed improved in many areas. So it wou'd be ideal if we could remain good rivals." Asada won the 2005 World Junior title over Kim, but Kim won in 2006 with Asada finishing second. In 2009, Asada bested Kim for the Grand Prix Final title for the first time in three seasons, but Kim topped Asada, who finished third, at the Four Continents. In senior world championships, Asada finished second in 2007, first in 2008 and fourth in 2009 with Kim finishing third twice and winning in 2009.
Asada was too young to compete at the 2006 Olympics; she missed the July 1st cutoff by 86 days. In the season leading up to the 2006 Olympics, Asada beat all three skaters who would go onto win medals in Torino. Asada beat eventual Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa and silver medalist Sasha Cohen on the Grand Prix circuit and then bested the eventual Olympic bronze medalist, two-time world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia, at the Grand Prix final. Despite speculation that the Japanese Skating Federation would petition against the age limit, they did not, leaving many journalists to suggest the best skater was not in Torino. (Kim Yu-Na missed the also missed the cut-off.) Asked at a press conference, International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta stated that as a person he would love to see Asada in Torino, but as a president the rules were the rules. That sentiment was echoed by Asada. "It was the rule and I was okay with it because I still have Vancouver," she says. "But, since I knew I wanted to eventually go to the Olympics, I was visualizing myself participating in Torino while watching TV."
Asada and older sister Mai originally studied ballet but began skating when it was suggested that the girls needed stronger ankles. Asada takes one day off per week, but other than that, she says that she's skated every day since she was five. She watched Tara Lipinski win the 1998 Nagano Games on television ("[Tara] was very ... very small. I was small too. I was impressed.") and though she didn't understand the importance of the event, she knew she wanted to compete in an Olympics one day.
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