Mao: post-Sochi news and articles

WowMao wrote:

In regards to the bogus and highly unjust skating order argument, the results in the 2010 LP at Worlds dispels that argument completely. Yuna Kim who was in 7th place going into the freeskate outside the final flight of 6 ended up with the highest freeskate score with numerous mistakes over Mao (in 2nd though it should have been 1st) who was passionate and clean with 2 triple axels and superior spirals, spins and in my opinion steps: a result openly criticized by Eurosport commentators who said it should be addressed at the next ISU Congress. Scores lose all meaning if the best skate can't get the highest score because of when it is performed. The skater has already been penalized by a low score, so this double punishment is  extremely discriminatory and the deflation often follows them in perpetuity, as happened with Mao in her FS at Worlds 2014 with the bogus ur calls.

THIS. After seeing what hapened in Sochi, while I'm still hartbroken for what happened to Mao in SP, in a way, I'm also kind of glad that it did, because no way was ISU going to allow her to win. So this way, at least she has a personal satisfaction for pulling off that historic LP even though she had a meltdown in SP. Because IMO, it would've been harder for her, had she been perfect in both programs and still get screwed over by ISU. Like I sad, IMO there was no way they were planing on giving Mao the gold no matter what she'd do.

There are skaters like Caro, Yuna and probably some others who could literally come 24th in the SP, opened the competition in LP and STIL score mid 70 in both PCS and TES, sadly for whatever reason, Mao has never been part of this group. Honestly, I will never understand how ISU can be this stupid.

WowMao wrote:

I would love for her to come back but I know it must be painful emotionally to have to endure such scrutiny and underscoring when so many others are given a free or preferential pass.

I have probably posted this before, but I  think tech crews should be eliminated because they are often used as a second line of defense to rig the results "properly," posing as an objective assessment of the jumps, while favored ones are given more leniency, if the judges happen to fall out of line with the desired result or score. The 11 points in deduction for Mao's freeskate at Worlds 2014 is a perfect example because the judges "fell out of line" by giving Mao +1.3 - +1.6 for her triple axel and triple flip and loop, so the tech crew had to step in to rig the results so the deflated Sochi score of 142 would appear legitimate. But, they contradicted the judges in the process making their corruption obvious.  I also think too much emphasis is placed on slight hooks on the ice when the artistic and fluid movement of the entire body is ignored.  

I completely agree. I miss her so much, but to see her going through unjust scoring all over again, I think she's better off retiring.

Don't even get me started on the joke that is IJS. Seriously, what is ISU's goal? getting rid of figure skating? because if yes, congrats, you're succeeding. This sport is losing more and more fans, because no one understands the stupid scores and those who do, can't deal with bias and rigged judging so they leave.
And it's not just the tech panel, the judges can also help with lowering or raising someone's score through PCS. Suddenly, you find a skater who doesn't really know how to use the edges, being marked 8's or 9's in skating skills and so on... the entire system should be changed, but it's never going to happen. Cinquanta didn't even allow the judges' anonimity to be dropped.

As for Mao, to me, she's a world record holder in BOTH, sp and lp, even if the judges see it diferently.

BelieveinMaoSelf wrote:

What makes Mao so different is not even the superhuman skating, but her ability to conjure up incredibly extraordinary emotional experiences with the skating. It is so rare a gift, there is almost no chance of ever finding it again in a lifetime. I cannot imagine feeling that attachment towards anyone else. So hopefully she will continue. Not for the scores in the present, but for a far future that can truly appreciate her.

Quote :

This is why I love here skating so much. She is the supreme artist of the sport who uses athleticism and balletic grace to express the full range of emotions that one experiences in life  that she summons up naturally from the depths of her soul drawing on a rich reservoir of bittersweet, joyous and tragic experiences that culminated in the Sochi LP though she expressed it so well in so many others. She is the only skater I have ever known that has fully been able to realize catharsis in her performances: the release of strong pent up and often repressed emotions that stream out suddenly in a great wave of emotion.

Quote :

CoP is exactly not that, but something which there is no obvious way to win, and not everyone can win no matter what they do, and some can also win no matter what they do, which is not a sport.
It is wrong if a woman could beat 90 years of men's programs, yet barely be 3rd best against ladies programs that would not have won in 1998.

The System tried to break her with a Score, but her Score broke The System.

Firmly agree with this. This reminds me of the fact that Yuna Kim's scores actually skyrocketed the most when she reduced her tech content from 7 to 6 triples. It also reminds me of where I think this all began. I believe the suspicious relation of scores between Yuna Kim and Mao began at the Grand Prix Final 2007 LP when Mao with no visible errors and a base tech score of 70 beat Yuna Kim by less than half a point even though Yuna had a base tech score of between 63 and 64 and a fall. To me, this is the founding precedent for Mao to be held down in the LP and for her scores to be deflated compared to Kim's so she wouldn't break the record and would fight a huge uphill battle to win. The ISU precedent for score discrimination against Mao has been passed with even more audacity (in terms of numbers) to a new generation of Russian skaters with Adelina being the most generous recipient. I believe systems of manipulation must be be unraveled through analysis and continual vigilance or we will be hoodwinked into believing or grudgingly accepting them through fallacious rationalizations.

zarinaballerina wrote:

As for Mao, to me, she's a world record holder in BOTH, sp and lp, even if the judges see it diferently.



I strongly agree with this. The more people accept Mao as having the world record the more the ISU's scoring will become irrelevant. It just needs to be said.  Mao holds both the SP and LP record because in her LP Mao did 8 triples with betters spins and steps, a better araesque and more inspiration than the 6 triple record that was set in Vancouver.

Here are some super cute photos of Mao: http://tokitama.tumblr.com/[/quote]

Today is the first anniversary of the most impressive performance I have ever seen (athletically, emotionally and artistically), so I think it's the perfect time to remember the performance and the injustice of the scores because they are merged in my mind like mixed fruit from the same bittersweet vine that makes the performance shine even more brightly, as a diamond does amid the darkness of a coal mine. The greatest injustice I ever seen in any sporting event is Mao finishing a distant 3rd in the LP and not getting a world record for 8 triples and the most incredibly inspired step sequence ever with level 4 spins. Mao's performance is the consummate Olympic moment ever for me, so I will never "move on" from this.

Thank you Mao for your Herculean achievement together with the grace and inspiration of a radiant angel.


How did the rest of you feel about Mao's performance a year ago as you watched and after the performance?

How have your feelings changed over the last year?

For me the performance has become even more unforgettable.

http://p.twipple.jp/Kwf0n by 夢兎輝

Happy one year anniversary to her best FS ever!

We were blessed to see Mao's stirring comeback one year ago.  I turned to my friend watching with me and said 'I can die a happy man now'.  When a super talent comes along you latch on to them.  I know I did, and I am a fraction of the dedicated fan to Mao I know many on this web site are.

Mao truly is an angel.  I loved Sanra Bezic's nbc commentary @ the end of the performance.  Paraphrasing, she said like a true athlete Mao never gave up, she fought through everything in the performance until the end.  

Scott Hamilton said the performance was everything you need to know about Mao.

I personally was stunned the entire performance jumping up and down to each landed jump, along with hooting and hollering, in my living room.  

My friend gently scolded me warning about the neighbors downstairs, but I thought and said this is the Olympics.  It's 11 in the morning est, and i waited 4 years for Mao at Sochi, and she did it! It was awesome.

At the foreign press press conference In Japan afterward Mao said Sochi was at that point the most rewarding competition she's had. I was so happy for her, knowing she could leave the Olympics with her head held high and on such a high, in general.

She totally deserved this performance, more than us spectators seeing it.

Time is replete with exceptional events that are historic and legendary. Mao's LP in Sochi
is both. It is also one of those rare moments that has indelibly left its mark in my life.

This beautiful artist and athlete gifted me with a furtive glance at what perfection is.
It is: perfection frozen in a nano-second, perfection that crystallizes in memory,
perfection like a snapshot without being one, perfection like a stroke of a paintless brush on a bare canvas.

When, in my lifetime, will I witness that again.

WowMao wrote:

The greatest injustice I ever seen in any sporting event is Mao finishing a distant 3rd in the LP and not getting a world record for 8 triples… …I will never "move on" from this.

Seeing her ending face I thought "this is the only thing that matters to me today."
4-5 weeks after the Olympics I wondered if I could just forget about everything that happened.

I was horrified to see her Wikipedia page barely even mentioned the Sochi skate, only listing irrelevant negatives like how many downgrades it got. The collective amnesia is more wrong than the scoring, although the dismal scores are partially responsible for influencing it.
I decided I did not want to see the wrong version of history written, a legacy diminished by misjudging, so I switched from a passive to an active role.

Sochi cannot be made into an isolated incident, because it is a continuum of injustice, that will otherwise continue.

WowMao wrote:

I think tech crews should be eliminated because they are often used as a second line of defense to rig the results "properly," … if the judges happen to fall out of line with the desired result or score.

One bad judge cannot ruin a judging panel, but one technical controller can.
One bad judge's scores are thrown out, but one technical controller throws the match.

If a single person person can decide the outcome, then effectively there is only one judge.

WowMao wrote:

The ISU precedent for score discrimination against Mao has been passed with even more audacity (in terms of numbers) to a new generation of Russian skaters with Adelina being the most generous recipient.

Scores are relative or objective. Everything appears inflated relative to deflation.
The gap between Sotnikova and Kim is the exact gap in their base values, which proves they were equally inflated. They were objectively inflated compared to everyone else, but not relative to each other.

The judges original vision for Mao's LP in Saitama was 149, before one person ruined it.
If Mao's 7 clean triples including an axel had received it's rightful 149, there would not be a problem with Elena/Eliza getting 140 for the two hardest clean programs ever skated at a europeans. They technically blow away anything Kim ever attempted.

It is not the current field who are inflated so much as Mao is deflated. They are only inflated as much as she is deflated. If her score had been the original objective pre-downgrade version (149), theirs would also be fair (140).
Their SP are actually pretty low, Eliza has not broken 70. Yulia was screwed over and only got 66, so the Russian inflation is not lifetime.

Mao's heavily deflated 216 worlds combined score is still untouched, which means she would still be winning…

WowMao wrote:

The more people accept Mao as having the world record the more the ISU's scoring will become irrelevant. It just needs to be said.  Mao holds both the SP and LP record because in her LP Mao did 8 triples with betters spins and steps, a better araesque and more inspiration than the 6 triple record that was set in Vancouver.

Better that the score is too low to be denied as too low, than the highest number less than a world record.

It is good that the score is not 148, because an appalling amount of people try to justify that unfair number. They owe an answer to the question "What is needed to break a 6 triple record in ladies?" A quad? Multiple Quads?

8 triples is itself a record. If the values of those elements do not add up to a numeric record one triple higher, something is wrong.

It cannot not be a record.

Great posts everyone. Good to hear from you again samuraimao after so long.

The greatest golden nugget of hidden truth concerning Mao's Sochi LP does not "have a tongue" in the mainstream press and networks because they are mere mouthpieces struck dumb by the IOC and the ISU, but instead it is spoken "with most miraculous organ"(Hamlet)" by Russian pairs champion Maxim Trankov on Russian TV with two Russians still left to skate for medals on Russian TV. What powerful forces were working against him to say what he did.    

I have said it before but I repeat it often because it is jut not mentioned anywhere else and it is amazing to me. Maxim Trankov said live on Russian TV about Mao's Sochi LP, "It is the performance that only an Olympic champion can do and she would have been Olympic champion." French TV also said that Mao gave the performance of an Olympic champion. I did not hear this about anyone else on any other broadcast. Maxim also said it was a performance of "maximum difficulty" and he had not seen such a performance "by a lady in a very long time." He also came up with the amazing phrase, "true samurai." and said in a very dreamy voice that Mao's artistry was "very expressive and matched the music of the beloved composition extremely well." Meanwhile, the other  announcer tried to "tone down" his praise, by saying Mojet bet, maybe.

There is tragic grandeur not only in Mao's performance but also in the score. It is the greatest tribute ever paid on ice skates to the artistry and athleticism of Russian ballet and to Russian classical music, and it was performed in Russia and choreographed by a Russian, Tarasova. I have even read a website that referred to Mao as the great melancholy ballerina that Russia wanted but never had, and Mao's Rach 2 performance was her ultimate expression of that. Yet the circumstances of the event and history caused its value to be belittled in the very place it should be most revered. Compare the treatment this program received to the life of the great composer Rachmaninoff. As it says on Wikipedia,

Rachmaninoff was a member of the Russian bourgeoisie, and the Revolution led to the loss of his estate, his way of life, and his livelihood. On 22 December 1917, he left Petrograd for Helsinki with his wife and two daughters on an open sled, having only a few notebooks with sketches of his own compositions and two orchestral scores.

Of course, Rach's situation was far worse but not getting the credit one deserves like Mao on such a large stage as the Olympics is also a grave injustice.  

So, naturally a great Russian figure skater, Maxim Trankov, with a refined aesthetic sense would be the one to recognize the greatness of Mao's performance including it's highly expressive artistry, but because of the language barrier it is difficult to reveal this to the world. If I didn't know some Russian and French I would have never known it had been said myself. What a great story that the obtuse press and networks will never touch.  

[quote="yhmafan;1110938"]Here is the official site of Mao’s Radio program
http://www.tbs.co.jp/radio/maosmile/
The photo of Mao on the site really does put a smile on my face.

Here are some pictures that rosewood posted of Mao with volunteers from Young Japan Action and their work in Kesennuma. Briefly summarizing her comments. She said the first photo of Mao shows her probably looking out to sea from the mountain where the people of Kesennuma ran to escape the devastation of the tsunami. She said that now you can go there to see how well the city has recovered.

https://www.facebook.com/sumitomoli...2083393212861/775617282526132/?type=1&theater

Some more photos of her visit to Kesennuma.
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/002.html
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/005.html
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/006.html
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/008.html
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/009.html
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/010.html
http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2015/02/24/20150224dog00m200050000c/011.html

The full posts with translations are post 639 and 640 at the following site:  
http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/index.php?threads/the-mao-cheer-thread-after-finishing-the-season-i-could-truly-say-figure-skating-is-wonderful.89260/page-22

WowMao wrote:

Thank you, WowMao for sharing the new about Mao & Young Japan Action. Another news today is on Mao&Mai's skating classroom held at a Nagoya rink during last weekend. In the following video we get to see Mao doing demos for various types of spin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59JerkC-YyE

I'm looking forward to Mao's DJ debuting in a couple of hours!

Thank you COHK for posting the video Of Mao and Mai's skating class.

Wonderful to see Mao looking refreshed and evidently, she has kept herself
limber and well conditioned.
The elements she demonstrated to her class were exquisite, especially
her spiral, which I think is the most beautiful of all her artistic jewels.
Nobody else performs that better than she!

I really miss her...

COHK wrote:

Thank you, WowMao for sharing the new about Mao & Young Japan Action. Another news today is on Mao&Mai's skating classroom held at a Nagoya rink during last weekend. In the following video we get to see Mao doing demos for various types of spin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59JerkC-YyE

I'm looking forward to Mao's DJ debuting in a couple of hours!

Your welcome! And thanks so much for the video link. It's great to see Mao's fan spiral again which has been missing in action for so long. She's obviously in fantastic condition. She is so good with the kids too.

Here is a link for Mao's radio show from March 2 posted by yhma fan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZiPl1DYh-s&feature=youtu.be

It's nice to hear Mao's lovely voice even if I can't understand what she is saying.

WowMao wrote:

Here is a link for Mao's radio show from March 2 posted by yhma fan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZiPl1DYh-s&feature=youtu.be

It's nice to hear Mao's lovely voice even if I can't understand what she is saying.

Yes! Mao has very nice voice quality!
Actually, here's the full version of the 1st episode, with the 2 songs she picked:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7RnOFtYuKs

I've been hesitating about providing details about Mao's talk show. After all, I'm not a native speaker and I don't catch every detail from her talk. The other concern is that I don't know if I will have time for the translating all the 18 episodes. But I'll just try my best to provide some details for the current episode in the next post. And I'll see if there will be time to do the same for future episodes…when there will be some interesting info from Mao's talk, and when there's nowhere else, such as other forums that provide full description about the content!

BTW, I'll be providing a rough translation of the content of her talk. So if anyone can fill in more detail, please feel free to do so!

Mao's Radio talk show: "Mao Asada Japan smile!"

Official website of the talk show: http://www.tbs.co.jp/radio/maosmile/
(There's also post-show memo and info about podcast)

1st episode, full version (youtube link):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7RnOFtYuKs

- Mao starts out by introducing her talk show. She says the keyword of her show is "Ganbatte (Do the best!) my generation" [She sounds really nervous during the first couple of minutes, with heavy breath in between. But she has very nice voice quality for the rest of the program]
- She first talks about how her life has changed since announcing talking time off from the competitive career. In the past her daily schedule was mostly about training/eating/rest. Now she has more time to devote to different hobbies, such as taking jazz dance lessons (she tried jazz dance when she was 3), and attending culinary class (such as learning to make quiche).
- The 1st song she picked was DCT's "Again" (the song was written based on her image of Sochi performance). She said she cried when she heard the song for the very first time.
- Then she talks about her student life: she's currently a senior student of Sports Science Department at Chukyo-U, and soon she'll be graduating. She's been taking various courses including psychology and nutrition. As a student of sports science, she has also tried various sports, including volleyball, basketball, kendo, even judo (and later on getting the license for open water scuba diving). She said at the very beginning it was difficult for her, as the other students were paying much attention to her. But later on she gradually started making friends, so she gets to eat together with friends, and study for exams with classmates, just like an ordinary college student.
- The 2nd song she picked was Ima’s “Smile”!
- The last part of the show called “three things”: this is where she asks the audiences to submit ideas about “three things I want to do to up to my 30s ” (for teens and 20s-age generation), and “3 things I should have done up to my 30s ” (for 30s generation and above). So here we get to hear Mao interviewing different ppl, talking about their three wishes such as getting married, going abroad to study, going to concerts,…etc. And Mao is obviously impressed by the 19-year old guy who says he's interested in cooking.
- At the end of the program, she announced that she’s going to have a guest of ‘her generation’ to join the next talk show [I wonder who that will be!]

Thanks a lot CONK for the summary of what Mao said in her first radio program. She sounds like such a warm and lovely person.

WowMao wrote:

Thanks a lot CONK for the summary of what Mao said in her first radio program. She sounds like such a warm and lovely person.  

No problem!
There had also been the visiting of Mao to the 311 earthquake area during last weekend. She held skating class again with kids and young skaters in Fukushima ice rink and there was live coverage (by NHK).

But here I want to share another video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWk5g1JYgK4

This is taken from a variety show broadcast on Mar. 8th. In the show they had some interesting "behind the scene" shots of Mao and Yuzuru. This section is about Mao during Sochi. It's a little bit different from the other documentary in that, the camera staff who took these shots was someone who has been filming Mao since she was very young. And here it actually focuses on the reactions of Yuzuru, Dai-chan, Coach Sato and Coach Folle during Mao's performance. The method of lip-reading was used to figure out their reaction to Mao's epic performance. I think the most touching part is, after her performance, Coach Sato and Mao were sitting on K&C...I couldn't figure out what Coach Sato said to Mao, but Mao replied "(I'm) satisfied."

It's wonderful that Mao is teaching skating to the kids who were affected by the devastating earthquake. I know she has said that one of her desires is to give kids a dream. I am also glad that Mao was satisfied with her Sochi performance because it was so rich and full of expression that watching the best skating programs this year is bland by comparison. I don't expect to ever see a performance that moves me as much as this one, such flow and rhythmic motion, unless Mao comes back for an encore.

Here are the links for Mao's radio show:


Here is a video link to Mao's radio show for March 7th. Again, her voice is so soothing and beautiful like her skating. Such a wonderful singing voice too that I never knew she had!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Am35hUA9M

And her is the link to her March 9th show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvRvDKhcloY

Thank you for keeping this forum alive, WowMao and COHK!








Mao and a frightened child.    

https://twitter.com/moco0611chi/status/574435479489110016/video/1

It seems the event is a local custom in a part of Tohoku area.

silenceisgolden wrote:

Thank you for keeping this forum alive, WowMao and COHK!

Mao and a frightened child.    

https://twitter.com/moco0611chi/status/574435479489110016/video/1

It seems the event is a local custom in a part of Tohoku area.

Actually, Mao attends so many activities in the past 2 weeks (including her radio talk show) that it was hard to catch up
The section of Mao and the frightened girl is from this section:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys1BElpN7K4

It's a special program for remembering 311 earthquake by NHK. Mao was holding a skating classroom for skaters in Fukushima ice rink. I think there will be another special program scheduled to be aired this coming Saturday, and the program is about her visits to the Tohoku area and her activities with 'Young Japan Action'.

Thank you Conk for the link and the information about Mao's activities. Also, thank you silenceisgolden for the photos of Mao that really show how animated and full of life she is.

There is a great translation of Mao's radio show for March 9th at the following thread post number 652:

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/inde....89260/page-22

Mao says she was really really nervous for her first show. Then, she answers questions from the audience. She first answers the question of what she does on her days off. She says that she sleeps a whole lot, cooks breakfast, reads fashion and gourmet magazines. Then, she answers the question of what clothes she wears in her private time and Mao says old, cool clothes.

Mao then has a long interview with the head of the volunteer group 'Kakehashi - Kesennuma guest house' which supports student volunteers who support people affected by the devastation of the 2011 tsunami by refurbishing vacant houses into accommodations for student volunteers. This interview was done at Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture which is one of the most horribly destroyed areas in the tsunami.

She then talks about her involvement in the project by planting trees.

Finally, she makes some funny and witty comments in response to emails about going to bars, matchmaking and cars.

Lynn Rutherford‏@LynnRutherford Mar. 12
On @USOlympic: How Mao Asada helped @Meryl_Davis @CharlieaWhite win gold in Sochi, with @airweaveUSA http://tinyurl.com/m2czq6w

https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/576101309415309312


The Skating Lesson‏@SkatingLesson Mar. 11
Taking a moment to rewatch Mao Asada's gorgeous short at Worlds. https://youtu.be/xm9F-lSuArQ

https://twitter.com/SkatingLesson/status/575647835892375554

COHK wrote:

I think there will be another special program scheduled to be aired this coming Saturday, and the program is about her visits to the Tohoku area and her activities with 'Young Japan Action'.

Here's the link to the NHK special program: 'Mao Asada's journey to the 3.11 affected area'

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2jhz7l_%E6%B5%85%E7%94%B0%E7%9C%9F%E5%A4%AE-%E8%A2%AB%E7%81%BD%E5%9C%B0%E3%81%B8%E3%81%AE%E6%97%85_sport

It's a 43-min documentary, when Mao was invited to visit areas affected by 3.11 earthquake 4 years ago. Mao visited local ppl, kids who have lost their relatives, children at local school that used to have an out-door skating rink, and the young girl who trains to be a speed skater but encounters difficulties to decide if she could continue training. It's very touching to see that how she attends and listens to the kids and children with their problems, and showing her compassion.