Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season!

ballerinamao wrote:

WowMao wrote:

Here is a great insight into Mao's mindset. She is so charming and adorable in this interview in English. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5PMmvCj_6w&feature=share

Thanks to rosewood for this video. rosewood accurately pointed out that Mao misunderstood the question about the Olympic gold medal and thought they asked, "Do you want to go to the Olympics?|

even if she said she wanted gold, what's wrong with saying that everyone knows That Mao has won everything this spot has to offer except the Olympic gold, and when you only have one title left to win, it's natural to say she wants it. she is a multiple World champion, Grand Prix Final Champion, 4CC Champion, she has even won every gp that exists. She is more then Worthy and capable of winning it, so i see no reason why not to voice it out like she did, in fact most of the skating community would be thrilled to see her winn it, because we know she is a complete package and because longevity where she didn't just dissapear like all the others when they one a big title

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I didn't say it was right or wrong for Mao to want Gold just that she didn't understand the question that way. She clearly said "I want to go to the Olympics" and that it was her last season. I don't know what Mao thinks for sure but she did say this in an interview and I think it is the clearest insight into the way she thinks.

Q: Are you still stuck on winning?
Mao: In Sochi I was not able to leave good results. That said, I was able to show my best performance. In a sense results are important but in another sense showing my best performance iis important too. It's tough to choose one from the two. Two years are left to me, I wish I'll show my best performance, if I'll receive good results for it, it'll be great.  
mad
I want Mao to win the Olympic Gold very much because I know it would make Mao very happy and because I think she is the best skater and performer I have ever seen. But for me, I will love her skating the most  whether she wins it or not. She is my favorite and nobody for me measures up to her. Watching her skate live just made this feeling even stronger. Besides, I have always thought that the best long program in the Olympics should win Gold because it represents what  people will go back to see over and over again and it is one long jump, one race, one great pole vault that wins a competition. So in  my mind, she did win Olympic Gold in a way with her Sochi LP. She gave what to my mind was a world record performance in the Olympics that people on forums even now are going back to rescore and showing how deflated her scores were and how clear it was that she won the freeskate. There are so many golds in swimming for example, why only one for figure skating? t   

But, I think the history of Mao's scoring is important so as not to be disillusioned.  

In my opinion, Mao could not have won either the Olympics in 2010 or 2014 no matter how well she skated because scoring inflation had been arranged for the ISU's chosen skaters along with her own simultaneous deflation. The removal of a bootleg copy of Mao's Sochi LP (which should have been a world record score) by the IOC with almost 3 million views just before Mao was deflated at Worlds 2016 combined with the proud advertisement of HD copies for the ISU's favorites is a vivid display of how the IOC and the ISU operate in cahoots to institute blatant discrimination against Mao. Another copy with well over 1,000,000 views was also removed. Thrown down the Orwellian memory hole. The only way Mao could have possibly won either competition was if the chosen skaters bombed and Mao was perfect. In the final competition before the Vancouver Olympics at the 4CC's, Mao had a higher LP score than Yuna's last freeskate  and Mao consistently had higher scores than Yulia and Adelina going into the Sochi Olympics. What happened was a scoring revolution or "shock scoring" at  each Olympics so that a new precedent  could be set extending into the future. At one time, Mao often had higher PCS scores thas n Yuna Kim, but after the Grand Prix Final 2008 LP she would never again no matter how well skated. And Mao went from having a 7-8 point advantage in PCS in the LP over Adelina and Julia to having a 5 point disadvantage compared to Adelina and 1 point disadvantage compared to Julia in the Sochi LP and they both made noticeable mistakes while Mao's performance looked ideal. This is only 1/3 of the score for the entire competition. If the same manipulation in scoring is applied to the entire competition that would be a net scoring disadvantage of 36 points for Mao compared to Adelina and 27 points compared  to Julia.
Mao is having to endure the same kind of revolution in scoring that began with her return almost as if it was especially designed to happen just as the changes to the scoring system and the extra harsh scrutiny in tech calls followed every step of Mao's career. The transformation in PCS scores alone is shocking. Mao's peak PCS score was 14-15 points higher in the LP than Evgenia's peak score in 2015. Yet in the 2016 World championships Mao received over 3 points lower PCS score skating a program that was highly praised and that received far more views on youtube than any other skater. But it doesn't stop there. It is taken to a new extreme when Evgenia gets almost 6 points higher PCS score in the Japan Open for a program that is almost identical to last season in its choreography. Why should Mao bother to make a totally new program when she will be lowballed even more?  This is only 1/3 of the total score and doesn't even consider the pervasive tech manipulation on edge calls, deflation and inflation in GOE and now levels, not to mention double standard tech calls and ignoring massive pre-rotation for which Satoko has benefited the most. Ashley Wagner who received a PCS score of about 64 in Worlds 2015 which was 8 points lower than Mao's higher score, received over 4 points higher than Mao in Worlds 2016 freeskate. Perhaps this bores people to delve this deep into scoring manipulation where skating skills, artistry, choreography and transitions are completely inverted so that a skater who was once judged as much better in one season is much worse than the same skaters only one season later and sometimes within a matter of months. It is a contradictory fabrication that presumably the ISU obscures and conceals through its mind blowingly complex calculation of scores which I guess it hopes nobody will analyze and which have little to do with elegant and rhythmic body movement because it has been controlled by speed skaters whose last head Cinquanta said he didn't know anything about figure skating and whose current defacto head was the vice president of the Russian skating federation and head of the tech control committee who once said Russian skaters were  undoubtedly the best in the world. This demonstrates an a huge conflict of interest. Many companies cook their accounting books to get the financial results they want just the same as the ISU.

So this is why I like Mao's view of focusing on giving her best performance. youtube views and likes to dislike ratios seem to be a better guide to which is the best performance than the ISU which has regularly deflated Mao's scores. I know that whenever I see someone  who may be interested in or willing to watch figure skating performances, I show them Mao's performances like Worlds 2016 LP or the Sochi LP or Cup of China SP and everyone always says they like her performances a lot better than any of the other skaters when they see the performances and compare to other skaters.

ballerinamao wrote:

She is more then Worthy and capable of winning it

No one is more worthy than her of the highest honors, but not even her level of talent is enough to win unless the competition is fair.

It's not Mao's fault if she retires without an Olympic gold. She is responsible for the quality of her performances, but she is not responsible for not winning unwinnable per-determined contests.

BelieveInMaoself wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

She is more then Worthy and capable of winning it

No one is more worthy than her of the highest honors, but not even her level of talent is enough to win unless the competition is fair.

It's not Mao's fault if she retires without an Olympic gold. She is responsible for the quality of her performances, but she is not responsible for not winning unwinnable per-determined contests.

THIS i totally agree, most competitions seem pre-determined, especially the Olympics, she did her job and made history in both olympics, and had the publics admiration of recognition, what's the point of getting a gold medal if no-one remembers you afterwards!

Mao can't go to the GPF (because those with worse mistakes were inflated above her)... It's hard to even believe that.

She made mistakes, but Gracie Gold fell twice and still finished ahead.
She would have certainly qualified had the scoring not been so biased. (4th place is enough to stay in contention.)

Mao's red outfit is totally gorgeous and The beauty of Mao's skating, spirals, expression and spins in this program is stunning like droplets of water glistening on a rose in the sunshine both alluring and with mix of innocence during the spiral and spread eagle. The first three jumping runs and the triple salchow were nice as well. If Mao is injured or not feeling well, I hope she will stop to take care of her health now.

Bravo Mao for your determination to improve.

Mao's speed was awesome in both programs, and she had an outside edge on a beautiful lutz (😗 Too bad about the ur). I hope she continues this season slowly and heals completely.

Several posters noticed including me that Mao was sweating heavily after her performance with fatigue and that she was sniffling a lot and wiping her nose yesterday during the short program. So, I think it might have been a combination of this and the knee injury that probably caused more jumping problems than during the Finlandia Trophy. Just like during the Finlandia Trophy,  Mao began to have problems with jumps when she attempted her 2nd  double axel because  of the pressure  on the left knee. inskate also said that the triple salchow which follows it also puts a lot of pressure on the left knee.

As far as the ur call, the ISU has made it very clear that those who take off with close to 270 degrees pre-rotation have "outstanding" technique while turning through the lutz edge, yet Mao who has less than 180 degrees of pre-rotation and tries to hold the outside edge on take off as long as possible will get a ! at best and a ur call even though she has more effective rotation than the pre-rotaters who skid or turn through the edge on take off while pressing just as much or more of the blade in the ice on take off as Mao does. I am through with ISU events when Mao retires the scoring is the most whacky and contradictory thing I have ever seen. They do not calculate urs back on actual rotation from start to finish otherwise Mao would not have gotten a ur, instead they pick a spot that always favors the massive pre-rotaters unless some skaters have huge jumps.

Here is a comment I left in response to a post on another forum dealing with the "cook the book" protocols. LOL Wagner gets 70 PCS and has an overlooked UR. How inflated can she be! The ISU doesn't even try to be discreet.

Originally Posted by yuki  View Post
On the plus side, she got the lutz edge ratified and this was a very strict tech panel.
ETA: https://youtu.be/1JgJtY4f70g?t=369
But, Mao was given what I think is very harsh ur call on it considering her take off has less than 180 degrees of pre-rotation. She was also underscored on her step sequence which should have definitely received level 4 with high GOE considering its intricacy, complexity and passion with rhythmic serpentine moves in and out of a squatting spread eagle and long flowing glide of the blades with rapid edged turns. It is the definition of level 4. But judging from the base value, her step sequence didn't receive it. The step sequence score especially shows that Mao is receiving unjust scoring and shows the triple lutz ruling as well as the relatively low PCS score is a pattern of underscoring continuing from the short program. I am impressed that Mao puts so much effort, talent,and artistry into her programs even though she is not properly rewarded for it. 4 skaters were given a higher base value in their step sequence than Mao, even though to me hers is obviously by far the most challenging and expressive of her music.

She's so adorable  












Judges Again they used a different set of metrics only for her.  And the Canadian judge!!  

I hope she will skip TEF if her knee and back haven't healed by then and focus only on nationals and worlds.

linglang wrote:

Link to the above video. Another super cute english interview.
http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/206848500/v1208442383

Isn't this interviewer John Coughlin who tweeted that
"Mao Asada is so elegant. Just needed to say it" recently?  

Thanks for the interview with Mao, silenceisgolden. She is so charming and beautiful. I agree that it might be best for Mao to skip TEB. But, she may feel that she need to check out the new tech content before Nationals and try to get a relatively clean freeskate in in competition conditions. There is no easy answer.

Here are some marvelous photos of Mao's performance:

https://postimg.org/image/7ph3hssxx/

https://postimg.org/image/qvxa37r1n/

https://postimg.org/image/ab9nkjm43/

https://postimg.org/image/m8r9p20qh/

https://postimg.org/image/w3813n1vj/

https://postimg.org/image/6xdgsmrab/

https://postimg.org/image/6u211mz8b/

https://postimg.org/image/dz1c87fel/

https://postimg.org/image/kzq5mtoap/

https://postimg.org/image/d52yijebf/

https://postimg.org/image/5w6kmupjh/842ab88e/

https://postimg.org/image/ymnl3zo7h/

https://postimg.org/image/vdt3o8jnb/

https://postimg.org/image/urijhjkgz/

Good job!


https://twitter.com/natoline_mao/status/790557250297339904

Convincingly renaissance.
https://twitter.com/natoline_mao/status/790564637339037698

Edit: I see you changed the image to the framed version.

Overkill...


https://twitter.com/natoline_mao/status/790557250297339904

BelieveInMaoself,
I changed the image as the original one was too large


Cello Suite (fan cam)

“She does not skate on the ice. She CUDDLES with it! :-)”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY0V2OSiYCw&feature=youtu.be


Re: Th interviewer
I confirmed that it was John Coughlin.
He also tweeted something very sweet about Mao after that Sotch SP, IIRC.

The majesty of Mao's skating and expression is magnificent but her left knee injury has caused the beautiful angels wings to be clipped so that try as she might she can't fly high. How deeply I long for her to rise up and soar free of injury.

Thanks to rosewood for providing a site with such a detailed description of the 4 stages in what is likely Mao's condition: jumper's knee or patellar tendinitis.

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/jumpers_knee#3

It is unknown where Mao is in the four stages but the poster rosewood has suggested that Mao is in stage 2.

It is heartbreaking that both Mao and Rika Kihira are suffering from injuries due to their brave commitment to do the triple axel. Rika gave my favorite junior performances this season. Like Mao, I hope she is able to recover quickly. I admire the great risk they take to display such incredible athleticism and beauty.

As far as Coach Sato's comments about Mao's condition is concerned, I am a bit confused. First of all, in an earlier post of rosewood's translation of his comments he said,

Mao Asada's pain in her left knee: Her coach stated "she's been unable to do intensive training since we are afraid."
.....
Mao in this season has been forced to do careful adjustments due to chronic pain she's been struggling with since last season.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/inde....99143/page-11 308

And then in the latest comments rosewood translated, Coach Sato says it's not a condition to be called an injury but they limit her training within the range of 60-70 percent of her normal level and it's due to avoiding a fatal injury.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/inde....99143/page-12 post 332

definition chronic- Relating to an illness or medical condition that is characterized by long duration or frequent recurrence.

A medical condition is defined as any illness, injury, or disease

So if what Mao has is not an injury, is it a condition that is basically as severe as an injury or the result of an injury since it causes frequent and long-term pain like tendinitis?

Perhaps the reason Mr. Sato said Mao's impaired condition isn't an injury is do to this definition of patellar tendinitis or jumper's knee:

Jumper's knee (patellar tendinopathy, patellar tendinosis, patellar tendinitis) commonly occurs in athletes who are involved in jumping sports such as basketball and volleyball. Patients report anterior knee pain, often with an aching quality. The symptom onset is insidious. Rarely is a discrete injury described. Maybe it is more like inflammation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patellar_tendinitis

For me to understand better, I thought of arthritis which seems like it would be another type of insidious pain that isn't an injury but it afflicts the joints instead of the tendons.

As far as Mao being in stage II of jumper's knee, I found this information from the link rosewood gave: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/jumpers_knee#3

The pain may interfere with sleep. At this point, activities that cause increased loading of the patellar tendon (for example, running or jumping) should be avoided.

To me this sounds quite serious because it sounds like jumping (or running) should not be attempted in this stage and if sleep is affected that would also have a negative effect on the mental state of the affected athlete. This seems to contradict the statement that in stage 2 an athlete can still perform satisfactorily. However, perhaps the statement is referring to sports that don't involve a lot jumping unlike figure skating. I can only imagine that not being able to run would greatly decrease the endurance as well in this stage. Does this mean that Mao must avoid any jumping when the inflammation reaches this stage? Besides endurance, perhaps the reason Mao jumps deteriorate in her LP is that she has to jump several days back to back including practice and the LP is on the last day when her inflammation is the worst.

Of course, all of this is just an educated guess based on limited information.

As I believe I mentioned before, this is all new to me- the type of injury- jumper's knee- and the fact that it is not discussed openly by announcers as it is in the sports I used to follow closely like baseball and football even when it is reported by the coach. I can understand Russian alright- not great and not every word- and one of the comments by Tarasova that stuck with me is that she said she was offended by Mao's LP jump performance at Trophy de France, which I thought was highly inappropriate. This is different than the comment I cited earlier by Tarasova about her criticism of Mao's "take it easy" jumping selection in her SP performance. Tarasova was almost demanding that Mao do the triple axel while being completely oblivious to her injury.

I have presented my views on this before and I don't mean to single out Tarasova because eurosport has made similar comments, but I hope citing such comments will help people see why I am so critical of the coverage Mao has received and why I think the media "black out" in covering her injury during her performances ties in so well with her underscoring.

I have immense admiration for Mao's commitment to giving performances in such an impaired condition in the midst of what I think is a lot of harsh and uninformed criticism, though I still wish she wouldn't compete in such a condition and focus on treatment and recuperation and that Mr. Sato should (and should have taken) taken a more active role in preventing Mao from competing to focus on healing and recuperation that would at last allow a return to intensive training. It reminds me of a brave solider going into a battle injured to fight with honor and silent acceptance no matter the final outcome. If surgery is not being considered for Mao and she and Mr. Sato are still intent on her competing, I hope there is some kind of treatment like the cortisone shot mentioned under stage 2 to help relieve Mao's pain during the most important competitions, since this can't be administered that often. I remember having a slip disk in my back which rendered me almost an invalid for several weeks and the cortisone shot was the only thing that took the pain away and "unlocked" my back so I cold start moving again, I thought it was almost miraculous at the time, though in the long run it still required back surgery. I hope a cortisone shot is allowed and that it can have the same affect in freeing up movement and alleviating pain in Mao's left knee, or if not this I hope there is some other great treatment that can give Mao, the beautiful angel, her wings back so she can fly high again.

TV commercial for Stona (cold medicine) for this winter!

The medicine (Mao) chases after the cold (Mai) throughout Japan and fights off it.  

… And Mai leaves Japan in frustration at the end.  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkcHPF_DoXM&feature=youtu.be

   

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNceDUxgvqm/?taken-by=theskatinglesson

Here are the highest quality videos I could find of some of Mao's more recent performances from this season and a lot from last season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HwQVd_kSFE Skate America LP the choreographic sequence is astounding from 2 to just short of 3 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P30Ujkg6zM0 Skate America SP

Cello Suite Fan Cam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY0V2OSiYCw

Cello Suite regular broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbhxrlLBNCQ

Mao's most viewed videos of this SP performance at Skate America with the most comments and some of the best quality videos have been removed as I posted earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H1fTQw08Zo Trophy of France FS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2asVE5esWo Trophy of France SP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnXKuTAiZ1k

Finlandia Trophy

SP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1afB-0R0Vk Quality isn't as good as the others but nice closeup of Mao during her interview

LP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIYJIRsN4eo

Worlds LP 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLHt8fsEwG4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuyDNPT8iFI same video broadcast but with Tarasova's commentary translated in subtitles.

Worlds exhibition 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEFvrzZaFq0

Nationals LP and practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlMjzl3pD1k

2015 China Cup SP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpfgCzS2k-Q

2015 Japan Open https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8odc0iymo

Here are two beautiful close up photos of Mao that are really high resolution from almost 10 years ago.
Click on the photos and they will enlarge:

https://postimg.org/image/7zr3j0087/

https://postimg.org/image/3zsuu9jjd/

I think it is really adorable and unique the way Mao's ears curve out at the bottom. I really notice it in these photos.

Thanks to yhma fan for posting these new, beautiful photos of Mao:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyqsFyDUAAA6sDw.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CypZZNmUcAAPNxU.jpg

Thanks to yhmafan for giving us this website so that we can send best wishes, appreciation and adoration for Mao during the Holiday season. I have sent two already.

http://www.arsoa.co.jp/mao_message2017/

(Step 1 :you have to decide the theme and Step 2 : Within letter 60 characters or less and put your name. I think that Mao would understand so writing in English is ok ) You can use google translate, if you get confused.

According to Dai in this clip
https://twitter.com/moco0611chi/status/808335067776811008
from the TV program aired in Dec. 12,
he met Mao at Shin-Yokohama ice rink, where Mao is doing daily practice,
and she told him that her mind finally rebooted.

I don’t know what exactly she means,
but I hope it’s really a good thing for Mao and us fans.  
Good luck Mao at Nationals!  

* * *

I feel very sad to see this forum overrunning with the Korean language
while/after the  admin and mods and fans are away/gone from here...

I'm still here time to time,and delete all I can but sadly I can't delete these bots accounts and can't moderate COP topic.