Worlds 2008

thanks MaoNinja for those news!!

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/chuspo/article/sports/news/CK2008031702095981.html
GO! GO! MAO-chan!

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/winter/news/20080317-OYT1T00207.htm
This article says Mao was on ice just after arrived Göteborg!

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2008031790101542.html
This article says Miki changed SP program to the last season's and will not try a quadruple jump at this worlds.

As always, thank you for the news, MaoNinja!

Quote :

About next coach, as Mao will stay in Nagoya next season, they are searching coach who can come to Japan. But it is difficult to find such personal coach, so maybe they choose several coaches who are specialized in choreography, jumps or spins.

I wish she would hire Lee Barkell as a jump coach. He is the only coach I know that has managed to fix the flutz of his student.
Then, Lucinda Ruh as a spin doctor! And Lori/Tarasova for choreography. Though Tom Dickson would be great as well (he choreographed Yukina's amazing programs and also YuNa's Roxanne SP).

I hope the practices are going well! Good luck to Miki and Yukari, too.

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/sports/news/CK2008031702096122.html

This article says Mao arrived Göteborg on the night of 16th, went to the practice rink directly from the airport. Mao was able to practice only 15 minutes. Mao skated to check the ice condition, did steps and spins, no jumps.


I just watched Mao's interview news at Göteborg airport! Mao was smiling and looked very relaxed. She said "I heard salmon is very delicious in Sweden. I want to enjoy salmon after the competition." She is really a gourmet!

I found this video:

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=jZeKbs3yCAo

masofs wrote:

I found this video:

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=jZeKbs3yCAo

I watched that news, but the video is shorter.

http://fnn.fujitv.co.jp/news/newsvideo/newsvideo04.html
You can watch Mao's departure and arriving videos here.

http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/main/im20080317NN002Y69417032008.html

This article says Mao jumped 3A and 3+3 succesfully in the official practice on 17th.

OMG I nearly missed Worlds! I thought there was still a week to go!

And I wanted to create a preview montage, too... I'll post it anyway, but it will be sort of unfinished.

Thank you all for news, vids and photos. I hope Mao is in great form!

one more photo of her practice on 17th
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/zoom/20080317-OYT9I00551.htm

inskate wrote:

They said in the "Legend of 17" that after 4CC she had a leg injury and couldn't jump for awhile, didn't they?

Yes. the narration said so.
this is only interview part video 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS_tnqA8038
The interview was filmed on March 1st.
(01:55) The interviewer asked "I heard that your ankle was injured 10 days ago. How is it?" Mao answered "much better"
(03:42) Mao said "I will practice jumps this afternoon"
As 2 weeks passed since the interview, I hope her ankle has healed.

New news clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IihIVk_B4ss

Thanks for the link! Looks like Mao's steps and Biellman got even better.

Here's something from me:

Road to Sweden - Worlds 2008 Preview Montage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Dw7nz-hUg

Oscilla wrote:

New news clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IihIVk_B4ss

Could someone please translate the questions that were asked to Mao?

I don't have time to rewatch it... And I forgot most of the talking becaue I paid more attention to the practice... But two thing I remember was Mao talking about the lack of coach and Swedish food. About the coach she said that she was initially worried, but she didn't have coach at 4CC and she had a great performance there, so it should be OK. And about the food, that she would like to try it after the competition.

Thanks all for all the updates!

I am surprised to hear about her ankle injury. I hope it's alright now.

Best of luck to Mao and all the other skaters! I hope that everyone could perform their best to their heart content.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=figureskating&id=3297979
Japan could become first country to win men's and women's golds since Russia in '02

"It's good to have a rivalry," Asada said. "We want to continue to have good performances and motivate each other."

Asada was cautiously optimistic about her chances in Sweden.
"Last year I came second in the world championships and I am working hard and training hard," Asada said. "This time round I would at least like to match that rank and hopefully even do better."

photos
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?photoId=1868894&sportId=1850
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?photoId=1868893&sportId=1850
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?photoId=1868892&sportId=1850
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?photoId=1868884&sportId=1850
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?photoId=1868890&sportId=1850

http://www.maomaiasada.com/bulletin1.htm

Mao's SP practice!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqMhCY3z_p8

Great 3-3! After that the other skaters kept getting in the way, so most of the music was just skated through, but a very promising start nonetheless.

Oscilla wrote:

Mao's SP practice!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqMhCY3z_p8

Wow! Her body is moving so dynamic and smooth.

On 17th official practice photos
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/zoomImage/20080318-OHT9I00144.htm
http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/news/photo?a=20080318-00000012-jijp-spo.view-000

Mao's words after the practice on 17th
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/winter/news/20080318-OHT1T00160.htm
"I want to keep this good condition. Though my dream to become the world champion is strong, if I could not forget it, my body would stiffen. I must concentrate on how I skate"

http://www.sanspo.com/sokuho/080318/sokuho014.html
"Ice of the rink is hard for me, but I'm getting used to it"

Mao-chan, forgive my poor translation

SP Starting Order
http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2008/wc08_Ladies_SP_TimeSchedule.pdf
http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2008/SEG003.HTM
Sweden time
Warm-up Group 9
16:23:00 - 16:29:40 42 Yukari NAKANO JPN
16:29:40 - 16:36:20 43 Miki ANDO JPN
16:36:20 - 16:43:00 44 Joannie ROCHETTE CAN
16:43:00 - 16:49:40 45 Mao ASADA JPN
16:49:40 - 16:56:20 46 Carolina KOSTNER ITA
16:56:20 - 17:03:00 47 Ashley WAGNER USA

Ice Resurfacing
Warm-up Group 10
17:23:30 - 17:30:10 48 Yu-Na KIM KOR
17:30:10 - 17:36:50 49 Sarah MEIER SUI
17:36:50 - 17:43:30 50 Kiira KORPI FIN
17:43:30 - 17:50:10 51 Laura LEPISTO FIN
17:50:10 - 17:56:50 52 Julia SEBESTYEN HUN
17:56:50 - 18:03:30 53 Kimmie MEISSNER USA

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2008031801165
(Asked about Japanese are all in the same group) "As we were always in the same practice groups at this worlds, I will be able to skate SP in the same atmosphere."
"As I made a lot of mistakes in SP this season, I have to skate faithfully."

http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=382077
It isn't rocket science to make the explosive Asada, who was Japanese champion at 14 but couldn't go to the Turin Olympics because of her age, the prohibitive favourite here. Unlike last year's other medallists, Ando (shoulder) and Korea's Ju-Na Kim (hip), Asada is healthy - and she has the triple Axel, which puts her in fairly exclusive company among women in the sport's history.

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=070000&biid=2008031990808
(Korean newspaper)
Asada, who arrived in Sweden late Monday, displayed clean jumps and artistry in the open practice session.

Kim’s coach Brian Orser, who watched her performance, said, “I like her jump. But music and performance didn’t match.”

Asada said, “I did triple axels and combination jumps well. I hope I can maintain this condition through the competition.”

She won the title at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship in Korea in February.

“I was so sorry that Kim couldn’t join the competition due to her injury. She and I are special to each other because we motivate each other,” Asada said. She added that Kim and she chat whenever they meet, noting, “I don’t want to overexert myself but just want to do my best without any regrets.”

I think this reporter wrote the last paragraph not directly from Mao but from YouTube videos.

Thank you a lot for the links and translations, MaoNinja!

Quote :

Kim’s coach Brian Orser, who watched her performance, said, “I like her jump. But music and performance didn’t match.”

It's good to know that Mao's jumps look good! I find a statement about not matching the music rather funny, though - it is difficult indeed to make things match in a public session, when there are skaters running into your path all the time. The practices are ,ostly to warm up the elements, they are not mini-performances!

That comment that Brian about Mao i find very odd. Makes me wonder if he doesn't like Tarasova's choreography because i know Mao can skate to the music very well.

And i agree, scot and tessa were just great love them!

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/136_20960.html

Although i think this line is incorrect "(Yu-Na) scored 197.20 points at the Cup of Russia in November, which is the best total in any ISU-organized event" I believe Mao still hold that title.