Miki Ando has become mother

I can't believe Miki is trying to compete so soon after having a baby! It doesn't sound realistic to me, especially given her age, and the fact that she's been teetering on retirement anyway these past couple years. I can't think of any other woman in skating who has come back to competition after having a baby. My hat goes off to her for even attempting this. Even more so if she does well.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

Otoh, I have to agree with pearlyriver on Satoko; she can wait till 2018 Olys. I saw her perform in COI last week, and yes she was very good, even better than last season I guess...but frankly, the audience wasn't buying her performance that much. I mean, she's good technically, but there wasn't anything which moves you in her performance...not yet. It should get better as she ages, but she hasn't got it yet. I can't feel it's her time. Oh, but who knows? She might evolve miraculously duing GPS. Still I would prefer they choose the ladies older than her for Sochi. I know it's just my selfish ego as a Mao fan, but seriously, when you think about how they didn't allow Mao to go to Turin because of that teeny weeny birth date issue although she was like 100 times more brilliant than Satoko around the same age... 

:

Could they make a special allowance for Mao in 2006? But if that's possible, then Yuna would have gone to Turin too. Imagine how the history of skating could have changed if Mao and Yuna's moms had given birth 1.5 months earlier.

Star85 wrote:

I can't believe Miki is trying to compete so soon after having a baby! It doesn't sound realistic to me, especially given her age, and the fact that she's been teetering on retirement anyway these past couple years. I can't think of any other woman in skating who has come back to competition after having a baby. My hat goes off to her for even attempting this. Even more so if she does well.

Well Tanya Navka did it, but she was an ice dancer  

Based on what I saw on my twitter feed, Miki got 91.05 in her LP at regionals.
UR on both Lutz and Loop, landed her 3Ss, some doubles, and a fall.

polosatik wrote:

Well Tanya Navka did it, but she was an ice dancer  

And the french ice dancer Isobel Delobel.  I think Isobel's situation was very similiar to Miki's. She gave birth in the spring of 2009, if I'm not mistaken (or was it even later  ), unlike Tatyana, whose daughter was born years before Turin 06. Not that I'm trying to take anything away from Tanya's acomplishments. I find anyone who comes back after giving birth remarkable, and Tanya became an even better skater, then she was, before having a child.

EDIT: I just checked at ISU, Isabelle gave birth to her son in october 09.    And she was on the ice in Vancouver!   Holy cow.

roma wrote:

Based on what I saw on my twitter feed, Miki got 91.05 in her LP at regionals.
UR on both Lutz and Loop, landed her 3Ss, some doubles, and a fall.

Hm, can she retain her old form by Nationals, which are in Dec 23? Somehow, I don't see it happening, it's only 2 months left.
It's none of my business why she's doing what she's doing, but I wish her mom would calm down and become realistic about Miki's chances, and just butt out of her life and let Miki live it, the way she wants it.

IMO, the Sochi team is going to be: Mao, Kanako and Akiko. Unless Satoko has a major success at GP's, then I think JSF might drop Akiko and give the third spot to Satoko. For some reason, JSF was never a big fan of Akiko.

pearlyriver wrote:

Could they make a special allowance for Mao in 2006? But if that's possible, then Yuna would have gone to Turin too. Imagine how the history of skating could have changed if Mao and Yuna's moms had given birth 1.5 months earlier.

I do think it was fair not to allow Mao nor Yuna to go to Turin. Rules are rules;you have to draw a line somewhere. But all the same, I don't think it's good for the sport to choose skaters around 15 or so over older skaters to go to Olys, unless the skater is extremely super good; like Mao was, or I'd even say Yuna was, when they were around that age. They had lots of charm in their own unique different ways aside from their skills, which showed they already were, and that they will go on being special skaters...as they did turn out to be.

roma wrote:

Based on what I saw on my twitter feed, Miki got 91.05 in her LP at regionals.
UR on both Lutz and Loop, landed her 3Ss, some doubles, and a fall.

Sadly, they do not broadcast these small block competitions, plus I don't think they allowed the audience to video tape any of it this time so we may not be seeing any recordings of Miki's FP. But the info roma seems correct as mostly the same is written in this article (it's in Jpnse, sorry). It says Miki didn't do all tha good in her FP although she won, and she did not look satisfied about it herself.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20131014-00000000-spnavi-spo

She's been doing fairly good in her SPs, but she has to do something about her FP performances. She'll be competing in the Eastern Jpn regional competition next, and it says she has to make within 6th place to move on to Jpn Nats. Probably possible, but the judges may not be so easy on her as she wasn't able to leave much of a good impression this time.

I hope she can make it to Nats, though.

There's been alot of debate here about her coming back after giving birth. I personally think it's totally irrelavent for people to even discuss whether a single mother should be allowed to compete in a sport or not, but there are still many people in Jpn who think otherwise. We have morons sending complaints to JSF accusing them of not 'educating' Jpnse skaters to lead 'proper' private lives...I think that's nothing but stupid, but there's this sort of attitude in Jpn in which some people think athletes (esp amateur athletes) should not even be dating. If you look back, you'd notice that none of the top Jpnse ladies were ever dating anyone while they were competing, and I do not think this was because they were merely too busy practicing. I don't know how it is in skating, but in other sport, you often hear stories about coaches and feds not allowing athletes to get involved in any degree of romatic relationships here. I don't like them doing that at all. They don't have any right to do that, and it's simply not natural.

Miki may be the first lady skater in Jpn who ignored such 'moral' values, and went on with her private life the way she wishes. In that sense she has already made history in Jpnse female sport, she has also done more than enough to prove she's one of the best skaters we've ever had, so I would like her to have a happy ending in her career whether she makes it to Olys or not.

zarinaballerina wrote:

IMO, the Sochi team is going to be: Mao, Kanako and Akiko. Unless Satoko has a major success at GP's, then I think JSF might drop Akiko and give the third spot to Satoko. For some reason, JSF was never a big fan of Akiko.

I think so, too. But, if Satoko does super good in GPS and Nats, there is a possibility that they might exclude Kanako instead of Akiko, depending on what kind of results they can manage to get in the first half of the season. I wouldn't want them to drop either of them personally, but Kanako was not in such good condition at JO...I think most of her other jumps will come along as the season goes, but she has to overcome her issues on her 2As. JSF is not going to feel up to sending a skater to Olys, who has a high chance of flunking the 2A in SP which will automatically count her out of medalling from the start. Kanako admitted she's not good at it years ago, but I hope she can do something about it this season one way or another...

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

There's been alot of debate here about her coming back after giving birth. I personally think it's totally irrelavent for people to even discuss whether a single mother should be allowed to compete in a sport or not, but there are still many people in Jpn who think otherwise. We have morons sending complaints to JSF accusing them of not 'educating' Jpnse skaters to lead 'proper' private lives...I think that's nothing but stupid, but there's this sort of attitude in Jpn in which some people think athletes (esp amateur athletes) should not even be dating. If you look back, you'd notice that none of the top Jpnse ladies were ever dating anyone while they were competing, and I do not think this was because they were merely too busy practicing. I don't know how it is in skating, but in other sport, you often hear stories about coaches and feds not allowing athletes to get involved in any degree of romatic relationships here. I don't like them doing that at all. They don't have any right to do that, and it's simply not natural.

WTH?! Excuse me, skaters have every right to have personal lives, despite competing. What is wrong with some people?! It's none of their business whether a skater has a child or is dating. I know japanese culture is very different from the western but still...

Maybe the female skaters were dating, but kept it very private. Honestly, if a Fed were to forbid me to have a life as long as I'm competing, I think I'd loose it. IMO, they should butt out of their skater's private lives, otherwise, under such suffocation, their skaters are going to be retiring very early in their careers. Not every skater is living for skating only, and doesn't care about anything else.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

I think so, too. But, if Satoko does super good in GPS and Nats, there is a possibility that they might exclude Kanako instead of Akiko, depending on what kind of results they can manage to get in the first half of the season. I wouldn't want them to drop either of them personally, but Kanako was not in such good condition at JO...I think most of her other jumps will come along as the season goes, but she has to overcome her issues on her 2As. JSF is not going to feel up to sending a skater to Olys, who has a high chance of flunking the 2A in SP which will automatically count her out of medalling from the start. Kanako admitted she's not good at it years ago, but I hope she can do something about it this season one way or another...

HM, somehow, I don't see them leaving Kanako behind, unless she would completely bombed GP's and Nationals. It seems to me, that JSF considers Kanako as japanese #2.

zarinaballerina wrote:

I wish her mom would calm down and become realistic about Miki's chances, and just butt out of her life and let Miki live it

I am sure she won't. If Miki doesn't make the Team for Sochi, then next year her mom will say "now there is no Mao, no Akiko (maybe no Kanako as well), so you have the real chance, gambatte!" or somesuch .

News clip on Miki after SP (poor quality):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ug9Kjr3esQ
Miki today leaving Shin-Yokohama Skate center after LP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLlPWyxG754

zarinaballerina wrote:

Maybe the female skaters were dating, but kept it very private.

Right!
We never know how their private lives are.

zarinaballerina wrote:

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

There's been alot of debate here about her coming back after giving birth. I personally think it's totally irrelavent for people to even discuss whether a single mother should be allowed to compete in a sport or not, but there are still many people in Jpn who think otherwise. We have morons sending complaints to JSF accusing them of not 'educating' Jpnse skaters to lead 'proper' private lives...I think that's nothing but stupid, but there's this sort of attitude in Jpn in which some people think athletes (esp amateur athletes) should not even be dating. If you look back, you'd notice that none of the top Jpnse ladies were ever dating anyone while they were competing, and I do not think this was because they were merely too busy practicing. I don't know how it is in skating, but in other sport, you often hear stories about coaches and feds not allowing athletes to get involved in any degree of romatic relationships here. I don't like them doing that at all. They don't have any right to do that, and it's simply not natural.

WTH?! Excuse me, skaters have every right to have personal lives, despite competing. What is wrong with some people?! It's none of their business whether a skater has a child or is dating. I know japanese culture is very different from the western but still...

Maybe the female skaters were dating, but kept it very private. Honestly, if a Fed were to forbid me to have a life as long as I'm competing, I think I'd loose it. IMO, they should butt out of their skater's private lives, otherwise, under such suffocation, their skaters are going to be retiring very early in their careers. Not every skater is living for skating only, and doesn't care about anything else.

It's horrible isn't it?  
I do not think JSF bothers to order their skaters not to date anyone under any circumstance, hopefully. But they do have skaters taking classes on how to deal with the media, and I'm guessing they are at least warning them about how their private lives may influence their reputations, since our tabloids always make big deals about which athlete is dating who all the time. I'm only guessing again, but I think JSF has been putting alot of effort in hiding which skater has a girlfriend or boyfriend whenever they find out about it. We had some stupid tabloids writing crap articles about Miki and Morozov when they were working together, but nobody knew Nobu and Mura had girlfriends until they announced they're getting married...so what else am I supposed to think? They're probably doing so (if they are) basically to protect the skaters from the tabloids, but I can't help thinking they're doing it to protect themselves as well. I do not think there is any need for our skaters to go around promoting that they're seeing someone, but I also do not think there is any need to try to keep such facts top secret. The more they do that, the more it makes it look like a crime or a sin.  

Whenever some athlete doesn't do so well after they have an article written about them that they're seeing someone, there are quite a few morons who accuse them of doing poorly because they're having that relationship. I am sick of that kind of attitude amongst some of us, but I have to admit, we still have it here unfortunately. You can't imagine how so many people made cruel comments on Nobu when his girlfriend got pregnant and they got married.

I'd say most of us skating fans accepted his, Miki's or Mura's case as a good thing and we congradulated them politely, cause we're happy when skaters are happy, period. It's mainly the non-skating fans who only watch the sport during Olys which seem to have a big problem with skaters having kids before they're married, as if we're all still living in the 50s or something. The majority here does not bash athletes as much as they would've if these things happened some decades ago, since we have countless couples having kids before they're married nowadays. It's nothing special at all. But there are lots of people who still feel it's dishonorable when things happen in that order, and they tend to take it out on celebrities when it happens to them. That kind of attitude is fading away little by little here thankfully, but it's not entirely gone yet.

So Miki coming back after having her baby without getting married...this is one thing which I think most ordinary Jpnse would never have the guts to do. She is not my number one choice to send to Olys, but her coming back to the sport will make alot of difference for many single mothers in Jpn. That's one of the reasons why I sincerely hope she can do well in the coming competitions and let some narrow minded people understand that she has done nothing shameful.

It's not like I've followed every skater's private lives, but still, I know Shizuka and Yukari were dating while competing. And apparently more have been. I remember a JSF official was whining about Shizuka giving more priority to dating than to train sometimes.   I don't think just dating cause a big fuss.  

By the way, Kanto Block's protocols are up now.
SP  http://www.jsfresults.com/National/2013-2014/fs_j/block2/data0203.pdf
FS  http://www.jsfresults.com/National/2013-2014/fs_j/block2/data0205.pdf

I feel sorry for skaters who have to go extra length to keep their private lives top secret. Imagine being a skater's GF or BF and you can never take a stroll or go to a restaurant with your beloved:no: 

pearlyriver wrote:

I feel sorry for skaters who have to go extra length to keep their private lives top secret. Imagine being a skater's GF or BF and you can never take a stroll or go to a restaurant with your beloved:no: 

Not even skaters, just remember some certain popstars contracts  

Honestly i only knew about Nobunari getting married and became a father during competition, i never heard anything about Shizuka or others are dating or being in a relationship, but all i always think is, that such wonderful ppl just cant be alone! I guess none of them is single at all   All i thought was, the media never talked about stuff like that, but Pochinko just changed my mind!  

Haidogirl wrote:

pearlyriver wrote:

I feel sorry for skaters who have to go extra length to keep their private lives top secret. Imagine being a skater's GF or BF and you can never take a stroll or go to a restaurant with your beloved:no: 

Not even skaters, just remember some certain popstars contracts  

Honestly i only knew about Nobunari getting married and became a father during competition, i never heard anything about Shizuka or others are dating or being in a relationship, but all i always think is, that such wonderful ppl just cant be alone! I guess none of them is single at all    All i thought was, the media never talked about stuff like that, but Pochinko just changed my mind!  

Most of our media; like major newspapers, they don't write articles on stuff like that, of course. But all the other tabloid papers and magazines do. I don't read them much, but it's hard to avoid seeing thier headlines in the ads they hang all over our subways and trains. Not all of what they write are untrue, but they hardly ever give out names concerning the sources in their articles, so I stick to being doubtful about them. If whatever they claim is true, it eventually comes out into the open with the people involved holding press conferences or sending direct statements to the press, so I only believe what they've written after all that happens.

I never heard nor read about Shizuka or any other skater having a romantic relationship with anybody (I'm not including rumors amongst fans when I say this though), aside from the articles on Miki and Morozov which were based only on rumors at the time. They'd always write 'a certain person who is close to Miki has said...blah blah blah', so I couldn't care less about them. I did sense they were probably having a relationship, but those articles were written behind their backs, so I felt it was unfair to believe everything in them. And yeah, I do remember one of our most crappiest tabloids writing that Mao and Dai were dating. If I remember correctly, Mao just laughed and denied it completely. Takahiko had to answer whether he was in a relationship with that announcer, since there were several tabloids writing about it already and rumors were all over the net. I doubt he would've gone public about it unless those tabloids wrote those articles.

But those tabloids do make their reporters chase around popular skaters, and since their selling rates are going down eversince the internet happened, I think they're desperate enough to write anything including stuff which is totally untrue just so they can get more attention. People do not sue eachother in Jpn that much like they do in the US, so they usually get away with lies. Some celebrities do sue, but the tabloids only have to pay a fairly small amount of solatium even if they're found guilty, so they go on doing the same thing over and over again. We also have quite a few shitty tv shows which are doing mostly the same thing as tabloids. I don't watch them much either, so maybe that's one of the reasons I've never seen any reliable reports on which of our skaters are dating or not (I do hear rumors amongst the fans more or less, but however realistic they sound they're just rumors in the end, so I don't pay much attention).

I still think though that JSF prefers not to have their skaters going out with whoever.
Avoiding trouble, keeping quiet as much as possible, trying not to be noticable too much...all these are still golden rules here. They've got their good sides and bad sides, I guess.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

Haidogirl wrote:

pearlyriver wrote:

I feel sorry for skaters who have to go extra length to keep their private lives top secret. Imagine being a skater's GF or BF and you can never take a stroll or go to a restaurant with your beloved:no: 

Not even skaters, just remember some certain popstars contracts  

Honestly i only knew about Nobunari getting married and became a father during competition, i never heard anything about Shizuka or others are dating or being in a relationship, but all i always think is, that such wonderful ppl just cant be alone! I guess none of them is single at all    All i thought was, the media never talked about stuff like that, but Pochinko just changed my mind!  

Most of our media; like major newspapers, they don't write articles on stuff like that, of course. But all the other tabloid papers and magazines do. I don't read them much, but it's hard to avoid seeing thier headlines in the ads they hang all over our subways and trains. Not all of what they write are untrue, but they hardly ever give out names concerning the sources in their articles, so I stick to being doubtful about them. If whatever they claim is true, it eventually comes out into the open with the people involved holding press conferences or sending direct statements to the press, so I only believe what they've written after all that happens.

I never heard nor read about Shizuka or any other skater having a romantic relationship with anybody (I'm not including rumors amongst fans when I say this though), aside from the articles on Miki and Morozov which were based only on rumors at the time. They'd always write 'a certain person who is close to Miki has said...blah blah blah', so I couldn't care less about them. I did sense they were probably having a relationship, but those articles were written behind their backs, so I felt it was unfair to believe everything in them. And yeah, I do remember one of our most crappiest tabloids writing that Mao and Dai were dating. If I remember correctly, Mao just laughed and denied it completely. Takahiko had to answer whether he was in a relationship with that announcer, since there were several tabloids writing about it already and rumors were all over the net. I doubt he would've gone public about it unless those tabloids wrote those articles.

But those tabloids do make their reporters chase around popular skaters, and since their selling rates are going down eversince the internet happened, I think they're desperate enough to write anything including stuff which is totally untrue just so they can get more attention. People do not sue eachother in Jpn that much like they do in the US, so they usually get away with lies. Some celebrities do sue, but the tabloids only have to pay a fairly small amount of solatium even if they're found guilty, so they go on doing the same thing over and over again. We also have quite a few shitty tv shows which are doing mostly the same thing as tabloids. I don't watch them much either, so maybe that's one of the reasons I've never seen any reliable reports on which of our skaters are dating or not (I do hear rumors amongst the fans more or less, but however realistic they sound they're just rumors in the end, so I don't pay much attention).

I still think though that JSF prefers not to have their skaters going out with whoever.
Avoiding trouble, keeping quiet as much as possible, trying not to be noticable too much...all these are still golden rules here. They've got their good sides and bad sides, I guess.

Thank you Pachinko!
I have to admit, i love reading celebraty news, gossips included! *whispers*  
I found a great page about jap. musican and acting stars, but never about sport super stars

Not very good news about Miki in Eastern Sectional:

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20131103-00000034-dal-spo

1st day of Eastern Sectional, in SP
Miki got only 41.97 for SP. The landing of 1st 3Lz was not good, and she messed up 2nd triple. The step part was very slow.
(From the unconfirmed news, Miki was in 9th when the SP competition was over. Only the top 5 will be able to enter Jpn National in Dec. Miki is even behind Fumie... )

Correction: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20131103-00000429-yom-spo
According to the link, Miki was in 13th.

Oh no... I hope she does better in the free.

She did:

http://fskating.com/2013/11/miki-ando-shows-strong-character-at-sectionals.html

Good for her, and wow, she looks so beautiful, I always think she has the most ugly dresses but not this season, this dresses are her best ever  

Interesting report about Miki and the Olympics!
I posted it in FB too!

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000779652

Haidogirl wrote:

Interesting report about Miki and the Olympics!
I posted it in FB too!

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000779652

I remember watching a special report right before the FP at Torino by American media (I don't remember if it's NBC or CBS) but they mention the young Miki as a potential medalist. Her country must be very disappointed to see her going from medal potential to 15th place. There's no heavier burden than a great potential.