Mao News - The 2013-2014 Season!

ilovethai wrote:

And what I noticed about Midori, Surya and Tonya, is that they are under-appreciated in the skating community. Rather, people remember Nancy, Oksana and Kristi more. I'm not saying that the latter 3 are not as good as the first 3, I'm saying that women who push the boundary for ladies figure skating should be remembered just as specially.

My hope is that the up-and-coming crop of Russian wondergirls will push the boundary for the ladies. Technically, they are something to behold. Only 13-16 years old and already landing difficult 3-3 combos. I think it will only be a short time before some of them attempt 3A or even quads.  But then.. there's the growth spurt to consider  

Speaking of quads, I remember, after the 2010 Olympics, when Mao said she was gonna try the quad loop by the 2014 Olympics. Too bad she had to re-learn her jumps :(We won't see the quad loop, but becoming the first woman to land 8 triples is equally as record-breaking and history-making.

Good point. I never think about that. I think another reason is that Midori and Suya are not American so they weren't promoted as enthusiastically as Kristi or Nancy. Tonya might have fared better had she taken the right track. Oksana is Ukranian, but her rag to riches story is what the American media love to sell.
Speaking of the Russian wondergirls, what I find astonishing is that they can land 3-3 combos like nothing but their 2A leave a lot to desire. Are there any junior Japanese skaters who are on the same level as Lena Radionova or Karen Chen? I'm afraid that in the next phase of FS, we'll only see US vs Russia showdown if the up-and-coming Japanese skaters aren't taught the right jumping techniques.

roma, thank you so much for posting this amazing interview.     I've always heard only good stuff about Rafa, this interview showed why. He is truly an exceptional man.

I completely understand why Mao chose to keep her mom's health condition to herself, but how I wish she hadn't. Not going into detail, but just mentioning to Rafa that her mom is sick, so she can't leave Japan, would've made a difference. But having said that, even if Mao had stayed with Rafa then, it probably wouldn't work out in the long run. Mao's mom's health deteriorated, especially after Vancouver 2010, so Mao would never leave Japan anyway. But how I wish she'd kept working with Rafa at least until Vancouver 2010.

I know it's none of my business, but I thought that Mao's mom had liver problem, not cancer.  

COHK wrote:

I kind of sharing your frustration here, pearlyriver. I'm so tired of ppl on the major forums criticizing Mao's technique now that I don't pay close attention to their comments. But I was really pissed when a certain "know-it-all" fs poster on GS criticizing Mao, saying that Mao looked like "she didn't want to be there (at the competitions)", and repeatedly saying this. I so much want to rebut the poster statement with this: if she didn't want to be there, she could have quit after her mother passed away; if she didn't want to keep on competing, she could have quit after the consecutive #6 placement at WC...  BUT SHE DIDN'T!
I don't get it why there are ppl who just jump to their own conclusions about things, and take the position as if they know everything based on the limited information they posses, sometimes even from hearsay. In the end they don't even bother to understand the real reasons behind how things have come from the beginning.

I completely agree. Mao's situation should be a reminder, that we the fans don't know what's going on in skaters' personal lives, unless they decide to inform us of their every muscle ache and fever they have. Mao may have looked like she didn't want to be there, well, her mom was dying and here she was competing, not knowing if her mom will still be alive when she comes back (sadly this came true at GPF 2011), so how the hell does anyone expect to see a bubbly and happy Mao in times like that?! Now had she informed the world about her mom's situation, than most (even majority of haters) would pitty her, but she chose to keep a very private matter, just that, private. And I cannot begin to tell you, how much respect and admiration I have for this exceptionally brave and strong woman.

zarinaballerina wrote:

I completely understand why Mao chose to keep her mom's health condition to herself, but how I wish she hadn't. Not going into detail, but just mentioning to Rafa that her mom is sick, so she can't leave Japan, would've made a difference. But having said that, even if Mao had stayed with Rafa then, it probably wouldn't work out in the long run. Mao's mom's health deteriorated, especially after Vancouver 2010, so Mao would never leave Japan anyway. But how I wish she'd kept working with Rafa at least until Vancouver 2010.

Reading this interview just makes me feel more regretful about Mao and Rafa's partnership. Rafa is a nice coach and he also has the technical expertise so I think he'll be very likely to go to Japan to work with Mao. I wish she had handled it differently, but everything is just an assumption  . Most of the top skaters have to hit the bottom before they can rise back stronger. It's painful but unavoidable. I hope Mao'll get to read this article to understand that Rafa still cares about her and it may bring some comfort to her when reflecting on those hardship.

Quote :

The thing is, Mao never could properly train in Japan: too many distractions, like any star would have. Mao didn't like that, she would close off, and it transferred onto the ice… It ended when I told her ultimately that either she comes back, or we don't work together anymore.

This...  

Quote :

It had taught me a lesson. A coach never should make a decision without full knowledge of the situation. Asada didn't leave me, I made her quit, even though she didn't want to until the very last moment. Even at the World championships my name was in her protocol up until the beginning of the free program. Mao must have thought I would come to Gothenburg with Jeffrey Buttle and will be by the boards when she skates. And I didn't come to Sweden at all.

This is really a big case of what could have been. Sure, he didn't now anything but maybe if he went to Worlds with Jeff, Mao may have explained something even just t say that her mom was ill so she couldn't go to the US. She doesn't even need to say what the illness was. I'm sure he'd have understood her. But, we know what really happened now and it's just so sad. Reading the interview you can really feel his regret on that. Mao endured everything and didn't say anything bad at all. Just reading the "even though she didn't want to until the very last moment" makes me really, really sad.

[quote="roma"]

Quote :

But, we know what really happened now and it's just so sad. Reading the interview you can really feel his regret on that. Mao endured everything and didn't say anything bad at all. Just reading the "even though she didn't want to until the very last moment" makes me really, really sad.

It's even more   when you read the chapter about how Mao parted with her dear mother in the new book...it made me  whenever I read through that part of the book.

I can't help but admire how great Mao's Mom, Kyoko was as the mother of two wonderful daughters. Just as Kyoko knew she might be near the end of her life, so she had to ensure that both Mao and Mai would be able to live on independently. That was when she gradually stop to take care about everything in Mao's skating career so Mao can learn to make decisions on her own (and remember the year when Mao got her driver's license, it also had to do with giving Mao freedom to go wherever she wants to). On the other hand, Kyoko would still tried her best to maintain contact with Tarasova, with Mao's former ballet teacher, in the sense that Mao would have someone giving her a hand or advise when encountering difficulties in her future life.

After reading about pieces of what happened then, knowing that there had been  in her skating/personal life, I guess we all wish there will be a happy ending on the day she finally hangs up her skating boots (as a competitive skater).

BTW, for the fans who's never tired of watching Mao's Stsq, please thank the uploader for this clip of a collection of Mao's Stsq from her competitive programs, SP and FS, since 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu0Gbh0tjOU

Can any Russian speakers help translate the last part of the interview where they talk about Mao's jumps? I used google translate to read the original article and I felt it differs a bit from the translation provided at FSU. In the original, Raf answered that UR can happen to all skaters at the elite level, but judges sometimes "see" and sometimes don't. The quotation marks seem to imply that certain skaters are being singled out. The next question asked if Mao's reputation is making judges give her a 'green light'. ('green corridor' in google translate) At first, I felt is the question implying that judges are giving her the benefit of the doubt? But it doesn't seemed to flow with the rest of the interview. I wonder if 'green corridor' might just been a special treatment but in this case not a good way. (i.e. singling her out with UR/edge calls). Then it makes more sense since Raf seemed to agree with it in his answer. I will greatly appreciate a better translation to clarify this part.

Wonderful interview, Rafael A. seems a great person but this interview depressed me too, it's not fair that Mao has been through those difficult moments   . And I think that season was also when Mai retired ? , That must have been very hard for Mao too because it really looked like she enjoyed going training and competing together. It bothers me so much that some people try to place Yu-Na like a victim as she had to overcome many obstacles to get where she is while Mao had apparently very easy joruney, I mean what can be more difficult that to spend most of your competitive career dealing with the terrible disease of your mother and finally her death? . Regardless of her skating this interview confirms again what Mao is a wonderful person , all coaches have nothing but good words and memories of her  , I think it almost impossible to meet Mao and no like her.
And indeed when Mao finally retires she will be appreciated, she has given more to FS than FS has given her, even leaving aside the 3a just the respect she showed for the sport always is fascinating, never skip a competition, always went in the grand prix , always went to 4cc although many people say it has no enough prestige and I almost felt that since Mao began to go to 4CC other elite skaters started going too , Mao never complained about the judges or the system change though she was one of the most affected , has never spoken ill of any competitor , she  began to rework her technique. And Mao has remained all these years competing only because she loves skating, at first I thought it was because she wanted the gold medal in the Olympics but now I'm sure if she had already won a gold medal would have continued competing because she really loves FS unlike  Patrick Chan who to me seems to compete only because he is very talented .

And about cirrhosis vs cancer, japan has a high incidence of cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C, I think her mom probably had hepatitis C and this predisposes to cancer then probably she had both

chapis wrote:

It bothers me so much that some people try to place Yu-Na like a victim as she had to overcome many obstacles to get where she is while Mao had apparently very easy joruney, I mean what can be more difficult that to spend most of your competitive career dealing with the terrible disease of your mother and finally her death? . Regardless of her skating this interview confirms again what Mao is a wonderful person , all coaches have nothing but good words and memories of her  , I think it almost impossible to meet Mao and no like her.

Because Mao's very private about her personal struggles:cry:  and she doesn't go from rag to riches like Yuna. She comes from a financially well-off and happy family so people are often under the impression that she got it easier than Yuna  . I used to struggle with depression and even my mom once remarked that why I always looked happy and carefree. When you got injury or illness, it's you who have to deal with it alone. Mao's story just shows that all of us is struggling in our own way and it's unfair to compare who has an easier ride than who.

Lori's comment about Mao's skating in the recent Japanese paper.

Mao's skating is smooth, like a hot knife through butter and
the sound of her skating is so beautiful that I can recognize it right away
since she was fourteen.

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK0900P_Z01C13A1000000/?dg=1

chapis wrote:

Wonderful interview, Rafael A. seems a great person but this interview depressed me too, it's not fair that Mao has been through those difficult moments   . And I think that season was also when Mai retired ? , That must have been very hard for Mao too because it really looked like she enjoyed going training and competing together. It bothers me so much that some people try to place Yu-Na like a victim as she had to overcome many obstacles to get where she is while Mao had apparently very easy joruney, I mean what can be more difficult that to spend most of your competitive career dealing with the terrible disease of your mother and finally her death? . Regardless of her skating this interview confirms again what Mao is a wonderful person , all coaches have nothing but good words and memories of her  , I think it almost impossible to meet Mao and no like her.
And indeed when Mao finally retires she will be appreciated, she has given more to FS than FS has given her, even leaving aside the 3a just the respect she showed for the sport always is fascinating, never skip a competition, always went in the grand prix , always went to 4cc although many people say it has no enough prestige and I almost felt that since Mao began to go to 4CC other elite skaters started going too , Mao never complained about the judges or the system change though she was one of the most affected , has never spoken ill of any competitor , she  began to rework her technique. And Mao has remained all these years competing only because she loves skating, at first I thought it was because she wanted the gold medal in the Olympics but now I'm sure if she had already won a gold medal would have continued competing because she really loves FS unlike  Patrick Chan who to me seems to compete only because he is very talented .

 THIS.

pearlyriver wrote:

Because Mao's very private about her personal struggles:cry:  and she doesn't go from rag to riches like Yuna. She comes from a financially well-off and happy family so people are often under the impression that she got it easier than Yuna  .

I'm not sure if Mao's family was all that well-off. They struck me as a typical middle class family, and I don't think they had more money than Yuna's. It's just that the JSF was more supportive of their skaters, and the rags to riches story of Yuna has more to do with the huge difference between what she had...and what she has now (what like $10 million a year)  ?
And people keep on saying that Mao has a lot of money now. I think that she's probably able to live a comfortable life once she retires, but I don't think she's that wealthy. Her management company probably gets a large cut, and her mother's medical bills probably took a large toll on the family. We also don't know much about Mao's Dad...so all this speculation on Mao is  Not everyone can donate millions because guess what, they don't make that much!

I'm really happy to finally hear something directly from Rafael on the matter of his split up with Mao.

I suspected it was because of her mother's illness but still wondered whether something went wrong between them on the personal level as well.
Good to know that was not the case.

This interview also shows why Mao and Rafael were such a good match, both so classy.

Not that it wasn't clear from the very begining, but here also go all the theories that Mao supposedly approaching Brian to ask him to become her coach was the cause for his split up with Yuna.

I'm still so pissed just recalling all that s%@&t!  
If I remember correctly, at that time Yuna's team went so far as to use the "other skater" excuse as one of the reason in their official statement.

Speechless

sapphiresky wrote:

And people keep on saying that Mao has a lot of money now. I think that she's probably able to live a comfortable life once she retires, but I don't think she's that wealthy. Her management company probably gets a large cut, and her mother's medical bills probably took a large toll on the family. We also don't know much about Mao's Dad...so all this speculation on Mao is  Not everyone can donate millions because guess what, they don't make that much!

Not everyone announces every donation they make.   A lot of peple donate money without the need to be admired. They do it, because they believe in the cause and see no reason why everyone else must know about it.  

I think, that Mao is probably well off. She's had a lot of sponsors during the years, so I'd guess she's a millionare. This is only my opinion.

kawaiimao wrote:

If I remember correctly, at that time Yuna's team went so far as to use the "other skater" excuse as one of the reason in their official statement.

Speechless

I don't undertsand why you're surprised. After everything she's said before that particular gem...the obstruction in practice, heck she even insinuated that the reason for missing the flip at 2009 TEB was because she thought "there was something on the ice, like a sunflower seed maybe".   A fan threw a giant sunflower on the ice after Mao finished her LP (she skated right before Yuna). Honestly, I wanted to smack her with something, after I've read that. Must she make an excuse for every mistake she's ever made? just own up to it, you're not freaking perfect, it's ok to get nervous and mess up. What happened to that sweet girl from 2006/07 season?

And to think that Mao was only 17 (17!!!!) years old when her Mom got sick and she split with Rafa She was still just a teenager when she had to go through all this.

I believe that Mao has given the 4CC a lot of prestige too.

zarinaballerina wrote:

I don't undertsand why you're surprised. After everything she's said before that particular gem...the obstruction in practice, heck she even insinuated that the reason for missing the flip at 2009 TEB was because she thought "there was something on the ice, like a sunflower seed maybe".   A fan threw a giant sunflower on the ice after Mao finished her LP (she skated right before Yuna). Honestly, I wanted to smack her with something, after I've read that. Must she make an excuse for every mistake she's ever made? just own up to it, you're not freaking perfect, it's ok to get nervous and mess up. What happened to that sweet girl from 2006/07 season?

Not that surprised, actually, just plain disgusted, despite hearing a lot of shit from her camp before.

That sunflower story is news to me, though. 

Yeah, poor poor Yuna.

sapphiresky wrote:

I'm not sure if Mao's family was all that well-off. They struck me as a typical middle class family, and I don't think they had more money than Yuna's. It's just that the JSF was more supportive of their skaters, and the rags to riches story of Yuna has more to do with the huge difference between what she had...and what she has now (what like $10 million a year)  ?
And people keep on saying that Mao has a lot of money now. I think that she's probably able to live a comfortable life once she retires, but I don't think she's that wealthy. Her management company probably gets a large cut, and her mother's medical bills probably took a large toll on the family. We also don't know much about Mao's Dad...so all this speculation on Mao is  Not everyone can donate millions because guess what, they don't make that much!

I just mean to say that Mao's background gives the impression of being well-off: being able to support their 2 daughters in elite skating etc and we never know much about their families, so people often assume that her family is well-off and that Mao has an easier childhood. I don't know if they have more money than Yuna, and I think Yuna's camp has played up her difficult background to turn it into an inspiring story. I don't mean to discredit Yuna's effort or doubt her story but her camp sure knows how to make her story more salable to the press.

zarinaballerina wrote:

I don't undertsand why you're surprised. After everything she's said before that particular gem...the obstruction in practice, heck she even insinuated that the reason for missing the flip at 2009 TEB was because she thought "there was something on the ice, like a sunflower seed maybe".   A fan threw a giant sunflower on the ice after Mao finished her LP (she skated right before Yuna). Honestly, I wanted to smack her with something, after I've read that. Must she make an excuse for every mistake she's ever made? just own up to it, you're not freaking perfect, it's ok to get nervous and mess up. What happened to that sweet girl from 2006/07 season?

What? I never know this sunflower seed story  . Just googled "Yuna sunflower seed" and there's a video "the problem of the sunflower seed" by a Yuna bot   . Someone threw the sunflowers on the ice and probably part of it fell off. The more I learn about Yuna camp, the less I like her  .

Well, did people say anything about donation

pearlyriver wrote:

sapphiresky wrote:

I'm not sure if Mao's family was all that well-off. They struck me as a typical middle class family, and I don't think they had more money than Yuna's. It's just that the JSF was more supportive of their skaters, and the rags to riches story of Yuna has more to do with the huge difference between what she had...and what she has now (what like $10 million a year)  ?
And people keep on saying that Mao has a lot of money now. I think that she's probably able to live a comfortable life once she retires, but I don't think she's that wealthy. Her management company probably gets a large cut, and her mother's medical bills probably took a large toll on the family. We also don't know much about Mao's Dad...so all this speculation on Mao is  Not everyone can donate millions because guess what, they don't make that much!

I just mean to say that Mao's background gives the impression of being well-off: being able to support their 2 daughters in elite skating etc and we never know much about their families, so people often assume that her family is well-off and that Mao has an easier childhood. I don't know if they have more money than Yuna, and I think Yuna's camp has played up her difficult background to turn it into an inspiring story. I don't mean to discredit Yuna's effort or doubt her story but her camp sure knows how to make her story more salable to the press.

zarinaballerina wrote:

I don't undertsand why you're surprised. After everything she's said before that particular gem...the obstruction in practice, heck she even insinuated that the reason for missing the flip at 2009 TEB was because she thought "there was something on the ice, like a sunflower seed maybe".   A fan threw a giant sunflower on the ice after Mao finished her LP (she skated right before Yuna). Honestly, I wanted to smack her with something, after I've read that. Must she make an excuse for every mistake she's ever made? just own up to it, you're not freaking perfect, it's ok to get nervous and mess up. What happened to that sweet girl from 2006/07 season?

What? I never know this sunflower seed story  . Just googled "Yuna sunflower seed" and there's a video "the problem of the sunflower seed" by a Yuna bot   . Someone threw the sunflowers on the ice and probably part of it fell off. The more I learn about Yuna camp, the less I like her  .

Well, did people say anything about donation

Haha the story of the day!  
Not long and korean skating union will forbid to throw flowers on the ice right before Yunas turn!  

Haidogirl wrote:

Haha the story of the day!  
Not long and korean skating union will forbid to throw flowers on the ice right before Yunas turn!  

 

Just you wait, they'll not only forbid throwing stuf, they'll demand that zamboni cleans the ice before her turn to compete.  

Seriously, after all the s***t her agency or Yuna herself put out there, why is she still held up in such regard? I don't get it, if anyone else would complain so much, and feel so entitled, they would get crucified, but not her majesty. Nope, she's perfect.

I'm not trying to discredit her hard work and sacrifises she and her family had to make, so Yuna could succeed, but cry me a bloody river...she's not the only one who went through hardship, so do other families who's children are elite athletes. You don't see them sobbing all the time about it.

I wish she would've stayed the same as she was in 2006/07 season. IMO, she's a typical example of what success and fame do to your ego.  

COHK wrote:

BTW, for the fans who's never tired of watching Mao's Stsq, please thank the uploader for this clip of a collection of Mao's Stsq from her competitive programs, SP and FS, since 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu0Gbh0tjOU

Thanx for posting this. It's amazing! Hopefully soon, we'll see only +3 goe across the board for her steps. She deserves it!

zarinaballerina wrote:

COHK wrote:

BTW, for the fans who's never tired of watching Mao's Stsq, please thank the uploader for this clip of a collection of Mao's Stsq from her competitive programs, SP and FS, since 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu0Gbh0tjOU

Thanx for posting this. It's amazing! Hopefully soon, we'll see only +3 goe across the board for her steps. She deserves it!

Raaaar i cant watch it! Its blocked for my country!  
Is her jupiter program included? My favorite!  

Haidogirl wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

COHK wrote:

BTW, for the fans who's never tired of watching Mao's Stsq, please thank the uploader for this clip of a collection of Mao's Stsq from her competitive programs, SP and FS, since 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu0Gbh0tjOU

Thanx for posting this. It's amazing! Hopefully soon, we'll see only +3 goe across the board for her steps. She deserves it!

Raaaar i cant watch it! Its blocked for my country!   
Is her jupiter program included? My favorite!  

No, only step sequences from her competitive programs.

aoi88 wrote:

Can any Russian speakers help translate the last part of the interview where they talk about Mao's jumps? I used google translate to read the original article and I felt it differs a bit from the translation provided at FSU. In the original, Raf answered that UR can happen to all skaters at the elite level, but judges sometimes "see" and sometimes don't. The quotation marks seem to imply that certain skaters are being singled out. The next question asked if Mao's reputation is making judges give her a 'green light'. ('green corridor' in google translate) At first, I felt is the question implying that judges are giving her the benefit of the doubt? But it doesn't seemed to flow with the rest of the interview. I wonder if 'green corridor' might just been a special treatment but in this case not a good way. (i.e. singling her out with UR/edge calls). Then it makes more sense since Raf seemed to agree with it in his answer. I will greatly appreciate a better translation to clarify this part.

No, there is no "singling out" in the original text (С недокрутами все на самом деле достаточно просто: когда спортсменам тяжело, они все начинают недокручивать прыжки. Просто иногда судьи это "видят", а иногда – нет.). He refers to all skaters in general, that when it's tough they can underotate jumps, and sometimes judges see it, sometimes not. The interview was conducted by Vajtsekhovskaya, who is quite known for her yellow-ish tendency to gossips, scandals and often presenting not true facts. I never trust her inteviews completely. I prefer videos. It could be that in this case she wanted to provoke Rafael to say something that she could later twisted in her own way (like with Julia's words about Mao). But he turned out to be smarter than her. The question about 'green light' was one more attempt of hers that failed with the same 'success'. The phrase "Это сказали вы." actually means the opposite than the FSU's translation "You said it." The later comes as an agreement, just as someone else put in words the thing that the speaker himself thinks as true one. While the Russian phrase in the interview means denial- "You is the one who thinks/says that", i.e. it doesn't mean that I have to join your party.

Thank you for the link to the interview and translation.

While it’s good to know about the reason, especially hearing from the person who’s involved in the matter, it’s really sad that they had to depart like this way ... same as many of you I cannot get rid of the thought what if they stayed together for some more years, during her growth spurt in particular.  Well, it was Mao’s decision and I don’t think she regrets it, but she paid extra cost for it.  I just finished reading her new book and it still saddens me when I remember her face in an interview after the nice worlds and that she lost purpose of doing figure skating and thought about quitting it. She wouldn't necessarily go through it after experiencing the tragic loss of her mother.

Now it’s over years ago and I don’t have to reiterate it, but I cannot help but be angry/sad at a bad rap Mao got when she was dragged into the Kim-Orser breakup.  It’s now obvious it was indeed an unjustified allegation that one of the reasons why they broke up was because Mao tried to steal Orser from her.  I don’t know who started it, but it’s obvious either Team Kim or Orser (who denied in an interview and acknowledged in another though) was telling a lie.  Poor Mao.  She just had to put up with it until the fuss subsided while there was no reason at all for her to approach Orser.  She wanted to train in Japan to stay with her sick mother!!  All the things that Kim camp did to try to make Mao look a bad person are bygones now, but this particular degradation attempt just really p*** me off even more after I read this interview.   

Re. sun flow seed.  Actually, Yukari skated before Kim Yuna and she completed her FS without any problem on the ice.  I don’t know what actually bothered Yuna to quit flip attempt (my naive assumption is fear for lip call), but it was not due to sun flow seed at all.  It’s bad for a fan to throw unwrapped flower onto the ice, and clean-up took more time than usual and troubled Yukari for sure but it had nothing to do with Kim’s flip skip.

I like Mao’s calmness and she doesn’t make a big deal out of something.  At 2010 worlds, Mao found something on the ice while she was performing her FS.  It was a part of confetti used for opening ceremony.  After she finished, she picked it up and skated to the board and throw it away and hugged Jeanetta-sensei with big smiles for skating clean FS (although got UR for 3A).  And that’s it.     I think this is not something special and most skaters would react like Mao.

let`s talk wrote:

aoi88 wrote:

Can any Russian speakers help translate the last part of the interview where they talk about Mao's jumps? I used google translate to read the original article and I felt it differs a bit from the translation provided at FSU. In the original, Raf answered that UR can happen to all skaters at the elite level, but judges sometimes "see" and sometimes don't. The quotation marks seem to imply that certain skaters are being singled out. The next question asked if Mao's reputation is making judges give her a 'green light'. ('green corridor' in google translate) At first, I felt is the question implying that judges are giving her the benefit of the doubt? But it doesn't seemed to flow with the rest of the interview. I wonder if 'green corridor' might just been a special treatment but in this case not a good way. (i.e. singling her out with UR/edge calls). Then it makes more sense since Raf seemed to agree with it in his answer. I will greatly appreciate a better translation to clarify this part.

No, there is no "singling out" in the original text (С недокрутами все на самом деле достаточно просто: когда спортсменам тяжело, они все начинают недокручивать прыжки. Просто иногда судьи это "видят", а иногда – нет.). He refers to all skaters in general, that when it's tough they can underotate jumps, and sometimes judges see it, sometimes not. The interview was conducted by Vajtsekhovskaya, who is quite known for her yellow-ish tendency to gossips, scandals and often presenting not true facts. I never trust her inteviews completely. I prefer videos. It could be that in this case she wanted to provoke Rafael to say something that she could later twisted in her own way (like with Julia's words about Mao). But he turned out to be smarter than her. The question about 'green light' was one more attempt of hers that failed with the same 'success'. The phrase "Это сказали вы." actually means the opposite than the FSU's translation "You said it." The later comes as an agreement, just as someone else put in words the thing that the speaker himself thinks as true one. While the Russian phrase in the interview means denial- "You is the one who thinks/says that", i.e. it doesn't mean that I have to join your party.

Thank you for the clarification. I thought Raf's reply wasn't one of agreement.

It's not easy to voice your opinion about UR as a coach, especially when his student, Ashley is being affected by it. I think he handled the mean question well  

Gosh, I just rewatched Mao's NHK performance from two weeks ago, and I already miss her terribly, can't wait for the GPF, news can not arrive soon enough!