Cup of Russia 2008!

Yes, Mao is in Russia. (I wondered if she might be there watching, but then again probably not; she's probably spending 6-8 hours practicing her jumps. )

It seems that Shizuka Arakawa gave Mao some advice. She said something like "In the beginning I also tried my hardest to follow [what Tarasova said to do]. But you should say what you want to say; it is important to make your and your coach's goals the same."

Japanese speakers, see here:
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20081121-431806.html
I'm not sure I translated that exactly right, but at any rate, she basically said that communicating with your coach is important, which is what Mao seems to have realized.

Given the final placements at Cup of Russia, it looks like Mao has to place 2nd or better to get into the Grand Prix Final for sure. If she places 3rd, I think she has to beat Miki's best scores to make it to the Final. But hopefully we won't have to worry about that, because Mao will blow everyone away at NHK Trophy and set new world records!! Mao-chan, ganbare!!

Batsuchan wrote:

Yes, Mao is in Russia. (I wondered if she might be there watching, but then again probably not; she's probably spending 6-8 hours practicing her jumps. )

Great to hear that she's in Russia with her coach. I hope the training is going well!

Quote :

It seems that Shizuka Arakawa gave Mao some advice. She said something like "In the beginning I also tried my hardest to follow [what Tarasova said to do]. But you should say what you want to say; it is important to make your and your coach's goals the same."

Shizuka She's such a classy champion.

inskate wrote:

Great to hear that she's in Russia with her coach. I hope the training is going well!

So do I! The NHK cup is just a few days away!