- Joined
- Dec 22, 2017
Mao Asada should have won the FS in 2014 Olympics.There, I said it.
Mao Asada's Olympic FS
- Thread starter NadezhdaNadya
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
Ah, the wonderful Mao Assada. She skated her heart out. She should have at least been on the podium! I always loved her.
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2018
Mao skating to Piano Concerto 2 was very fitting, it being the comeback piece for Rachmaninoff after severe depression and a huge career setback, and then Mao doing her wonderful redemption skate to it after the worse placement in her career. My favourite ladies skater personifying my favourite piano concerto. I couldn't have asked for anything better.
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2014
For people who haven't seen this performance (!), here are some videos I recommend:
Fan cam 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuVql-ti7r0
Fan cam 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ArTNtQl9UQ
NBC (Tara/Johnny): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjEoBfmn1SU
NBC (Sandra/Scott): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH9AA39jPJY
Russian commentary by TAT, with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcAwpSH6XEs
Chinese commentary by Lu Chen & CCTV commentator, with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-j3BV9Rh00
Japanese commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ6F_wN0nPw
There are some more on niconico, including CBC and Korean versions (you need to register for a free account, it's very easy).
Fan cam 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuVql-ti7r0
Fan cam 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ArTNtQl9UQ
NBC (Tara/Johnny): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjEoBfmn1SU
NBC (Sandra/Scott): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH9AA39jPJY
Russian commentary by TAT, with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcAwpSH6XEs
Chinese commentary by Lu Chen & CCTV commentator, with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-j3BV9Rh00
Japanese commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ6F_wN0nPw
There are some more on niconico, including CBC and Korean versions (you need to register for a free account, it's very easy).
She will always be my favorite skater and that's one of her best performances ever!
I will never understand why she was constantly scrutinized by judges and others got a free pass.
How come she didnt even reach 70 PCS with that skate? And nowadays judges hand out 75 and over like candy.
I know comparing scores of different quads is useless but I cant help it.
In my heart she received over 160 points for sure
I will never understand why she was constantly scrutinized by judges and others got a free pass.
How come she didnt even reach 70 PCS with that skate? And nowadays judges hand out 75 and over like candy. I know comparing scores of different quads is useless but I cant help it.
In my heart she received over 160 points for sure
I agree. I don't think you are alone by any means in that opinion, the downgrades were ridiculous, it should have been a 160 skate.
Some people think Mao can't handle pressure, but I really don't think it was her fault. The judges were always so aggressive in downgrading her and never gave her the benefit of the doubt that it would have made any skater very insecure and doubt their jumps. I'm all for calling underrotations when it's obvious, but for borderline cases where it's not clear and the landing has nice flowout, the judges shouldn't be able to do a total hatchet job on someone's Base Value through arbitrary and overly aggressive downgrading.
Some people think Mao can't handle pressure, but I really don't think it was her fault. The judges were always so aggressive in downgrading her and never gave her the benefit of the doubt that it would have made any skater very insecure and doubt their jumps. I'm all for calling underrotations when it's obvious, but for borderline cases where it's not clear and the landing has nice flowout, the judges shouldn't be able to do a total hatchet job on someone's Base Value through arbitrary and overly aggressive downgrading.
I feel that the way Mao was treated is preventing me from enjoying the ladies category again in the same way that I enjoyed it before. Although I try not to, I can not help but see how the judges treat some skaters and ask myself why they had to be like that with someone as talented and as sweet as Mao, she was never problematic, she never complained about scores, she never did or said nothing controversial. Her FS was The Skate of Sochi and it will go down in history.
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2017
In my book Mao won that FS, of course.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2014
Of course Mao should have won this free skate. This was the most beautiful skate I had ever seen, a perfect program.
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2014
Duh! Sotnikova almost scored a 150 with a flutz, a step-out and the worst artistic program she could possibly muster (I do believe she had a ton of potential), Yuna scored 144 with 6 triples and OK-ish choreography and spins and Mao throws an 8-triple program with superb choreography, step sequence and spins and she scores 142 being beaten in PCS not only by Yuna and Carolina (some will say it's fair, I don't), but also by both Russians.
Hell broke loose when Adelina won, but what rubs me the wrong way is that in the era of overscoring galore, Mao didn't break the world record to win the FS. Glad to see I'm not the only one.
Hell broke loose when Adelina won, but what rubs me the wrong way is that in the era of overscoring galore, Mao didn't break the world record to win the FS. Glad to see I'm not the only one.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
I think Mao should have won the free skate, but beyond the StSq, and the placement of her 3A, 3F-2Lo-2Lo, and her 3Lo, I don't think her Rach 2 is an example of "superb" choreography. That was the problem Mao always faced with TAT's choreography -- she was always given over-powering songs, and then only given the opportunity to really perform during her Step Sequences. Her Sochi FS is wonderful because of her comeback, and how she nailed the stuff she was given with the right performance for it, unlike, say, what Nathan gave us for his FS this Oly.
Her Chopin SP, on the other hand, is truly brilliant.
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
The way Mao's FS program was judged and the way she was treated by the judges caused me to resent certain skaters 
. It's not their fault but I can't help it (and am not proud of it...). I still get angry how Mao did not get the recognition she so deserved. Such a shame.... And she is dearly missed :sad4:
Mao's FS in Sochi will always be the greatest program of the 2014 Olympics, I don't care what the scores were - they did not do the program and Mao justice.
. It's not their fault but I can't help it (and am not proud of it...). I still get angry how Mao did not get the recognition she so deserved. Such a shame.... And she is dearly missed :sad4:Mao's FS in Sochi will always be the greatest program of the 2014 Olympics, I don't care what the scores were - they did not do the program and Mao justice.
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2014
Take it with a grain of salt, because to me, Mao could be skating in circles to a commercial jingle and she would still be fabulous, but I found her performance mesmerising. Her musical interpretation to the adagio, the little nuances towards the finale with the spiral and the jump layout were beautiful, not only because she has a truly artistic soul but also because the choreo worked for her, not against her. In fact, I thought it was second best, if not on par, with Kostner's.
Then again, I loved her "Bells of Moscow", so...
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
Take it with a grain of salt, because to me, Mao could be skating in circles to a commercial jingle and she would still be fabulous, but I found her performance mesmerising. Her musical interpretation to the adagio, the little nuances towards the finale with the spiral and the jump layout were beautiful, not only because she has a truly artistic soul but also because the choreo worked for her, not against her. In fact, I thought it was second best, if not on par, with Kostner's.
Then again, I loved her "Bells of Moscow", so...
Mao made it work! Not a knock on her, just a knock on the choreo! Just don't think it measured up to the nuance of Yuna's, or the theme of Carolina's.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2014
It seems Mao competed in the wrong era her entire career. Too young for Torino when she was the best jumper in the world and getting hammered by harsh judging rules later on. Her borderline URs in early IJS were called as full downgrades with overall negative GOEs and her flutz was always called... certainly not the case 10 years into the IJS when URs are not only ignored but given positive GOEs along with flutzes... not to mention her PCS were always underscored. And of course the SP requirements to do 3A in combination and the perpetual undervaluing of the 3A.
She went through the pain of relearning her jump technique after Vancouver in a vain attempt to start getting better scores. She relearned her 3S which was always super inconsistent beforehand and in the last program of her career she managed to land a clean 3Lz. Not being given the benefit of the doubt on her jumps made her a better and more artistic skater. There's no incentive to improve if you're getting 75 PCS right off the bat... you're just another Russian girl with mediocre artistry that'll be gone in a year or two. Makes me value Mao's presence all the more.
Her retirement made it really hard for me to get invested in the women's discipline. I used to think Marin was a little Mao in the making but now I realize she was just given a good R&J program as a junior; Mao stands alone. If it weren't for Carolina's return, I probably wouldn't even have watched the women altogether the last 16 months. Bah.
Off to watch her Czardas Worlds routine... happy Mao makes me happy!
She went through the pain of relearning her jump technique after Vancouver in a vain attempt to start getting better scores. She relearned her 3S which was always super inconsistent beforehand and in the last program of her career she managed to land a clean 3Lz. Not being given the benefit of the doubt on her jumps made her a better and more artistic skater. There's no incentive to improve if you're getting 75 PCS right off the bat... you're just another Russian girl with mediocre artistry that'll be gone in a year or two. Makes me value Mao's presence all the more.
Her retirement made it really hard for me to get invested in the women's discipline. I used to think Marin was a little Mao in the making but now I realize she was just given a good R&J program as a junior; Mao stands alone. If it weren't for Carolina's return, I probably wouldn't even have watched the women altogether the last 16 months. Bah.
Off to watch her Czardas Worlds routine... happy Mao makes me happy!
I remember watching it live and writing on a commentary thread that Mao just completed THE most technically difficult women's LP ever. I actually had to go back and rewatch some of Midori's LPs during the 91-92 season. And while Midori had had a even crazier jumping layout planned (3A+2T, 3L+3T, 3F+3T), she never got to land them all in one performance. So before Eteri's new girls (potentially) take the world down by storm and (allegedly) wow me with their quads, Mao will always have that special place in my book.
