Mao Asada
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| Mao Asada at the 2008 World Championships | ||
| Personal Info | ||
| Country: |  Japan |
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| Date of birth: | September 25, 1990 | |
| Height: | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | |
| Former Coach: | Rafael Arutunian, Machiko Yamada, Mihoko Higuchi | |
| Choreographer: | Lori Nichol, Tatiana Tarasova | |
| Skating Club: | Chukyo University | |
| ISU Personal Best Scores | ||
| Short + Free Total: | 199.52 | 2006 NHK Trophy |
| Short Program: | 69.50 | 2006 NHK Trophy |
| Free Skate: | 133.13 | 2007 Worlds |
| Most Recent Results: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Points | Finish | Year |
| World Championships | 185.56 | 1st | 2008 |
| Four Continents | 193.25 | 1st | 2008 |
| Grand Prix Final | 191.59 | 2nd | 2007 |
- In this Japanese name, the family name is Asada.
Mao Asada (浅田 真央 Asada Mao?, born September 25, 1990) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2008 World Figure Skating Champion and Four Continents champion, the 2005/2006 Grand Prix champion and the two-time (2007 & 2008) Japanese national champion. As of March 2008, Asada is ranked first in the world retaining her placing from last year.[1]
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[edit] Personal life
Mao Asada was born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. She attended Nagoya International School until the middle of 1st grade. After transferring, she graduated from Takabari Elementary School and Takabaridai Junior High.[2] [3] She is a student of Chukyo High School.[4] [5]
Her sister, Mai Asada, is also an elite figure skater.
[edit] Career
Asada originally started out studying ballet, but later switched to skating in 1995 when her sister, Mai Asada also switched.
At the 2005 Japanese National Figure Skating Championships, Asada became the first lady to land two triple axels during a free skate program.[citation needed] She finished second in that competition, but was too young to qualify for one of Japan's three slots in the 2006 Winter Olympics figure skating competition due to ISU eligibility rules. Her signature move is the cross-grab Biellmann.
Asada is the first lady to perform a triple axel at the junior level in international competition.[citation needed] At the 2006 Junior Worlds, she became the first lady to land a triple axel in the short program at an ISU championship[6]
At the 2006 NHK Trophy, Asada broke the world record for highest combined score under the ISU Judging System.[7] At the 2007 Worlds, she also set the world record for the highest free skate score, a record which stood for eight months.
In season 2007-2008, she won both her Grand Prix events. At the Grand Prix Final, Asada did not do her jump out of footwork, a required element, in the short program, yet still earned a score of 59.04. She placed last in that segment of the competition. Asada won the free skate and won the silver medal overall.
A few weeks later, Asada won her second national title and was placed on the teams for the 2008 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships. Asada won the Four Continents Championships in her first time at the event.
On the 20th March 2008, she placed 2nd both in the short program (64.10 points, second to Carolina Kostner's score of 64.28) and free skate (121.46 points with a 1.00 deduction after a fall at the beginning of the performance, second to Kim Yu-Na's score of 123.38 points) to go on and win the gold medal at the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships held in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a total score of 185.56 points. Mao Asada won the 2008 World Championship in Gothenburg on March 20, 2008.[8]
[edit] Jumping technique
When she was 12, she became the first lady to perform a triple- triple-triple combination (a triple flip, triple loop, triple toe loop combination) in competition.[9]
Asada is known for her triple axel jump and has performed it consistently in her free skating.
Beginning in the 2007-2008 season, judging on jumping takeoff technique was made stricter, and Asada began to get penalized for edge errors on her lutz jump, colloquially called a "flutz."[10], as well as for under-rotating her jumps.
Asada has had problems with the triple toe loop jump and has not performed a triple salchow jump in her senior career. She added the triple toe loop to her free program as the second jump of her first triple-triple combination during the 2007-2008 season and to the double axel - triple to in the 2006 - 2007 season. Normally, she uses a loop jump as her second jump in a combination.
[edit] Coaching changes
Asada originally trained in Japan, but left for the U.S. in August of 2006 to train with Rafael Arutunian in Lake Arrowhead, California. There she was able to escape the overcrowding of Japanese rinks and the pressure of the Japanese media.
Before 2008 Four Continents Championships, she split with Arutunian[citation needed] and returned to Japan to practice on the new Aurora Rink at Chukyo University, where she does not have any problems getting ice time. She went to Worlds without a coach.[11]
Asada trained in Russia in the summer of 2007 under Tatiana Tarasova.
[edit] Public life and endorsements
Asada owns a miniature poodle named Aero, who is named after the chocolate confection made by Nestlé. Asada and Aero have been featured in chocolate commercials in Japan, and she has also used her dog in exhibition programs.
She is very popular in Japan and appears in many television commercials and has appeared on variety shows and has been in commercials for Oji Paper Company, Olympus Corporation, Itoham Foods, Nestlé, and Omron.
[edit] Programs
| Season | Short Program | Long Program | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra by Jean-Claude Petit |
Fantaisie-Impromptu suite by Fréderic Chopin |
Étude Op. 10, No. 3 (So Deep Is The Night) by Frederic Chopin vocal by Lesley Garrett |
| 2006–07 | Nocturne No.2 Op. 9-2 in E flat major by Frederic Chopin |
Czardas by Vittorio Monti |
Habanera from Carmen by Georges Bizet |
| 2005–06 | Carmen Toreador Song, Intermezzo, and Bohemian Dance by Georges Bizet |
The Nutcracker Waltz of the Flowers, Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, and Grandfather Clock Chimes by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen vocal by Eva Cassidy |
| 2004–05 | Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen vocal by Eva Cassidy |
La Boutique Fantastique Tarantella, Nocturne, and Gallop by Gioachino Rossini and Ottorino Respighi |
Pick Yourself Up by Natalie Cole |
| 2003–04 | Orchestral Suite from My Girl 2 by Cliff Eidelman |
Waltz-Scherzo in C major Op. 34 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
Habanera from Carmen by Georges Bizet |
| 2002–03 | Say Hey Kids |
Inca Dance and Andes by Cusco |
[edit] Competitive highlights
| Event/Season | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 2nd | 1st | ||||
| Four Continents Championships | 1st | |||||
| World Junior Championships | 1st | 2nd | ||||
| Japanese Championships | 7th | 8th | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st |
| Japanese Junior Championships | 4th | 4th | 1st | |||
| Japanese Novice Championships | 1st | 1st | ||||
| Grand Prix Final | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | |||
| Trophée Eric Bompard | 1st | 1st | ||||
| Skate Canada | 1st | |||||
| Skate America | 3rd | |||||
| NHK Trophy | 1st | |||||
| Cup of China | 2nd | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 1st | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Ukraine | 1st | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix, USA | 1st | |||||
| Mladost Trophy | 1st |
[edit] References
- ^ Current ISU World Standings. Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
- ^ Official website news 17/3/06.
- ^ Official website news in Japanese 17/3/06(The name of the school is written here.).(Japanese)
- ^ Strength In Numbers | Sports | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
- ^ The local news article of Asada entered high school.(Japanese)
- ^ 2006 World Junior Championships Results.
- ^ Crystal Report Viewer
- ^ Asada takes 1st gold in women’s event at world championships in figure skating - Japan News Review
- ^ "Iced By The Rules," San Diego Union-Tribune article about Mao Asada. Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
- ^ http://www.isufs.org/results/gpcan07/sc07_Ladies_SP_Scores.pdf
- ^ Figure skating: Asada parts with coach, moves back to Japan+ - AOL News
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- Mao Asada at the International Skating Union biography page
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