Mao Asada

is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2008, 2010, 2014), a three-time Four Continents champion (2008, 2010, 2013), and a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2005–06, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2013–14). She is the first female figure skater who has landed three triple Axel jumps in one competition, which she achieved at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Asada is also the 2005 World Junior champion, the 2004–05 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a six-time Japanese national champion (2006–2009, 2011–2012).

She is the former world record holder for the ladies' short program score, which she set at the 2014 World Championships and held until it was broken by Evgenia Medvedeva in 2016. A former prodigy, Asada is the fifth woman and the first junior girl to land the triple Axel, accomplishing this at the 2004–05 Junior Grand Prix Final. She won her first Grand Prix Final at the age of 15. Considered by many to be the best figure skater in the world at that time, Asada was 87 days too young to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She is the first figure skater in a singles discipline from Asia to win multiple world championships. At the 2013 Skate America, she became the first singles skater, male or female, to win all seven of the current events on the Grand Prix series. She holds 15 Grand Prix series titles, the second-highest total among ladies and the sixth-highest total among skaters of all four disciplines.

Due to her collection of ISU titles surpassing any other ladies singles figure skater during her time, she has established herself as one of the most highly recognized athletes in Japan and is widely considered to be among the best ladies figure skaters of all time. She is credited with being one of the pioneering ladies skaters that truly combined athleticism and artistry. Notable athletes including Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno regard Asada as their role model.

Personal life

Mao Asada was born in Meitō-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. She was named after the Japanese actress Mao Daichi. She attended Nagoya International School until the middle of 1st grade. After transferring, she graduated from Takabari Elementary School and Takabaridai Junior High. She received her high school diploma from Chukyo High School on 15 March 2009. After that, she enrolled in Chukyo University and graduated in March 2015. While growing up, she idolized Midori Ito. She learned to skate after school almost every day.

Her sister Mai Asada (two years older) is also a figure skater. She won two gold medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and finished 6th at the 2006 Four Continents Championships. Now she works as a TV presenter and skates in ice shows.

Asada owns a miniature poodle named Aero, who is named after the chocolate confection made by Nestlé. She has included Aero in exhibition programs. In 2008, Asada acquired two puppies, named Tiara and Komachi.

Career

Early career

Mao Asada studied classical ballet from the age of three to nine, but followed her sister in switching to figure skating.

She won the Japanese novice national championships in the 2002–03 season, earning an invitation to compete at the junior championships, where she placed 4th. She also competed in the senior national championships and placed 7th.

In the 2003–04 season, Asada repeated the same placements at the novice and junior level and placed 8th at the senior nationals. She won the Mladost Trophy, her first international event.

2004–05 season

In the 2004–05 season, Asada was age-eligible for junior international competitions. She competed in the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, winning both of her events. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, she won gold with an overall score 35.08 points ahead of the silver medalist, Yuna Kim. She became the first junior ladies skater to land a triple axel in competition, and the fifth woman overall. Asada won the Japanese Junior National championships, ahead of her sister who took the silver medal, and qualified for the 2005 Junior Worlds.

Asada's win earned her an invitation to the senior national championships, where she won the silver medal. Asada was not age-eligible for the 2005 World Championships. At the Junior World Championships, she won with a 20.31 lead over the silver medalist Kim Yuna. She also set the junior-level ladies' record for the combined total (179.24 points) and the free skating (119.13 points). Both records lasted until October 2011 when they were broken by Yulia Lipnitskaya.

2005–06 season

After winning all major competitions at the junior level, Asada moved to the senior level during the 2005–06 season and competed on the Senior Grand Prix circuit. During the Grand Prix Circuit, Asada defeated future medalists of 2006 Torino Winter Olympics – gold medalist Shizuka Arakawa, silver medalist Sasha Cohen, and bronze medalist Irina Slutskaya. At the 2005 Cup of China, she placed second in the short program and third in the free skating and won the silver medal. Asada won her second event, the 2005 Trophée Eric Bompard, after placing first in both the short and free skating. She earned a total score of 182.42 points, 7.30 points ahead over silver medalist Sasha Cohen and 9.12 points ahead of bronze medalist Shizuka Arakawa. Her medals qualified Asada for the 2005–06 Grand Prix Final. At her first Senior Grand Prix Final appearance, Asada won the event at the age of 15 years. She got a total score of 189.62 points after placing first in both programs, 8.14 points ahead of silver medalist Irina Slutskaya.

At the 2005–06 Japan Championships, Asada placed third in both programs and won the silver medal behind Fumie Suguri. She was ineligible for the Olympics that year. At the 2006 World Junior Championships, Asada finished 24.19 points behind gold medalist Yuna Kim, and 18.21 points ahead of bronze medalist Christine Zukowski. At this competition, Asada became the first lady to land a triple Axel in the short program at an ISU championship.

2006–07 season

Asada moved from Japan to the United States in August 2006 to train with Rafael Arutyunyan in Lake Arrowhead, California. There she was able to escape the overcrowding of Japanese rinks and the pressure of the Japanese media.

At her first event, the 2006 Skate America, Asada won the bronze medal behind Miki Ando and Kimmie Meissner. While she won the short program, she placed fourth in the free skate, with a total score 171.23 points. She was 21.36 points out of first place. Asada won her second event, the 2006 NHK Trophy with 199.52 points, setting the highest combined score in a Ladies' competition under the ISU Judging System and consequently, a world record. Her margin of victory was 20.21 points ahead of silver medalist Fumie Suguri. Asada went into the 2006–07 Grand Prix Final as the reigning champion. She placed second with 172.52 points, 11.68 behind gold medalist Yuna Kim. Asada had won the short program, but placed fourth in the free skating.

Asada won the 2006–07 Japan Championships by 26.11 points ahead of silver medalist Miki Ando. At the 2007 Worlds Championships, Asada was fifth in the short program, 10.03 points behind Yuna Kim, who placed first in that section of the competition with a score of 71.95 points, setting a new world record for the highest short program score. Asada won the free skating with a score of 133.13 points, setting a new world record for the highest free skate score, a record that stood for eight months. During her free skating, she successfully landed a triple Axel, a triple flip- triple loop combination, a double Axel, a triple Lutz, a triple flip, and a triple Lutz- double loop- double loop combination, but under-rotated the second jump of a double Axel- triple toe loop combination. She won the silver medal at her first Senior World Championships appearance, earning an overall of 194.95 points, 0.64 behind gold medalist Miki Ando and 8.31 ahead of Yuna Kim, who won the bronze.

2007–08 season

During the summer of 2007, Asada received additional training in Russia from Tatiana Tarasova, while Arutyunyan remained her primary coach. At the 2007 Skate Canada International, Asada was third in the short program and first in the free skate, finishing first ahead of silver medalist Yukari Nakano. Asada won her second gold at the 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard with over 21 points ahead of silver medalist Kimmie Meissner.

Asada advanced to the 2007–08 Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy. In the short program, Asada failed to complete a required solo jump and placed 6th with a score of 59.04 points. The next day, she won the free skate with 132.55 points. She executed a triple Axel, a triple flip- triple toe loop combination, a triple loop, a triple flip- triple loop, a double Axel- double loop- double loop combination, and a double Axel, but had a change-of-edge error in triple Lutz. She won the silver medal with 191.59 points, 5.24 behind gold medalist Yuna Kim, who defended her title.

As in the previous year, Asada won the 2007–08 Japan Championships. Her final score was 1.15 points ahead of silver medalist and reigning World champion Miki Ando. Asada was placed on the Japanese team for both the World and Four Continents Championships. Before Four Continents, she split with Arutyunyan and returned to Japan to practice on the new Aurora Rink at Chukyo University, where she did not encounter with problems obtaining ice time.

Asada competed at both ISU Championships without a coach, but was accompanied by an official from the Japan Skating Federation. Competing for the first time at Four Continents Championships, Asada won both segments and finished 13.71 points ahead of silver medalist Joannie Rochette. In March 2008, at the Worlds Championships, Asada won her first World title. She was second in the short program, 0.18 behind Carolina Kostner. In the free skate, she was second to bronze medalist Yuna Kim by 1.92 points but 0.88 ahead of silver medalist Carolina Kostner.

2008–09 season

In the summer of 2008, after leaving Arutyunyan, Asada returned to Russia, and was formally coached by Tarasova.

At the 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard, Asada placed second in both programs and finished second overall with a score of 167.59 points, 12.54 behind Joannie Rochette. Asada won gold at the 2008 NHK Trophy with 191.13 points, 23.49 ahead of the silver medalist Akiko Suzuki. She qualified for the 2008–09 Grand Prix Final. Asada won the free skating with 123.17 points and the competition overall with a total score of 188.55 points, defeating longtime rival Yuna Kim of South Korea. Asada made history in the free skate by becoming the first woman to land two triple Axels in the same program in an ISU competition, one in combination with a double toe loop.

At the 2008–09 Japan Championship, Asada was second behind Yukari Nakano in the short program. Asada landed three beautiful clean triple jumps in her free skate. Three other triple jumps were downgraded, including two triple Axels marked as under-rotated. She received 117.15 points for her free skating for a total of 182.45 points overall. Asada won her third straight national title after placing second in both the short program and the free skate.

Entering the 2009 Four Continents Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as the defending champion, Asada placed 6th in the short program but won the free skate. Her first Axel attempt was popped into a single, but gracefully executed the second, garnering 8.80 points for the jump. She also completed a triple flip- double loop- double loop, a triple loop, and a triple flip- double loop. Asada placed third overall in the competition behind Joannie Rochette of Canada who won silver and Yuna Kim who won the gold.

At the 2009 World Championships, Asada placed third in the short program with 66.06 points and 4th in the free skate, where she scored 122.03 points. She finished in fourth place with a combined total score of 188.09 points.

At the inaugural 2009 World Team Trophy, she won both the short and free, finishing first overall in the ladies' event, with personal bests for the short program (75.84 points) and combined total (201.87) The Japanese team finished third overall at that event, behind the United States and Canada.

2009–10 season

Asada placed third in the short program and second in the free skating, finishing with the silver medal at 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard, 36.04 points behind gold medalist Yuna Kim. At the 2009 Rostelecom Cup, she placed 6th in the short and 5th in the free after landing just two triple jumps in her free skating. She finished 5th overall, 21.65 points behind gold medalist Miki Ando.

At the 2009–10 Japan Championships, Asada was first in both programs and won her fourth Japanese national title, 8.72 points ahead of silver medalist Akiko Suzuki.

At the 2010 Four Continents Championships, Asada placed third in the short program with 57.22 points after under-rotating her triple Axel, popping a triple flip and receiving a timing deduction of 1.00 point. She was first in the free skating with 126.74 points, 11.9 ahead of Akiko Suzuki, and won the gold medal with a total score of 183.96 points, 10.24 points ahead of Suzuki.

Due to Tarasova's health problems, Asada was coached mostly by her assistant, Shanetta Folle, in Nagoya, Japan; on 1 February 2010, Asada said that she had not been personally coached by Tarasova since the 2009 Rostelecom Cup in October. Tarasova was present with Asada at the 2010 Olympics but after the event, Asada chose to be based in her hometown, Nagoya, and parted ways with Tarasova.

From 23 to 25 February, Asada competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In the short program on 23 February, she executed a triple Axel- double toe loop, a triple flip and a double Axel and received level fours for all spins and spiral sequence. She scored 73.78 points and placed second in the short program. In her free skate on 25 February, she succeeded in landing two triple Axels, but under-rotated the first jump of a triple flip- double loop-double loop combination and popped a planned triple toe loop into a single. With 131.72 points from the free skating, Asada won the Olympic silver medal with a combined score of 205.50 points, 23.06 behind Yuna Kim of South Korea. She earned a Guinness World Record for the most triple Axels performed by a female skater in a competition – one in the short program and two in the free skating. Asada was Japan's flag-bearer at the closing ceremonies.

At the 2010 World Championships, Asada placed second in the short program with 68.08 points, 2.32 behind Mirai Nagasu of the United States. In her triple Axel- double toe loop combination, the Axel was downgraded to a double, but she executed a triple flip and a double Axel and received level fours on all her spins and spiral sequence. Asada reclaimed the world title with an overall score of 197.58 points. She became the first singles figure skater from Asia to win multiple world championship titles.

On 17 June 2010, Asada announced that her new jump coach was Hiroshi Nagakubo.

2010–11 season

In September 2010, Nobuo Sato became Asada's new coach and Asada ended her relationship with coach Nagakubo.

After the Vancouver Olympics, Asada relearned all of her jumps from scratch to improve her technique. This contributed to her slump in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. Under the guidance of her new coach Nobuo Sato, she relearned all the takeoffs and landings for all her triple jumps, beginning with a single rotation. Despite reworking her jumps, Asada did not skip any competitions in the 2010–11 season.

Asada was assigned to the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard ISU Grand Prix events. At the 2010 NHK Trophy, Asada placed 8th in both programs and finished 8th overall with a total of 133.40 points. At the 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard, Asada placed 7th in the short program, 5th in the free skating and 5th overall, scoring a combined 148.02 points.

At the 2010–11 Japan national championships, Asada was first in the short program and second in the free skating. She obtained a total score of 193.69 points and placed second behind Miki Ando. At the 2011 Four Continents Championships, Asada placed second in both programs and won the silver medal with a score of 196.30 points, 5.04 points behind gold medalist Miki Ando. Her triple Axel jump in free skating was ratified for the first time since 2010 Worlds Championship, with +1.29 grade of execution. At the 2011 World Championships, Asada placed 7th in the short program, 6th in the free skating, and finished 6th overall with 172.79 points.

2011–12 season

Asada began the 2011–12 season at the 2011 NHK Trophy. She placed third in the short program with 58.32 points and first in the free skating, earning a total of 184.45 points and the silver medal, 1.79 behind Akiko Suzuki. At the 2011 Cup of Russia, Asada placed first in the short program with 64.29 points. She earned a level four on her straight line step sequence with +1.30 GOE. She won the event and qualified for the 2011–12 Grand Prix Final. She withdrew from the Final due to her mother's serious illness. Her mother died of liver cirrhosis in Nagoya Hospital while Asada was flying back to Japan.

Placing second in both programs at the 2011–12 Japan Championships, Asada secured her fifth national title and qualified for the ISU Championships. First in the short program and second in the free, Asada won the silver medal at the 2012 Four Continents Championships behind gold medalist Ashley Wagner of the United States. At the 2012 World Championships, Asada placed fourth in the short program and sixth in the free skating, finishing sixth overall with 164.52 points.

After a disappointing sixth at the 2012 World Championships, her mother's death, and the challenges of reworking her jump technique, Asada considered not competing. Upon visiting her choreographer Lori Nichol in May 2012 for an exhibition number, Asada realized that she still liked skating and would continue competing.

2012–13 season

Asada began the 2012–13 season at the Japan Open, performing to Swan Lake. She won gold at her two Grand Prix events, the 2012 Cup of China and the 2012 NHK Trophy, qualifying her to the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final. Seven years after her triumph in Torino (Italy), and three years after her victory in Goyang City (Korea), Asada won her third title at the Grand Prix Final in Sochi (Russia), placing first in both the short program and free skating. Asada won her sixth national title at the 2012–13 Japan Championships.

At the 2013 Four Continents Championships, Asada placed first in the short program with a score of 74.49 points after landing her first triple Axel this season, together with triple flip– double loop combination and a triple loop. She also won the free skate with a score of 130.96, taking the gold medal with an overall score of 205.45 points, while teammates Akiko Suzuki and Kanako Murakami took the silver and bronze medals respectively. This was the second time that Japan had swept the Four Continents Championships' podium.

Asada returned to the World podium with a bronze medal finish at the 2013 World Championships with a personal best free skating score of 134.37. Asada placed fifth at the World Team Trophy and team Japan placed third.

2013–14 season

Asada began the 2013–14 season at the Japan Open, performing to Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2. She won gold at her two Grand Prix assignments, the 2013 Skate America and the 2013 NHK Trophy. She became the first singles skater, male or female, to win all seven of the current events on the Grand Prix series. At NHK Trophy, she set personal best scores for the free skating and total score. She advanced to the 2013–14 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final where she took her fourth Grand Prix Final title and became the first woman to complete two consecutive Grand Prix seasons undefeated. At all three Grand Prix events, she won by a margin of over ten points. In late December, Asada competed in the 2013–14 Japan Championships. She led after a strong short program, but only placed 3rd in the free skating, dropping to 3rd overall.

In the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, Asada skated the ladies' short program. She fell on the triple Axel and placed third individually; team Japan finished fifth. In the ladies' singles event, she placed 16th in the short program after falling on her triple Axel, underrotating a triple flip, and doubling a triple loop. After the unfortunate short program, many established figures in the figure skating community, including Michelle Kwan and Evgeni Plushenko, reached out to her and provided her with support for the free skate. Despite the overwhelming support from fans and members of the figure skating community, the former Japanese Prime Minister and Olympics chairman Yoshirō Mori criticized Asada for "always falling at the most critical time". During a press conference after Sochi, Asada was interviewed about her feelings regarding Mori's comments; she stated that it was in the past and that she has moved on. She rebounded in the free skating, landing 8 triple jumps (two underrotated) and earning a personal best score of 142.71, making her the third woman to score above the 140 mark after Kim Yuna's 2010 Olympics score and Yulia Lipnitskaya's 2014 Olympics team event score. This placed her third in the free skating and sixth overall. Asada's free skating was the most technically difficult of all the ladies and the only one with a triple Axel. This powerful performance solidified her status not only in Japanese sport, but at the Olympics; it was regarded by many as the single best performance of the ladies competition and the low program component score from Olympic judges was met with criticism.

At the 2014 World Championships, she broke the world record for the short program by scoring 78.66, 0.16 points higher than the former record set by Yuna Kim at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Asada went on to score 138.03 in the free skating, winning her third world title with a total of 216.69, a personal best for her. With this victory, she became the third woman in the last 45 years (along with Katarina Witt and Michelle Kwan) and the tenth woman to have won three world championship titles.

After winning the World Championship title, Asada stated that there was a 50–50 chance she would continue her career. On 19 May 2014, Asada announced she intended to skip the next season. Asada said she was mentally and physically tired and wanted a chance to focus on other aspects of her life, including attending university.

2015–16 season

On 18 May 2015, Asada announced her intention to make comeback in competitive skating after having taken a one-year break. She had resumed training with coach Nobuo Sato with the aim of returning to competition. Her first competitive performance of the 2015–16 season was at the 2015 Japan Open, where she successfully landed her first triple Axel in over a year of competition absence, her first-place skate to Madama Butterfly led Team Japan to a first-place finish.

For the 2015–16 season Grand Prix series, Asada was assigned to compete at 2015 Cup of China and 2015 NHK Trophy. In the short program at the Cup of China, she landed her opening triple Axel and three additional triple jumps (one deemed under-rotated), one of the first women to try the maximum number of triple jumps in the short program. The next day during the free skate, she landed her opening triple Axel but had small errors on her remaining jumps. After winning the short program and placing third in the free skate, she won her first international competition upon returning. This victory extended her grand prix winning streak to eight, the longest in ladies single skating history. She went on to the 2015 NHK Trophy and won the bronze after several problems with her jumping passes. Asada's Grand Prix results qualified her to compete at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final, where she finished sixth.

Asada went on to win bronze at the 2015–16 Japan Championships. She was selected to compete at both the 2016 Four Continents Championships and 2016 World Championships, though she opted to skip the former in order to focus on the latter. In April 2016, Asada stumbled on her opening triple Axel and the triple loop in the short program. The next day she performed a fantastic free skate, landing the triple Axel, triple flip triple loop combination, triple flip and double loop double loop combination in addition to three other jumping passes. Some of the jumps were deemed under-rotated, but the maturity in skating and the polished artistry was received with a standing ovation. She finish seventh at her final worlds event.

2016–17 season

Asada began her season with a silver medal at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, having finished second to Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond. Her first Grand Prix assignment was 2016 Skate America where she placed 6th. Her second assignment was the 2016 Trophee de France. She then placed 8th in the short program after underrotating her triple flip in combination with the double loop. She also failed to execute a triple-triple. She failed to execute a clean triple jump in the freeskate, placing 10th in that segment and 9th overall.

On 10 April 2017, Asada declared on her blog that she had retired from competition.

Skating technique

Asada is known for her flexibility in spins and spirals

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