Finally a smile from Mao Asada

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics has been great -- everything I expected and more. The joy, the drama, the tragedy, all the highs and lows -- I can't remember the last time we were all praying for a clean skate from everyone and holding our breath every time someone went for a jump. I was a little sad that silver medalist from Japan Mao Asada looked soooo disappointed standing on the podium.

Yes, I know that Japan has been waiting for her to succeed with an Olympic gold medal, Japan's pride over South Korea has been riding on this wispy 19-year-old who didn't have a clue growing up that she would be holding up a nation, and who maybe thinks she should have stuck to ballet. Standing on the podium, I wonder if she was thinking that she could have been a successful ballerina in Japan -- there's no Olympics in ballet and she would have enjoyed touring with the various companies all over the world and admired for doing a triple axel on the ground. Maybe she could have even auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance, been a great choreographer, who knows what was going through her mind while receiving her medal. Probably nothing because she looked numb, gave gold medalist Yu-Na Kim a half hug and looked miserable.

My lingering thought yesterday was that Mao didn't, or couldn't, allow herself to enjoy for a moment that she won the silver, that she tried her best, and this is still a huge accomplishment for her. At least that's what it looked and felt like on the podium. Maybe she was stunned or just needed to maintain her expression to remain composed. Maybe she cried in private. If I knew her e-mail address or fax, I would have sent her a note immediately which would read, "Dear Mao, You were terrific, I enjoyed watching everything you did, and three triple axels in an Olympics is historic."

So I was very happy to see her smile at these Olympics at the exhibition gala yesterday. NBC didn't show her skate (of course not) but photos from WSJ.com and Vancouver2010.com do show a smiling Mao looking pleased and perhaps happy that this ordeal is finally over! Maybe she was celebrating that this will be one of the last times she'll have to skate to coach Tatiana Tarasova's choreography! Tarasova has choreographed all three programs for Mao this season -- the short, long and exhibition -- and they have not worked for her.

Mao is an ethereal presence on the ice -- the music for all three programs seems heavy and Mao's costumes (long sleeves, gloves, chokers) seem heavy. If Yu-Na's skating to James Bond, Mao should be thinking, "I'm skating to the Pink Panther and showing everyone how it's done!" I'm sure she has a cheeky side to her personality and can wink to the audience with the best of them. That's the Mao that was missing from the Olympics. But what do I know? I've never had millions of people watching my every move and holding me up to be the next great thing. All I know is that a smiling Mao will be the last impression I have of her, regardless of her plans for Sochi in 2014. 

Although NBC didn't show Mao's exhibition, here's a YouTube link to her Cup of Russia performance. It was to Capriccio Number 24 by Niccolò Paganini.

Joannie Rochette chose to skate recalling mother's advice

• Joannie Rochette finally can speak about mom and Olympic bronze medal win. [NYT]

• Johnny Weir responds to Canadian broadcasters who said he sets a bad example for young boys interested in skating. [Daily News]

• U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team reveals one makeup item they can't leave home without. [StyleList]

• Japanese media gave more coverage to ladies figure skating than Toyota Motor Company safety recall congressional hearings in Washington. [Business Week]

• If you understand Korean, fantastic! Please translate Yu-Na's statement to the press. [YouTube]

• Only the top five skate in the figure skating exhibition gala tonight. Johnny Weir is still not invited to skate -- he finished sixth and his fans are petitioning Olympic officials.

• The most ridiculous figure skating outfits at the 2010 Winter Olympics (see right). [Huffington Post]

• Not everyone can be a flower sweeper at the Olympic Games. [WSJ]

• Detailed breakdown of ladies short program results. Very helpful. [LA Times]

• All those tight ballet buns worn by the ladies: Are you a fan of the serious look or is it too severe and takes away from their beauty? [SF Gate]

• Jay Leno's new Tonight Show promo features curling. Very funny. [Gawker]

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Yu-Na Kim wins gold, Asada silver, Rochette bronze

What a ladies final -- I held my breath every time someone took the ice. Yu-Na Kim from South Korea fulfilled her destiny and won the gold with a record 228.56 points. Her free skate to Gershwin's Concerto in F will be studied for generations to come -- the choreography, the jumps, the performance -- no wonder she cried tears of relief afterwards. Yu-Na's been setting world records in the short and long at these Games so what a fitting way to cap her season. She's been noncommittal about the World Championships in late March. I say skip it -- this has been too much of an emotional ride. Enjoy the rest of the season and come back to competition in the fall. Spend time with your family. Learn to cook risotto (ask Jeremy Abbott for some tips). How can we miss if you if you never go away?

With the silver is Japan's Mao Asada who has a lot to be proud of as the first woman at the Olympics to land three clean triple axels in the short and long. She made two jumping errors in the free skate but she also gave the performance of her life out there to Rachmaninoff's Moscow Bells. She has as much artistry as Yu-Na (even better extensions on spirals!) and maybe she realized on the podium that something had to change in the future to compete with Yu-Na. Mao looked serious and a little sad receiving the silver medal and with the weight of Japan on her shoulders for so many years, I think she too should skip Worlds and just chill out for a while. Mao and Yu-Na are both 19-years-old so lots of time to figure out their life paths.

And the bronze medal, but really the gold medal for exemplifying the Olympics Games, went to Canada's Joannie Rochette. Her mother died suddenly on Sunday from a massive heart attack and Joannie chose to continue competing. She nailed the short and we were uncertain how she would do in her free skate to C. St. Saen's Samson and Delilah, but we didn't have to worry. Even with her bobbles on her jumps, she went after everything and we saw her strength on the ice clear as day. Her energy was also different last night  than it was for the short program. After her successful short program on Tuesday, there was overwhelming sadness about her and everyone in the audience and in TV Land (including myself) were in tears. Last night after the free skate, I didn't sense sadness really -- more triumph. And every single person was with her on the podium. What a podium finish.

The U.S. ladies Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt finished fourth and seventh, respectively. I just love Mirai and she is going to look so much more polished in a matter of months. I just love Rachael and I hope she can continue to balance school and skating in the future. Miki Ando from Japan finished fifth overall and she did her best to rack up points with her jumps. At one point, commentator Sandra Bezic noted that Miki doesn't care about choreography, and Sandra wasn't kidding! It was a jumping clinic and I don't know what Miki will do in the future. She has my vote for favorite costume of the ladies(see right).

The exhibition gala is tomorrow evening and I hope officials have invited a lot of the ladies to skate even if they didn't medal. NBC didn't show Finland's Laura Lepisto who must have had the skate of her life to finish sixth overall! There's been some mini-controversy over the gala. Apparently, crowd favorite Johnny Weir was not invited to skate -- he finished sixth overall and consensus is that he was underscored a bit. Tune in to NBC at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday to watch the exhibition.

Final results for the ladies are as follows: (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)

FPl	Name	Country	Score	SP	FS
1	Yu-Na Kim	South Korea	228.56	1	1
2	Mao Asada	Japan	205.50	2	2
3	Joannie Rochette	Canada	202.64	3	3
4	Mirai Nagasu	USA	190.15	6	5
5	Miki Ando	Japan	188.86	4	6
6	Laura Lepisto	Finland	187.97	10	4
7	Rachael Flatt	USA	182.49	5	8
8	Akiko Suzuki	Japan	181.44	11	7
9	Alena Leonova	Russia	172.46	8	10
10	Ksenia Makarova	Russia	171.91	12	9
11	Kiira Korpi	Finland	161.57	17	11
12	Cynthia Phaneuf	Canada	156.62	14	13
13	Min-Jung Kwak	South Korea	155.53	16	12
14	Elene Gedevanishvili	Georgia	155.24	9	17
15	Sarah Meier	Switzerland	152.81	15	14
16	Carolina Kostner	Italy	151.90	7	19
17	Julia Sebestyen	Hungary	151.26	13	16
18	Sarah Hecken	Germany	143.94	23	15
19	Yan Liu	China	143.47	19	18
20	Cheltzie Lee	Australia	138.16	18	20
21	Elena Glebova	Russia	134.19	20	22
22	Sonia Lafuente	Spain	133.51	22	21
23	Anastasia Gimazetdinova	Uzbekistan	131.65	24	23
24	Tugba Karademir	Turkey	129.54	21	24

Evan Lysacek: I will not be going to Worlds in Torino

Evan Lysacek (see right), newly crowned Olympic champion, has announced that he will not be competing at the World Figure Skating Championships in Torino, Italy in March. (Read icenetwork article here) Currently the U.S. was planning on sending Evan, Jeremy Abbott and Johnny Weir. The first alternate is Ryan Bradley so great for Ryan! Johnny has confirmed that he will be at Worlds and dared the judges to underscore him again if he skates two clean programs. Jeremy is still a maybe but I think he should go -- he can't let that Olympic performance be the lasting memory we have. Or selfishly, it can't be the last memory I have. The second and third alternates are Adam Rippon and Brandon Mroz so I'm sure Adam's eagerly awaiting Jeremy's decision.

Worlds will be from March 22 - 28 so not a lot of time for us fans to decompress before we get into it again. Evan will be missed but can't really blame him for wanting to start the second phase of his career as soon as possible. He's already the reigning world champion, he's the Olympic champion and he's been a two-time U.S. champion. At what point do you say, "Enough and let's go through the doors that have opened for me as a result of this." There's been some articles about him possibly being on Dancing with the Stars, but I hope not. I'd like to see him stretch his acting chops in something. And NOT in a skating movie. He has the look, the height, and lives in Los Angeles -- get him an acting agent pronto!

And finally, he and gymnastics darling and Olympic champion herself Nastia Liukin have officially come out as "really close friends." Read People article here. 

UPDATE: Blogger Laura from Required Elements advises that Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto are also skipping Worlds. So I guess retirement is on the way for the most successful U.S. ice dancing team and a  well-deserved retirement at that. Tanith and Ben changed ice dancing in America and made us pay attention to the sport. Hopefully we'll see Tanith in the broadcasting booth (which is her next career goal) and for Ben, an eventual career in sports medicine. First alternates Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre are taking Tanith and Ben's place at Worlds and will be joined by Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates.

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Starting order for ladies free skate

Thanks to the judging, this is going to be one of the most exciting ladies finals ever! Yu-Na Kim hasn't run away with the gold. Yet. She's in first place by 4.72 points so a fall here, a bobble on a spin there, would open the door for Mao Asada and Joannie Rochette. Here are my thoughts on the top ladies:

Yu-Na Kim (see right) from South Korea: She's sitting in first place after the short program. Will the Olympics award the gold to truly the best skater out there today? I sure hope so. Yu-Na is the most well-rounded skater. Period. She's consistent, beautiful to watch, and important to me, takes the time to develop each move, each step, draws us into the story. We're not confused by her costumes, her music, it's comforting! But stranger things have happened, e.g., Sarah Hughes, Tara Lipinski, Shizuka Arakawa, but please let the world order be normal tonight. The gods can toy with us at Worlds in March.

Mao Asada from Japan: Second after the short, Mao has the triple axel in her arsenal, the only jump Yu-Na Kim doesn't have. Mao has two planned triple axels in her free skate, but let's not forget that she's also a superb artist. Sometimes I'm surprised that she doesn't score the same as Yu-Na in the Program Component marks. Maybe I'm missing a nuance. When I watch Mao it's clear to me this young lady has had balletic training -- very polished in a ballerina kind of way, even down to her fingertips. With Yu-Na, as great an interpreter she is of the music, that's not my immediate thought.

Joannie Rochette from Canada: She's in third place but does anyone care about the scores? Her mother died from a sudden heart attack on Sunday, we don't care what the scores are at this point. She skated a clean short program -- when she's on, she's always been a great technician with the right amount of artistry thrown in. If she keeps it together for the free skate, she could win bronze. Again, does anyone care about her placement anymore? She gave the performance of the Olympics on Thursday and that's what I'll remember from the Games.

Miki Ando from Japan: In fourth place after the short, Miki desperately needs all her triple-triple combinations tonight. Her free skate to Rome and Marco Polo nicely showcases her artistry and footwork which still pales in comparison to Yu-Na and Mao's. If she starts stumbling on her jumps, no way she has a chance at the podium. Her coach is Russian Nikolai Morozov and hopefully she absorbed some of the Russian flair for dance and high drama and passion for the skate. 

Rachael Flatt from the United States: She's sitting in fifth place and she will hit all her jumps. That much I can be assured of. A lot depends on how the judges feel about her artistry and flow over the ice. She's been criticized for seeming to skate with a checklist of elements in her mind and we're going through the checklist with her. But she may have a breakout performance at the Olympics and move up to the podium.

Mirai Nagasu from the United States: She's a lot more consistent now with coach Frank Carroll. Sitting in sixth place after the short program and skating last tonight in the free skate, I expect her to be aggressive and go all out. She has nothing to lose and her "I'm just here to have experience for 2014" attitude may push her closer to the podium. I hope her nose doesn't start bleeding again in the middle of her free skate. If that happens can she stop and have two minutes to address it?

The starting order for tonight's ladies free skate is as follows. NBC will begin live coverage at 8 p.m. ET. (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)

Starting Order for Free Skate	Name	Country	SP Score	SP Rank
1 (Group 1)	Tugba Karademir	Turkey	50.74	21
2 (Group 1)	Sonia Lafuente	Spain	49.74	22
3 (Group 1)	Yan Liu	China	51.74	19
4 (Group 1)	Elena Glebova	Estonia	50.80	20
5 (Group 1)	Anastasia Gimazetdinova	Uzbekistan	49.02	24
6 (Group 1)	Sarah Hecken	Germany	49.04	23
7 (Group 2)	Cynthia Phaneuf	Canada	57.16	14
8 (Group 2)	Kiira Korpi	Finland	52.96	17
9 (Group 2)	Cheltzie Lee	Australia	52.16	18
10 (Group 2)	Sarah Meier	Switzerland	56.70	15
11 (Group 2)	Julia Sebestyen	Hungary	57.46	13
12 (Group 2)	Min-Jung Kwak	South Korea	53.16	16
13 (Group 3)	Alena Leonova	Russia	62.14	8
14 (Group 3)	Akiko Suzuki	Japan	61.02	11
15 (Group 3)	Carolina Kostner	Italy	63.02	7
16 (Group 3)	Laura Lepisto	Finland	61.36	10
17 (Group 3)	Ksenia Makarova	Russia	59.22	12
18 (Group 3)	Elene Gedevanishvili	Georgia	61.92	9
19 (Group 4)	Rachael Flatt	USA	64.64	5
20 (Group 4)	Miki Ando	Japan	64.76	4
21 (Group 4)	Yu-Na Kim	South Korea	78.50	1
22 (Group 4)	Mao Asada	Japan	73.78	2
23 (Group 4)	Joannie Rochette	Canada	71.36	3
24 (Group 4)	Mirai Nagasu	USA	63.76	6

The top 24 ladies move onto the free skate so the following six ladies did not make it to the final:

Isabelle Pieman (Belgium): Short program score 46.10

Miriam Ziegler (Austria): Short program score 43.84

Teodora Postic (Slovenia): Short program score 43.80

Ivana Reitmayerova (Slovakia): Short program score 41.94

Jenna McCorkell (Great Britain): Short program score 40.64

Anna Jurkiewicz (Poland): Short program score 36.10