Mao Asada is a Japanese former competitive figure skater.
121 Facts About Mao Asada
2.
Mao Asada is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents champion, and a four-time Grand Prix Final champion.
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Mao Asada is the first female figure skater who has landed three triple Axel jumps in one competition, which she achieved at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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Mao Asada 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.
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Mao Asada won her first Grand Prix Final at the age of 15.
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Mao Asada is the first figure skater in a singles discipline from Asia to win multiple world championships.
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Mao Asada holds 15 Grand Prix series titles, the second-highest total among ladies and the sixth-highest total among skaters of all four disciplines.
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Mao Asada is credited with being one of the pioneering ladies skaters that truly combined athleticism and artistry.
9.
Mao Asada was named after the Japanese actress Mao Daichi.
10.
Mao Asada attended Nagoya International School until the middle of 1st grade.
11.
Mao Asada received her high school diploma from Chukyo High School on 15 March 2009.
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Mao Asada learned to skate after school almost every day.
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Mao Asada won two gold medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and finished 6th at the 2006 Four Continents Championships.
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Mao Asada owns a miniature poodle named Aero, who is named after the chocolate confection made by Nestle.
15.
In 2008, Mao Asada acquired two puppies, named Tiara and Komachi.
16.
Mao Asada studied classical ballet from the age of three to nine, but followed her sister in switching to figure skating.
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Mao Asada competed in the senior national championships and placed 7th.
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Mao Asada won the Mladost Trophy, her first international event.
19.
Mao Asada competed in the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, winning both of her events.
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Mao Asada became the first junior ladies skater to land a triple axel in competition, and the fifth woman overall.
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Mao Asada won the Japanese Junior National championships, ahead of her sister who took the silver medal, and qualified for the 2005 Junior Worlds.
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Mao Asada's win earned her an invitation to the senior national championships, where she won the silver medal.
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Mao Asada set the junior-level ladies' record for the combined total and the free skating.
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Mao Asada won her second event, the 2005 Trophee Eric Bompard, after placing first in both the short and free skating.
25.
Mao Asada 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.
26.
At her first Senior Grand Prix Final appearance, Mao Asada won the event at the age of 15 years.
27.
Mao Asada got a total score of 189.62 points after placing first in both programs, 8.14 points ahead of silver medalist Irina Slutskaya.
28.
At the 2006 World Junior Championships, Mao Asada finished 24.19 points behind gold medalist Yuna Kim, and 18.21 points ahead of bronze medalist Christine Zukowski.
29.
At this competition, Mao Asada became the first lady to land a triple Axel in the short program at an ISU championship.
30.
Mao Asada moved from Japan to the United States in August 2006 to train with Rafael Arutyunyan in Lake Arrowhead, California.
31.
At her first event, the 2006 Skate America, Mao Asada won the bronze medal behind Miki Ando and Kimmie Meissner.
32.
Mao 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.
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Mao Asada placed second with 172.52 points, 11.68 behind gold medalist Yuna Kim.
34.
Mao Asada had won the short program, but placed fourth in the free skating.
35.
At the 2007 Worlds Championships, Mao 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.
36.
Mao 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.
37.
Mao Asada 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.
38.
At the 2007 Skate Canada International, Mao Asada was third in the short program and first in the free skate, finishing first ahead of silver medalist Yukari Nakano.
39.
Mao Asada won her second gold at the 2007 Trophee Eric Bompard with over 21 points ahead of silver medalist Kimmie Meissner.
40.
Mao Asada 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.
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Mao Asada won the silver medal with 191.59 points, 5.24 behind gold medalist Yuna Kim, who defended her title.
42.
Mao Asada was placed on the Japanese team for both the World and Four Continents Championships.
43.
Mao Asada competed at both ISU Championships without a coach, but was accompanied by an official from the Japan Skating Federation.
44.
In March 2008, at the Worlds Championships, Mao Asada won her first World title.
45.
Mao Asada was second in the short program, 0.18 behind Carolina Kostner.
46.
At the 2008 Trophee Eric Bompard, Mao Asada placed second in both programs and finished second overall with a score of 167.59 points, 12.54 behind Joannie Rochette.
47.
Mao Asada won gold at the 2008 NHK Trophy with 191.13 points, 23.49 ahead of the silver medalist Akiko Suzuki.
48.
Mao 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.
49.
Mao 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.
50.
Mao Asada landed three beautiful clean triple jumps in her free skate.
51.
Mao Asada received 117.15 points for her free skating for a total of 182.45 points overall.
52.
Mao Asada won her third straight national title after placing second in both the short program and the free skate.
53.
Mao Asada completed a triple flip-double loop-double loop, a triple loop, and a triple flip-double loop.
54.
Mao Asada placed third overall in the competition behind Joannie Rochette of Canada who won silver and Yuna Kim who won the gold.
55.
At the 2009 World Championships, Mao Asada placed third in the short program with 66.06 points and 4th in the free skate, where she scored 122.03 points.
56.
Mao Asada finished in fourth place with a combined total score of 188.09 points.
57.
Mao Asada placed third in the short program and second in the free skating, finishing with the silver medal at 2009 Trophee Eric Bompard, 36.04 points behind gold medalist Yuna Kim.
58.
Mao Asada finished 5th overall, 21.65 points behind gold medalist Miki Ando.
59.
At the 2010 Four Continents Championships, Mao 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.
60.
Mao Asada 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.
61.
From 23 to 25 February, Mao Asada competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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Mao Asada scored 73.78 points and placed second in the short program.
63.
At the 2010 World Championships, Mao Asada placed second in the short program with 68.08 points, 2.32 behind Mirai Nagasu of the United States.
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Mao Asada reclaimed the world title with an overall score of 197.58 points.
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Mao Asada became the first singles figure skater from Asia to win multiple world championship titles.
66.
On 17 June 2010, Mao Asada announced that her new jump coach was Hiroshi Nagakubo.
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Mao Asada was assigned to the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard ISU Grand Prix events.
68.
At the 2010 NHK Trophy, Mao Asada placed 8th in both programs and finished 8th overall with a total of 133.40 points.
69.
At the 2010 Trophee Eric Bompard, Mao Asada placed 7th in the short program, 5th in the free skating and 5th overall, scoring a combined 148.02 points.
70.
Mao Asada obtained a total score of 193.69 points and placed second behind Miki Ando.
71.
At the 2011 Four Continents Championships, Mao 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.
72.
At the 2011 World Championships, Mao Asada placed 7th in the short program, 6th in the free skating, and finished 6th overall with 172.79 points.
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Mao Asada 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.
74.
At the 2011 Cup of Russia, Mao Asada placed first in the short program with 64.29 points.
75.
Mao Asada earned a level four on her straight line step sequence with +1.30 GOE.
76.
Mao Asada withdrew from the Final due to her mother's serious illness.
77.
Mao Asada's mother died of liver cirrhosis in Nagoya Hospital while Asada was flying back to Japan.
78.
At the 2012 World Championships, Mao Asada placed fourth in the short program and sixth in the free skating, finishing sixth overall with 164.52 points.
79.
Seven years after her triumph in Torino, and three years after her victory in Goyang City, Mao Asada won her third title at the Grand Prix Final in Sochi, placing first in both the short program and free skating.
80.
Mao Asada 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.
81.
Mao 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.
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Mao Asada placed fifth at the World Team Trophy and team Japan placed third.
83.
Mao Asada won gold at her two Grand Prix assignments, the 2013 Skate America and the 2013 NHK Trophy.
84.
Mao Asada became the first singles skater, male or female, to win all seven of the current events on the Grand Prix series.
85.
Mao Asada led after a strong short program, but only placed 3rd in the free skating, dropping to 3rd overall.
86.
Mao Asada fell on the triple Axel and placed third individually; team Japan finished fifth.
87.
Mao Asada rebounded in the free skating, landing 8 triple jumps 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.
88.
Mao 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.
89.
On 19 May 2014, Mao Asada announced she intended to skip the next season.
90.
Mao Asada said she was mentally and physically tired and wanted a chance to focus on other aspects of her life, including attending university.
91.
On 18 May 2015, Mao Asada announced her intention to make comeback in competitive skating after having taken a one-year break.
92.
Mao Asada had resumed training with coach Nobuo Sato with the aim of returning to competition.
93.
Mao Asada went on to the 2015 NHK Trophy and won the bronze after several problems with her jumping passes.
94.
Mao Asada 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.
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Mao Asada began her season with a silver medal at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, having finished second to Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond.
96.
Mao Asada then placed 8th in the short program after underrotating her triple flip in combination with the double loop.
97.
Mao Asada failed to execute a clean triple jump in the freeskate, placing 10th in that segment and 9th overall.
98.
On 10 April 2017, Mao Asada declared on her blog that she had retired from competition.
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Mao Asada is known for her flexibility in spins and spirals.
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Mao Asada is noted for performing the one-handed Biellmann spin in competition.
101.
Mao Asada has received +2.60 grade of execution for her spiral sequence.
102.
Mao Asada is known for the complexity of her footwork sequence and has earned +2.00 grade of execution.
103.
Mao Asada did not include salchow jumps in her junior and senior career programs until 2008.
104.
Mao Asada had stated previously that the triple salchow was the first triple jump she had ever landed and that she did not have a problem landing it cleanly, but she was not comfortable using the jump in competition because it is one of her least favorite jumps.
105.
Normally, Mao Asada uses a 3Lo as her second jump in a combination, typically after the 3F.
106.
At that same competition, Mao Asada became the first female skater to land two 3A in the same program.
107.
Mao Asada became the first lady to land 3 triple Axels in the same competition.
108.
Mao Asada has a Guinness World Record for the most triple Axels performed by a female skater in competition.
109.
Mao Asada corrected her habit of moving her shoulders up and down before jumping.
110.
Mao Asada found that her jumping began to suffer and she was making mistakes on all her jumps.
111.
Mao Asada has been known to practice and land quadruple jumps in training.
112.
Mao Asada is very popular in Japan and is credited with increasing the popularity of figure skating in Japan.
113.
The Mao Asada sisters have been named as goodwill ambassadors to Canada.
114.
In 2011, Asada launched her own kimono brand named MaoMao.
115.
Mao Asada has appeared in many variety television shows and in commercials.
116.
Mao Asada has been sponsored by Coca-Cola, Itoham Foods, Kao, Lotte, Nestle, Oji Paper Company, Olympus Corporation, Omron, and Weider.
117.
On 8 April 2014, Mao Asada's exhibition named "Smile" opened at Takashimaya department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district.
118.
Mao Asada is a big fan of Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki, and was seen congratulating her on her 10th Anniversary.
119.
French Olympic Medalist figure skater Philippe Candeloro is a huge fan of Mao Asada and calls himself her godfather.
120.
Mao Asada became the producer, the director and the main star of the project.
121.
Mao Asada's approach was the opposite to a typical ice show concept of attracting the audience by famous names.