MONTHLY NEWS
February 2003

Young Skating Stars Jumping to New Heights

Young Japanese skaters are raising the global standards for women's figure skating techniques, and at the same time raising Japan's hopes of winning a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics to be held in Torino, Italy.

On December 14, 15-year old Miki Ando made history when she became the first female skater ever to complete a quadruple jump during the Junior Grand Prix Final competition in the Hague, the Netherlands. She performed a clean quadruple salchow, which only a handful of male skaters had successfully completed before. Then, on December 22, it was 12-year old Mao Asada's turn to amaze the world. At the All-Japan Figure Skating Championships in Kyoto Mao managed three triple jumps in a row - a triple flip, triple loop, triple toe loop combination - becoming the first female in the world to perform this sequence.

Jumps in figure skating require speed, strength, and precision. Miki says she now lands the quadruple salchow about 80% of the time during practice. While some commentators describe her as "the kind of skating genius that appears only once every 50 years," Miki keeps her cool. "I try not to get carried away by what other people say about me. I enjoy figure skating because it's a sport in which you can express yourself. Plus there are a variety of jumps, and it's exhilarating when you succeed," she says. "My dream is to bring back the Olympic gold medal."

That dream is shared by Mao Asada. "I hate losing, and I'm not good at hiding my feelings," she says. And to keep winning, Mao spends four or five hours practicing on the rink every day of the week. "Sometimes when I'm doing badly with my jumps, I take it out on my sister!" Her older sister Mai is also a skater.

"These girls are perceived as a threat by rivals outside the country," says Noriko Shirota, who is responsible for training the national team as the Figure Skating Director of the Japan Skating Federation. Young Japanese skaters have excellent technique, but they need to hone their expressive qualities, says Ms. Shirota.

In Japan, competition is fierce in women's figure skating. Mao unfortunately may be considered too young to participate in the 2006 Olympics because of recent changes in the rules. But that doesn't make things easy for Miki. Her rivals include Yukari Nakano, who landed a triple axel jump at the Skate America competition last October, and Yukina Ota, who beat Miki in the Junior Grand Prix Final, despite Miki's successful quadruple jump.

Keep an eye on these twirling young skaters, but don't get dizzy trying to count all their midair turns!

Photos: (Top) Miki Ando; (bottom) Mao Asada. (PANA)