Word: asada
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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Call it the Asian Invasion. Or the Beast from the East. But for the first time in Olympic history, Asian skaters stood upon the podium in three of the four figure-skating events. With South Korea's Kim Yu-Na winning a gold medal and Japan's Mao Asada a silver with their skates on Thursday, Feb. 25, athletes from the Far East earned five of the 12 figure-skating medals in Vancouver. It's the highest haul so far in the sport at the Olympics for those from the Pacific Rim, and it signals the beginning of what many...
...highly anticipated ladies' free skate became a showdown between Kim and Asada, who skated back to back before a capacity crowd in the Pacific Coliseum. Kim took the ice first, made the sign of the cross, then delivered a record-setting performance set to Gershwin that earned her not only the Olympic gold but the highest point total of any woman so far under the new scoring system, which has been in place since 2006. As she twirled to a stop after her final spin, most of the 11,771 spectators were on their feet, including Olympic and world champions...
...After warming up amid the roaring of the crowd at Kim's scores, Asada landed two triple Axels, making history herself as the first woman to complete two of those jumps - the most difficult that any female competitor performs - in a single program at any competition. (She also landed a triple Axel in the short program on Tuesday.) Close to the end of her program, however, she caught her heel on the ice and couldn't launch into her second-to-last jump, a triple toe loop, losing precious points...
...testament to her skating skills that Kim, the first South Korean skater to win gold, with her score of 150.06 in the free program, surpassed Asada's score of 131.72 for the night, which included the two high-scoring triple Axel jumps. The difference came in Kim's delivery. The South Korean earned only positive points for her execution of jumps, spins, spirals and transitions, while Asada was downgraded and lost points for underrotating a jump. "It was toward the end of my performance, and I think my legs were a little tired," said Asada after her program. "I wish...
...traditionally earned more medals and respect from fans, figure skaters often have to share precious ice space with speedskaters, limiting their ability to build speed and work on expansive elements such as spirals and intricate footwork sequences. Things aren't much better in Japan, where crowded sessions forced Asada, as an up-and-coming talent in the early 2000s, to train for a few years in California before returning to a new rink built in Nagoya. (See a brief history of Olympic sore losers...