ASIA / PACIFIC
June 2, 2014
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
Mao Asada to take a year
off from figure skating
By Jim Armstrong
The Associated Press
OKYO — Japanese figure skater
Mao Asada will take a season off
from competitive skating and says
there is a 50 percent chance she will return
to the sport.
Speaking at a news conference, Asada
said she is mentally and physically tired
and wants a chance to focus on other
aspects of her life, including attending
university.
“I worked very hard from Vancouver to
Sochi,” said Asada, who won silver at the
Vancouver Winter Olympics. “Now I feel
it’s time to take a year off and rest. We’ll
see how I feel after a break. At this point it
is 50-50.”
Asada captured her third world title at
the figure skating world championships in
Saitama, Japan, in March, which followed
a sixth-place finish at the Sochi Olympics.
The 23-year-old Asada went into Sochi
carrying gold medal hopes, but finished a
disappointing 16th in the short program
before an inspirational free skate that
vaulted her up the standings. Asada is the
only female figure skater who has landed
three triple axels in one competition.
While conceding there is a chance she
may return to competition, Asada said she
T
NEW OLYMPIC STADIUM. Tokyo’s National Stadium, the centerpiece of the 1964 Summer Olympics,
has hosted its final sporting event. The stadium will be demolished to make way for a new 80,000-seat structure
that will be the main venue of the 2020 Olympics. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tokyo’s National Stadium
hosts final sports event
By Jim Armstrong
AP Sports Writer
T
OKYO — Tokyo’s National
Stadium, the centerpiece of the
1964 Summer Olympics has hosted
its final sporting event. The stadium will
be demolished to make way for a new
80,000-seat structure that will be the main
venue of the 2020 Olympics.
Japan faced Hong Kong in a rugby
match at the 54,000-seat stadium, which
opened in 1958 and hosted the opening and
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closing ceremonies, as well as athletics, at
the 1964 games.
Workers will begin demolishing the
stadium in July and work on the new
Olympic Stadium will begin in October
2015.
Already there has been criticism that
the cost for the new stadium is too high.
The original budget was 300 billion yen ($3
billion), but Japan’s government said the
cost will be scaled down to 130 billion yen
($1.3 billion).
SKATING HIATUS. Japanese figure skater Mao
Asada leaves a press conference in Tokyo. Asada said
she is taking a season off from competitive skating,
and also said there is a 50 percent chance she will
return to the sport. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
can’t picture herself competing at the next
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South
Korea in 2018.
Asada began figure skating at the age of
five and made her senior debut in the
2005-2006 season. She won her first world
title in 2008. Her longtime rival, Yuna Kim
of South Korea, retired after Sochi.
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