Such a sad story, big misunderstanding between them. Mao’s mom was dying at that time. I wish it had turned differently, but she is still forever my fave skater.
Wooooooooow!!!! what a story poor Mao. I always thought they were such a great team and then thats why she moved to Tarasova. And her mom was sick. Amazing story. Did you ask what he thinks of her future and how she skated please post if you did. Thanks awesome interview
Raf misjudged Mao with his cynical Russian mindset while Mao's Japanese mindset held her back to speak frankly about her difficulty. A misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. It also shows they two probably didn't communicate well enough off the ice >_
Has Rafael ever thought about how Mao felt when she needed to train by herself toward the world which was so competitive, even though he sent another coach to Japan? Has he ever consider how lonely she could feel fighting by herself without a coach and siting at Kiss&Cry with her manager?
+mom He didn't know at the time why. He thought she was being a little diva. See in Japan skaters are treated like goddesses and he thought she was getting big-headed and backing out on their agreement. He had other skaters in his rink, as well as Jeffrey and a business to run and if you want to be a disciplined athlete who can overcome any form of adversity you have to fit with the program.
+MsJubjubbird I understood what he said but if he thought he would no longer coach her then he had to tell that to Mao, or officially cancel the contract. It was obvious that Mao was waiting for him to coach her, because he mentioned in this video that Mao put his name as her coach until she finished her SP. That means she was showing her loyalty to him and trusted him to come and help her. I would say it was a betrayal rather than a way of discipline. Can you imagine how hard or hart breaking it was to find out she had to fight through the world without a coach? She was only 17.
+MsJubjubbird I know there might be miscommunication and obviously there were misunderstandings between them. Mao acting like diva....no, never! She is a hard working pure athlete who loves figure skating and devoted her life to it. I do't know what made him feel like so, because Japanese athletes respect their coaches. They call a coach "Sensei" it means "a teacher" or "a person with wisdom" and place their coaches above themselves. I just can not understand why he thought so.
mom Oh I get that. I'm not saying she is a diva. But that's probably what he thought when she refused to come back to his rink and do her scheduled training program and then wanted him come to her and leave all his other skaters. They were probably just communicating by e-mail, or maybe by phone but with limited English and she didn't say why so that's probably what he thought. At the very least he thought "who does she think she is and does she think I have nothing else to do?". I can understand why he thought to dismiss her not knowing the full story.
+MsJubjubbird Thank you for your reply. You got the point that bothering me most probably. Do you think it is usual that coaches abandon skaters for disciplinary reason? There might be cases for serious problems, but for this case,??? The skater was famous for hard working, who was one of the top medal contenders and the timing was just 2months before the worlds. I just cannot accept his poor excuse when I think seriousness of this incident on the other side. I wanted to ask him if he ever consider how severe the damage he could cause to Mao.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Such a sad story, big misunderstanding between them. Mao’s mom was dying at that time. I wish it had turned differently, but she is still forever my fave skater.
Wooooooooow!!!! what a story poor Mao. I always thought they were such a great team and then thats why she moved to Tarasova. And her mom was sick. Amazing story. Did you ask what he thinks of her future and how she skated please post if you did. Thanks awesome interview
Raf misjudged Mao with his cynical Russian mindset while Mao's Japanese mindset held her back to speak frankly about her difficulty. A misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. It also shows they two probably didn't communicate well enough off the ice >_
Great interview! Thanks!
I hadn't known he coached Mao!
how sad.... he does seem truly sorry though. omg.
really sad story.
Has Rafael ever thought about how Mao felt when she needed to train by herself toward the world which was so competitive, even though he sent another coach to Japan?
Has he ever consider how lonely she could feel fighting by herself without a coach and siting at Kiss&Cry with her manager?
+mom He didn't know at the time why. He thought she was being a little diva. See in Japan skaters are treated like goddesses and he thought she was getting big-headed and backing out on their agreement. He had other skaters in his rink, as well as Jeffrey and a business to run and if you want to be a disciplined athlete who can overcome any form of adversity you have to fit with the program.
+MsJubjubbird I understood what he said but if he thought he would no longer coach her then he had to tell that to Mao, or officially cancel the contract. It was obvious that Mao was waiting for him to coach her, because he mentioned in this video that Mao put his name as her coach until she finished her SP. That means she was showing her loyalty to him and trusted him to come and help her. I would say it was a betrayal rather than a way of discipline.
Can you imagine how hard or hart breaking it was to find out she had to fight through the world without a coach? She was only 17.
+MsJubjubbird I know there might be miscommunication and obviously there were misunderstandings between them.
Mao acting like diva....no, never! She is a hard working pure athlete who loves figure skating and devoted her life to it. I do't know what made him feel like so, because Japanese athletes respect their coaches. They call a coach "Sensei" it means "a teacher" or "a person with wisdom" and place their coaches above themselves. I just can not understand why he thought so.
mom Oh I get that. I'm not saying she is a diva. But that's probably what he thought when she refused to come back to his rink and do her scheduled training program and then wanted him come to her and leave all his other skaters. They were probably just communicating by e-mail, or maybe by phone but with limited English and she didn't say why so that's probably what he thought. At the very least he thought "who does she think she is and does she think I have nothing else to do?". I can understand why he thought to dismiss her not knowing the full story.
+MsJubjubbird Thank you for your reply.
You got the point that bothering me most probably. Do you think it is usual that coaches abandon skaters for disciplinary reason? There might be cases for serious problems, but for this case,??? The skater was famous for hard working, who was one of the top medal contenders and the timing was just 2months before the worlds.
I just cannot accept his poor excuse when I think seriousness of this incident on the other side. I wanted to ask him if he ever consider how severe the damage he could cause to Mao.
I love him 😍. And I hope Eun soo get more developed in her skating with Rafael!