Mao Asada: Profile of the Japanese Figure Skating Olympian for Sochi 2014

Crash Course: Mao Asada is one of the most decorated figure skaters in the world and a national hero in Japan. She has been skating competitively since the 2002-03 season and plans to retire after the Olympics. Asada has won two world championships and earned the silver medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. She is a huge ballet fan away from the ice, and she does jigsaw puzzles to relieve stress. She named her dog, Aero, after a Nestle chocolate bar.

Athletic Profile: Asada, 23, is known for her athleticism on the ice. She has landed the triple Axel-double toe loop combination. She became the first female skater to land two triple Axels in the same program in 2009. She has also landed quadruple Axels in practice, but she has never attempted one in competition.

Top Rival: Yuna Kim, 23, of South Korea, is expected to be Asada's top rival in Sochi. The two have been skating against each other for years, and Kim finished first in the Vancouver Olympics. Like Asada, Kim is likely to retire at the end of the Olympics, so she is hoping for a peak performance in Sochi. Asada said her rivalry with Kim has helped her develop into the skater she is today. "There were times it was tough," Asada told Robert Kuang of KPopStarz. "But I think that without Yuna Kim, I would not have developed, and in fact I think this friendly rivalry gave me my motivation."

Growth Sport: Figure skating is riding a wave of popularity in Japan. Shizuka Arakawa won an Olympic gold medal in 2006, while Daisuke Takahasi won a bronze medal in 2010. As a result, Japanese fans follow Asada everywhere she competes and are a big part of her support system. 

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Retirement Blues: Asada is such a popular performer that television ratings increase dramatically when she is in an event. Jack Gallagher of the Japan Times called her a "walking conglomerate" and said that her impending retirement could have a huge impact on her endorsements. He suggested that if she did retire, she could eventually come back like Michael Jordan did in the NBA.

Social Profile: Asada has a Facebook fan page that has received more than 18,000 likes. She is incredibly popular in Japan. ESPN for Women compared her popularity to Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki.

Quote: “Obviously a lot of people would be happy to have a silver medal in the Olympics. But that season, most of the jumps I couldn’t do. I wasn’t happy about it. That’s why I came back, to be perfect for myself, the jumps and everything.” — Mao Asada to New York Times.