Mao was blessed with a mother who gave it her all

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By JACK GALLAGHER
The past few days have been very difficult. I'm fairly confident a lot of other folks share my sentiments.

Late Friday evening we learned that Mao Asada's mother Kyoko had passed away at the far too young age of 48.

Though some within the Japanese skating community were aware that Mao's mother had not been well for quite a while, it came as a shock to the great majority of people in this country.

It didn't take long for me to start feeling very emotional about this, because I have known Mao and her mother since Mao was a precocious child of 15.

The sadness I felt about Kyoko's life being cut short was multiplied by the concern I had for Mao's future. I think this is what many of her fans and the public are also concerned about.

How do you replace somebody that is irreplaceable?

There is never a good time for a tragedy, but the case could be made that the timing in this instance could not be worse. Just as Mao seemed to have rediscovered her form, she is confronted with this.

We can only hope that Mao is able to battle through this, just as she has overcome other challenges during her career. But the reality is that this is much different than anything else she has ever been confronted with.

It's one thing to not be able to execute a triple axel when you want, completely another when you lose somebody so close to you.

My relationship with Mao and her mother began in early 2006, when they came to a Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan dinner in Tokyo where Mao was accepting the award as the top Japanese athlete of 2005.

Even though the event was organized on short notice, there was a record turnout for the FSAJ that night, one that has not been equalled since, although many prominent guests have followed.

At the end of the evening, I could see that Mao's mother was clearly impressed by the warmth and love that had been shown to her daughter by the primarily foreign audience in attendance.