Gravity can't keep Asada down for long

A FIGURE skater launches herself into the air and spins in a blur of color. Spectators hold their breath as gravity pulls her back to earth and the blade of her skate touches the ice.

Every skater trains for perfection, but all take the occasional fall. Those of championship caliber simply find a way to keep on going, as Japan's Mao Asada did last week at the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Her fall drew gasps from the crowd. The now world-famous 17-year-old had attempted a triple axel in her free skate performance, but she'd missed the landing and fallen on her side.

"When I fell, I couldn't think of anything. I don't know what happened, I was surprised myself. My heart stopped!" Asada said later.

In interviews translated on the fansite MaoAsada.logu2.com, Asada discusses her tendency to make mistakes in big competitions. Even when she does perform without a fall, Asada said, "the true me is different from that. I always make mistakes in competitions, almost every time. It's been that way since I was little."

Nonetheless, every skater must find a way to ignore such fears or else be overwhelmed by them. At the 2007 World Championships, Asada tried unsuccessfully to complete a complicated combination jump. Back at her hotel, Asada felt like a failure.

"You seem to think a medal is out of reach now, but you are mistaken," her mom Kuniko reportedly told her. "Missing a single jump set you back 10 points. Putting in one more jump than anyone else tomorrow will make up the difference. Just try to figure out what score will put you on the podium."

The young Asada went on to win the silver.

Perhaps it was Mom's advice that rang in Asada's ear when she pulled herself up off the ice last week. She went on to make six triple jumps and several complicated combo jumps. The courageous performance helped her finish No 1 overall to win the World Championship, a title that many believe she can hold for years to come.

"She's got a gift," Yuka Sato, Japan's first world champion skater, told ESPN.com in 2006. "She's got it all – the style, the femininity, the classy look of a figure skater. And she's so charming."

Waiting for 2010

Mao Asada originally took up ice skating to improve her ballet, but she soon fell in love with the sport and began training for serious competition. Mao's sister Mai, 19, is also a champion skater, but Mao has long been thought to be the most promising of the two. Mao hopes to compete in her first Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

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ballet芭蕾舞

blur 一团模糊(的影像)

caliber 才干

championship 锦标赛

femininity 具有女性特质的

figure skater 花样滑冰选手

groan 叹息

overwhelm 淹没

podium 领奖台

triple axel 三周半跳

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