http://www.examiner.com/figure-skating- ... er-s-deathAsada to skate at Nationals weeks after mother's deathTwo-time World champion Mao Asada plans to compete at the Japan Figure Skating Championships in Kadoma next week, less than a month after her mother's death. She will be vying for her fifth national title in six years. She took the silver last year to eventual World champion Miki Ando.
Asada's mother, Kyoko Asada, passed away the morning of the beginning of the Grand Prix Final last week. Mao Asada was in Quebec City, Canada, in preparations for the competition but withdrew the day before the short program began to fly back with her coach, Nobuo Sato, because her mother's condition had taken a turn for the worse. She had not landed in Japan when her mother died.
In a statement released through her management agency, IMG, Asada said, "It will satisfy my mother if I never fail to continue doing what I should toward my dream, as I promised to my family while she was alive."
Asada has been in the midst of a resurgent season, both winning her first Grand Prix title and qualifying for the Grand Prix Final for the first time since 2008. She will be facing off against Grand Prix Final silver medalist Akiko Suzuki and former World junior champion Kanako Murakami for the Japanese title next week.