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On March 16, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) announced that it discovered a significant increase in power consumption during the early mornings of Feb 20 and 21. Those times coincided with both the women’s short program and free skate events in which Mao Asada competed. In each case the increase in demand equaled the amount put out by an entire fossil fuel power plant.
At around 3:35 a.m. on Feb 20, the output was a regular 31 gigawatts for that time of year. However, by around 4:20 a.m. when Mao was due to hit the ice, the output spiked to 31.5 gigawatts.
TEPCO compared the instance with a control date of Jan 17 which had similar conditions with Feb 20 such as temperature. They performed the same analysis with Mao’s second performance on Feb 21 with Jan 23. In both cases they deduced that Mao’s Olympic performances resulted in a 400-megawatt increase in electricity consumption.
This is surely a testament to the popularity of Mao-chan and how much the nation loves her cute facial expressions and triple axels.
Source: Yahoo! Japan News
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Japan’s Nikkan Sports under fire after publishing hugely unflattering photos of Mao Asada -- Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya is a firecracker both on and off the ice -- Mao Asada’s flawed program met with support from fellow skaters, criticized by Japanese official
© RocketNews24
5 Comments
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Saketown
Well, here's the deal, Mao Asada had several disadvantages going into these Olympics.
Mainly the rivalry between Kim & Mao that the Japanese Media put on Mao and the astronomical expectations placed upon the Japanese Olympians during the race up to the Olympics.
Could a more frozen over ice rink cause a triple axle landing to go astray? I think Ice Skating Experts & engineers would have to answer that question, BUT the Russians knew she would be performing the triple axle in order to Medal and was there been a plot by the Russians to cause Mao to lose that opportunity? Coming from a country that specializes in sleazy geopolitical land grabbing plots - Probably.
Home Turf Advantage does play a key role in the Olympics and we learned that when China used 13 Year Olds in the Gymnastics during the Beijing '08 Games, lied about their ages, their parents confirmed they were 13 and then the Chinese produced fake birth certificates and called their parents crazy and stupid. Nevertheless, they went on to collect their Gold Medals.
So, what can Japan do in 2020 to gain the Home Turf Advantage? Overwhelm the world with kindness I guess because the Japanese are too honest to be as sleazy as China and Russia.
BTW: The IOC is the 3rd largest & most corrupt entity in the world - Following the UN & the G-20.
Mao should continue her skating career as an Olympian. I think she has what it takes to get the Gold. I actually think she was robbed of her Gold Medal in Vancouver because she did break the Womens Figure Skating Olympic World Record in Vancouver, but had to settle for the Silver. Therefore Kim shouldn't be crying over the loss of a 2nd Gold Medal in which she should've never been Medaled Gold from the beginning.
The Russians took advantage of their Home Turf and got what they wanted - Gold Medals.
And I am sure Brasil & South Korea will play on some kind of sleazy Home Turf Advantage for when the corrupt IOC comes to their home towns bearing Gold Medals.
edwardw
If the nuclear power plants were running then not so much fossil fuels would had to have been burned. Wonder if Japan will have the infrastructure in 2020 to power households across the country at that time.
smithinjapan
And how much power did they save immediately after her short program performance in Sochi? Just curious, as everyone I talked to said they shut off their TVs.
David Foley
So Asada Mao performances are not environmentally friendly. Thats too bad.
Mark_McCracken
Doesn't TEPCO have more important things to think about?