Japanese media had high praise for Kim Yu-na’s Olympic victory on Friday, while also being disappointed with the silver medal for their hometown favorite, Mao Asada.
NHK said Kim Yu-na dominated, shattering her own world record by more than 15 points in the free program, following her other record-breaking short program performance on Wednesday.
The Mainichi Shimbun called Kim a "genius," but also expressed disappointment that Asada had taken second place, despite being the first woman in Olympic history to land two triple axels in her long program.
The Asahi Shimbun quoted Kim’s former coach as saying that Kim had practiced extremely hard, often repeating each jump 65 times.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Japanese media immediately following the long program, Asada blamed herself for falling short in her performance.