It's been said that life all comes down to a few moments.
For Miki Ando and Mao Asada, who have spent much of their young lives as elite skaters striving for the sport's holy grail — the Olympic gold medal — the time for one of those is nearly at hand.
The years invested by Japan's best hopes for gold at the Vancouver Games will all come down to seven precious minutes on the ice at the Pacific Coliseum. A nation will watch intently as they try to retain the title won by Shizuka Arakawa at the 2006 Turin Games.