Kaori Sakamoto breathes sigh of relief after world championships
Following last year's ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, Kaori Sakamoto seemed invincible. This season, which culminated with the worlds in Boston last week, proved otherwise.
Sakamoto, whose gold in Montreal marked her third straight world title, already appeared to be vulnerable before her arrival in Boston, losing three out of her five previous international competitions coming into the event. There was also considerable expectation on her shoulders that she would capture her fourth title in a row, something last achieved in 1960 by American Carol Heiss.
In the short program, it looked like the pressure was proving to be too much for the five-time Japanese champion. In the second half of her routine, she popped a planned triple flip into a double. The experienced Sakamoto had the presence of mind to add a triple toe loop onto the end of the combination and although she was slightly off the leading pace, she was still within striking distance for a medal. Whether she could climb back to the top of the podium, however, was out of her hands going into the free skate, as a comeback would require mistakes from those ahead of her.
Sakamoto didn't go down quietly. She produced her best free skate of the season, performing to "All That Jazz" from the musical 'Chicago,' and received a standing ovation. It wasn't quite enough, however, to put her on top, and she had to settle for second place behind an unheralded rival.
After taking a bronze medal at the 2022 world championships, which took place after the Beijing Olympics earlier in the year, American Alysa Liu hung up her skates at age 16, feeling she had achieved all she could in skating.
There was nothing to suggest Liu would be a contender in Boston after only announcing her return to skating in March last year. She was no longer attempting the triple axel and quadruple jumps that she had done in her junior years, and at last month's Four Continents Championships, she finished fourth and was not even the leading American.
However, while her more favored teammate Amber Glenn and Sakamoto faltered in the short program, Liu skated cleanly and repeated that feat in the free, performing to none other than Bostonian disco legend Donna Summer's 'MacArthur Park,' on her way to becoming the first American woman since Kimmie Meissner in 2006 to take gold at worlds.
After the event, Sakamoto reflected on the emotional challenge of defending her title.
'Before the performance, I was just so nervous,' she said. 'I felt like I was about to cry even on the bus to the venue. I was so nervous that my coach asked me, 'Why do you look like you're about to cry?' I felt like I was about to cry at any moment.
"It's a cruel world. Even if you win, you can't be happy."
Kaori Sakamoto earned a silver medal at the world championships, finishing behind American Alysa Liu. |
Imagn Images / VIA REUTERS
Heading into an Olympic year, her defeat could be something of a blessing in disguise.
Sakamoto will no longer carry the weight of being the overwhelming favorite for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games. While disappointed by the loss, she also felt relief that her streak was over, and that she could start fresh, unburdened by such lofty expectations.
"Until now, all the talk was about consecutive victories and winning the championship, but it is great to be back to zero and in a position to chase,' she said. 'It was good to experience that at this world championship. I'm a little bit relieved. The pressure was so big."
Overall, the Japanese women had an excellent worlds, with Mone Chiba finishing behind Sakamoto in third place, and their combined ranking easily qualifying Japan for three quota places at next year's Olympics. Teammate Wakaba Higuchi placed sixth.
Looking at the results of these worlds alone, the battle for medals in Milan would seem to be between the Japanese and American women.
However, in December the International Skating Union, figure skating's governing body, announced that Independent Neutral Athletes (AINs) from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to participate in the final Olympic qualifier, to be held in Beijing in September. Those respective national federations will be allowed to nominate one entry in each category for the event.
While Russian skaters have not been able to compete internationally due to a ban following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, there is still a wealth of talent in the country. The nominated athlete in the women's event is likely to be 17-year-old Adeliia Petrosian, a two-time Russian champion who possesses an arsenal of quadruple jumps that will be hard for any other female skater to match.
Japan's only gold of this year's worlds came courtesy of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who regained the pairs title they lost last year in Montreal.
The silver medalists in the Olympic team event in 2022 had a cushion of just under three points over reigning European champions Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin after the short program. Miura and Kihara made a number of minor errors in their free skate, but the Japanese did just enough to hold off the Germans by less than a point overall. Like Sakamoto and the other Japanese women, they will also face a strong AIN pair from Russia at the Olympics.
'Despite the mistakes, we were able to get a new season's best, which shows that there is still room for more growth moving forward,' Miura said. 'We've been through a lot of injuries and hardships over the past two years, so although we had several minor mistakes today, I'm glad the two of us were able to clinch this title together.'
The final evening of this year's worlds came with a measure of disappointment for Japanese hopes, with Yuma Kagiyama slumping to bronze, well off the mark set by American star Ilia Malinin. A personal best in the short program had put him in second place, three points behind the 'Quad God' going into the free skate.
Unfortunately, Kagiyama's free skate was riddled with errors. Despite only placing 10th in the free, he had enough in hand from the short program to stay on the podium.
For the upcoming Olympic season, Kagiyama knows he will need to step up his technical content if he is to contend with the likes of Malinin and Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov, who was second in Boston.
"This season, my short program has improved a lot, but I couldn't put together my free program,' Kagiyama said. 'My practices before the world championships went well, and I was confident in my six-minute warmup and official practices, so I need to think about why I couldn't do it in the actual competition.
"I tried not to feel anxious. I felt uncomfortable with the quadruple flip. After I missed the quadruple salchow, I thought I can't fail again, and my mind went blank.
"Shaidrov can do unique combinations and the quadruple lutz. I want to incorporate the quadruple lutz into my performance."
As with all the skaters at worlds, securing spots for next year's Olympics was at the front of his mind.
"I wasn't thinking about my medal at all,' he said. 'Of course, the result was important, but all I was thinking about was whether we got three spots."
Shun Sato finished sixth, which meant the combined ranking of the top two Japanese skaters was enough to guarantee three quota spots in the men's event in Milan. Tatsuya Tsuboi finished 21st.
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