ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023: Reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori halfway to repeat title
The 2022 winner was at her free-wheeling best, building a six-point lead over the field, with Korean Lee Hae-in in second place on Wednesday (22 March) night in Saitama, Japan.
Figure Skating
Sakamoto Kaori took one final deep breath before she began her short program on Wednesday (22 March) night in front of her home fans in Saitama, Japan.
And then she delivered her best skate of the season.
The reigning world champion is halfway to a repeat title at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the 22-year-old with a six-point cushion over Lee Hae-in of the Republic of Korea.
Sakamoto was just off a career-best at 79.24, while Lee had the best skate of her career with a 73.62.
"I haven’t been confident with my short program all season, so there was some concern coming in, but I thought I was thorough today," she said in Japanese. "I had fun out there. Performance-wise though, I feel like it was the best of the season.
"I was more nervous today than I’ve been all season."
Sakamoto's teammate Mihara Mia is third with a 73.46, just 0.16 points behind Lee. Isabeau Levito of the U.S. also notched a 73, her 73.03 putting her in fourth.
2022 world silver medallist Loena Hendrickx of Belgium fell on the back end of her triple-triple combination. She's fifth with a 71.94.
Niina Petrokina (68.00), Nicole Schott (67.29) and Bradie Tennell (66.45) round out the top eight.
Sakamoto is attempting to become the first woman to win back-to-back world titles since Evgenia Medvedeva captured the crown in 2016 and 2017.
Earlier, in the pairs event, home hopes Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi skated into the lead with their best-ever short program score, 80.72. They're six points ahead of rivals and reigning world champions, Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, who registered a 74.64.
Women: Sakamoto rocks Janet Jackson program
Sakamoto said the energy from the Japanese fans nearly had her too hyped up during the six-minute warm-up, but she managed to calm herself ahead of her Janet Jackson medley program.
She opened with a silky double Axel, then added a triple Lutz before tacking on a triple flip-triple toe-loop combination in the second half of the program. Sakamoto received Level 4s (the highest level) on each of her spins in the program, as well as her step sequence.
The crowd roared again as she finished, giving their home charge a standing ovation.
"The first half of the season my short program was not stable, so there was some concerns coming in," Sakamoto explained later.
Lee, too, has grown in confidence in the second half of the season, placing third at a competitive Korean nationals before winning the biggest title of her career last month at the Four Continents Championships.
"Winning helped me a lot building my confidence," Lee said of Four Continents. "I was really happy doing that. [But] on the other hand, I felt pressure. But I [changed] that thought that pressure is the evidence of me becoming a better skater. At the start of the season my condition was not at its best state. I really wanted to come to Worlds, so I tried hard to retrieve my better condition... so I'm really happy."
She added: "I was delighted to get the best short programme score of my life."
The happiness was evident for Mihara, too, who was forced out of the entire 2019-20 season due to an unspecified illness. She's been at her shining best this season, however, capturing three Grand Prix gold medals in the first half of the season before her performance Wednesday night.
"I was so nervous it surprised me, my legs were shaking going into the warm-up," she said. "I wasn’t sure if I could get through the program but the crowd helped me find a way. They really gave me a lift. I almost had tears in my eyes. The tension turned into a good energy."
It was not to be for the third Japanese skater, Watanabe Rinka, who was the lone woman to attempt a triple Axel on the evening. She fell on that jump, and then singled her triple Lutz attempt. She sits in 15th.