NHK Trophy 2024: Kagiyama Yuma explodes into men's short program lead
The Beijing 2022 silver medallist throws down a 105.70 to spearhead a Japanese 1-2-3 in the men's singles with Miura Kao and Tsuboi Tatsuya following.
Figure Skating
Kagiyama Yuma launched his penultimate Grand Prix campaign before the next Winter Olympics with a bang on Friday (8 November), storming to the NHK Trophy men’s short program lead with a 105.70 in Tokyo.
Kagiyama produced an electrifying performance at the Yoyogi National Stadium to lead a Japanese one-two-three with Miura Kao in second after producing a personal best of 102.96. Tatsuya Tsuboi was a distant third on 85.02.
Kagiyama fell short of rewriting his PB of 108.12, which he set at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games where he won a pair of silver medals - one in singles and another in the team event.
Still, Kagiyama was more than happy with his error-free skate on this night, just the second competition of the 2024-25 season for him.
“I thought my performance was very good,” he said. “From start to finish I skated the way I’ve been skating in practise. I was completely self-aware throughout the performance which I thought was good.
“I didn’t really have a score in mind but it would have been nice to hit 108 as I did at the Olympics. Not easy though.
“The GOE [grade of execution] on the Salchow wasn’t a four but a three and my spin wasn’t as high as I wanted it to be. If I focus on the finer points tomorrow I think I can close in on a new PB.”
Kagiyama said he has not felt this good since Beijing, which is promising looking ahead to Milano Cortina 2026.
“The way I’ve felt since I got here, it reminds me of how I felt at the Olympics,” the 21-year-old said. “At the Games, I felt great from beginning to end and it makes me feel super happy knowing that I’m in better shape than I was then.”
Pairs: Miura/Kihara in pole position
Miura Riku/Kihara Ryuichi weren’t perfect but were good enough to top the pairs short program with 71.90 in their first home skate in 19 months.
The former world champions, who had not performed on Japanese soil since the 2023 World Team Trophy after missing most of last season with Kihara’s lower back injury, were only slightly better than Georgians Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (70.28).
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea of the US rounded out the top three (69.15).
Miura/Kihara can pick up their second win of the Grand Prix season on Saturday, when they would qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final which the two won in 2022-23.
“The short program is now over and all we’re thinking about is improving on our free skate score from Skate America,” Kihara said.
“We’re not that bothered about the score in the end. It’s our first competition in Japan in a while so this one is for them.”
Japanese pair skaters Miura Riku/Kihara Ryuichi
Ice dance: Chock/Bates cruise
Madison Chock and Evan Bates put one hand on the NHK Trophy after comfortably leading the rhythm dance with a 86.32.
The American husband-and-wife couple, who won silver at their home Grand Prix event Skate America, were ahead of their compatriots Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko (79.62). Chock/Bates can book a spot in the Grand Prix Final next month should they maintain their position.
European bronze medallists Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius sat in third on 77.91 with another duo from the US, Caroline Green/Michael Parsons, in striking distance of the podium with 74.38.