Olympic bronze medallist Sakamoto leads after short program at figure skating worlds | CBC Sports
Olympic bronze medallist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan took a comfortable lead over Loena Hendrickx of Belgium and American figure skater Mariah Bell on Wednesday after the short program at the world championships.
Sakamoto’s program, set to music from the film “Gladiator,” featured a triple flip-triple toe loop and earned huge component marks for a score of 80.32 points. That was more than five points clear of Hendrickx, who was seventh at the Beijing Games last month, and nearly eight points ahead of Bell, who finished 11th at the Olympics.
WATCH | Sakamoto on top after short program:
Olympic bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto scored a personal best 80.32 points to lead the women’s short program at the ISU world figure skating championships in Montpellier, France. 6:42
Sakamoto broke up a Russian sweep of the podium in Beijing with her bronze medal. But none of her rivals — gold medallist Anna Shcherbakova, silver medallist Alexandra Trusova and fourth-place finisher Kamila Valieva — is allowed at worlds, with Russian athletes barred from international competition following the invasion of Ukraine.
You Young of South Korea was fourth after her short program. U.S. skater Alysa Liu was in fifth place.
Canada’s Madeline Schizas, who placed 19th at the Olympics, sits 10th with a score of 64.20. The 19-year-old finished 13th at her world championships debut last year.
The Oakville, Ont., native qualified for Friday’s free skate with her performance.
WATCH | Canada’s Schizas sits 10th:
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., sits in tenth place following the women’s short program at the ISU world figure skating championships in Montpellier, France. 6:13
The world championships continue later Wednesday with the pairs short program, which is missing the top five finishers at the Beijing Games. That’s because along with the silver- and bronze-winning Russian teams, gold medallists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong and Chinese teammates Peng Cheng and Jin Yang are also absent from worlds.
That leaves the American team of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, who were sixth in Beijing, as the favourites to win the world championship. The first medal at worlds will be awarded following the pairs free skate Thursday.
All action from the world championships in France is available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
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