Kaori Sakamoto takes the lead as she chases a fourth and last figure skating world title
Kaori Sakamoto takes the lead as she chases a fourth and last figure skating world title
Wed, March 25, 2026 at 3:30 PM UTC
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1 / 0Czech Republic World Championships Figure SkatingKaori Sakamoto from Japan skates during the women¥s short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) ()
PRAGUE (AP) — It's time to say goodbye for Kaori Sakamoto, and she's aiming to go out on a high with the world figure skating title.
Sakamoto's short-program music, “Time to Say Goodbye,” was charged with emotion as she targets a fourth world title before retirement.
Sakamoto shouted with joy and clapped as she learned her score of 79.31, a season-best which put her into first place by less than a point from her fellow Japanese skater Mone Chiba on a personal-best 78.45 in her disco-themed program.
There's a strong U.S. challenge for the medals with Amber Glenn third and Isabeau Levito fourth.
Without Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, who withdrew from the world championships amid a hectic media schedule, the focus was on whether Sakamoto could regain the title she won three times in a row from 2022 through 2024, and whether three-time U.S. champion Glenn could claim a first world medal.
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Glenn came to the world championships with an Olympic team gold but missed the individual medals after a short-program error. She was back on form Wednesday, starting with a big triple axel on her way to scoring 72.65. Levito was just behind her with 72.16 for fourth in her return to form after 12th at the Olympics.
Ami Nakai's triple axel propelled her into the Olympic short-program lead — she ended up with bronze — but went missing Wednesday. The 17-year-old Japanese skater could only manage an awkward double as her opening jump and has a tough task to recover from eighth.
The championships continue with the pairs short program later Wednesday.
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