MONTREAL — Kaori Sakamoto of Japan is the first women’s figure skater to three-peat as world champion since American Peggy Fleming from 1966 to 1968.
Sakamoto captured gold again Friday at the Bell Centre, climbing from fourth place after Wednesday’s short program to the top of the podium with a near-flawless performance in the free program.
The 6,000 fans on hand to witness history roared with every sequence and serenaded Sakamoto with a standing ovation.
“After my triple-triple combination, the roar of the crowd was really, really loud, and I thought to myself 'if I ride this excitement, I will be spinning my wheels and I will not be able to finish it properly,” Sakamoto said through an interpreter.
“I tried to keep myself calm until the end, and that's probably why towards the end, I looked very serious. But then at the end, after my spin, I could let it all out and say, ‘Yes, I did it.’”
Despite starting from behind, the 23-year-old finished with 222.96 points to lead the pack by more than 10 points.
Isabeau Levito of the United States — a 2022 world junior champion — claimed silver (212.16) for her first medal at a senior worlds.
The 17-year-old held her mouth open in disbelief after a stellar free program of her own. Levito has encountered an up-and-down season, including a third-place finish at U.S. nationals despite leading after the short program.
“I'm so happy to be here,” she said. “I feel like I had a very rough season and I was so disappointed in myself for a lot of the season. I was so confused with how I was skating.
“I'm really proud of myself and my team of coaches with all the consistent training and hard training we've been doing and to deserve a medal like this at the world championships is everything to me right now.”
Fellow 17-year-old Chaeyeon Kim of South Korea earned her first worlds medal with a bronze (203.59).
Belgium's Loena Hendrickx placed first in the short program Wednesday, but slipped to fourth after missing her rotation on a double lutz, triple-toe loop combination and subsequently falling on a triple flip.
The two-time world medallist (bronze in 2023, silver in 2022) finished 3.34 points off the podium.
Hendrickx said she didn’t feel prepared due to a hip injury that’s been nagging her since the European Championships in January.
"I'm still very proud of myself," she said. "The flight over here I was still unsure if I could compete, so that's why I'm not that disappointed. Normally, I would cry but three weeks ago it was mentally very hard, my body was tired, I couldn't do anything."
Canada’s Madeline Schizas ranked 18th (171.78), her worst finish at the competition. Schizas needed a top-10 finish to earn Canada a second women’s spot at next year’s worlds.
"I'm very disappointed with my program," Schizas said. "It was not good, it was not what I practised and it wasn't what I wanted to show today. I think I'm just gonna have to go home and reflect on it a little bit and figure out what happened.”
The 21-year-old from Oakville, Ont., has family roots in Montreal and says her entire family came out to watch her this week.
“It was exciting skating in front of a Canadian audience, but perhaps a little overwhelming,” she said. “I was overwhelmed with the support even though it didn't go the way I wanted it to today, and for that I'm very grateful.”
Earlier Friday, defending ice dance champions and 2022 Olympic gold medallists Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States finished first with a season-best 90.08 in the rhythm dance. Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri were second (87.52) ahead of Toronto’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont.
Gilles and Poirier won their second world championship bronze last year.
Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., posted a season-best 83.20 while skating to Michael Jackson's “Thriller” to rank fifth.
Competition ends Saturday with the free dance and the men’s free program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
