AP Photo/Hiro Komae
Japan's Kaori Sakamoto remains the gold standard in women's free skating at the World Figure Skating Championships.
The 22-year-old won her second successive gold medal in this event at the World Championships on Friday with a total score of 224.61. She entered the day as a heavy favorite to win after opening up a big lead in the short program on Tuesday.
AbsoluteSkating @absoluteskating<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a> Women FS and final results.<br>🥇Kaori Sakamoto 🇯🇵 145.37, 224.61<br>🥈Haein Lee 🇰🇷 147.32, 220.94<br>🥉Loena Hendrickx 🇧🇪 138.48, 220.42<br><br>Protocols: <a href="https://t.co/SoSJpzf0xC">https://t.co/SoSJpzf0xC</a> <a href="https://t.co/92mc4Dc3wA">pic.twitter.com/92mc4Dc3wA</a>
Sakamoto's season-best score of 79.24 in the short program was 5.63 points ahead of Korea's Lee Hae-in in second place. The difference between those two was almost identical to the difference between Lee and Estonia's Niina Petrõkina in sixth place (5.62 points).
ISU Figure Skating @ISU_Figure📺 The 👑 is back! ⛸🔥 With her outstanding performance Kaori SAKAMOTO (JPN) earns a new SB and takes the lead after the Short Program at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FigureSkating?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FigureSkating</a> <a href="https://t.co/x7dn3S65bg">pic.twitter.com/x7dn3S65bg</a>
Making that performance even more impressive is the fact that Sakamoto admitted afterward that she wasn't fully confident in her short program coming into the event.
"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," Sakamoto said in Japanese (h/t Nick McCarvel of Olympics.com). "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."
Hae-in did put pressure on Sakamoto with her free-skate routine that was nearly flawless. The 17-year-old earned a score of 147.32, best in the field, for a total of 220.94 and comfortably in the lead before Sakamoto took the ice.
Sakamoto did leave the door open with some flaws in the execution. She didn't quite get her takeoff right and was only able to manage a single flip triple toe loop. Her routine was choreographed for a triple flip, but she salvaged it enough to avoid a significant loss in points.
The judges didn't take away too much from Sakamoto's routine. Her score of 145.37 in the free skate was still the second-best in the field.
Sakamoto is the first woman to win back-to-back gold medals at the World Championships since Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva in 2016 and 2017. This is also the first time Japan has won two straight golds at this event since 2010 (Mao Asada) and 2011 (Miki Ando).
Jackie Wong @rockerskatingSince 1991, when figures were no longer part of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a>, there have been 4 back-to-back champions in the women's event:<br>+ Kristi Yamaguchi 1991, 1992<br>+ Michelle Kwan 2000, 2001<br>+ Evgenia Medvedeva 2016, 2017<br>+ Kaori Sakamoto 2022, 2023 <a href="https://t.co/nTwwluk62x">https://t.co/nTwwluk62x</a>
Hae-in is the first Korean woman to medal at the World Championships since Yuna Kim won gold in 2013.
Loena Hendrickx of Belgium won her second successive medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. She took bronze this year after winning silver in 2022. The 23-year-old came in fourth in the free skate with a score of 138.48 after a strong 71.94 score in the short program.
Korea's Kim Chae-yeon made the biggest jump in the free skate with a score of 139.45. She entered the day in 13th place after the short program, but moved all the way up to finish fourth overall after Friday's result.