[ICE TIME] Japan's Best Skaters Get Start on New Season at Annual Training Camp

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The 2024-25 skating season officially kicked off with the annual training camp for Japan's elite skaters and invited juniors on July 5-7 at the Kansai Airport Ice Arena in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. A total of 14 athletes (eight women, six men) took part.

Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto said she is not looking to rest on her laurels, but will instead seek to up her game even more.

"This season is an important pre-Olympic season, so I want to be able to carry it over to the Olympic season," Sakamoto told media at the camp. "Last season's results were good, but looking at the content, there were a few negative aspects, so this year I would like to perform a clean performance and achieve better results than last year."

The 24-year-old Sakamoto, who was the bronze medalist at the 2022 Beijing Games, will be looking to add to her impressive resume as she attempts to become the first woman in 66 years to win four consecutive world titles. American Carol Heiss (1956-59) was the last female to accomplish the feat.

Heiss then won the gold medal at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics, before extending her streak to five straight world crowns the month after the Winter Games.

Instructors Browning, Czisny Provide Helpful Pointers for Sakamoto

The guest instructors at this year's camp were four-time world champion Kurt Browning and his wife, two-time US titlist Alissa Czisny. Sakamoto said her interpretative skills improved working with Browning and Czisny.

"During on-ice practice, I learned the finer points of the program," Sakamoto stated. "In the short program, I was taught how to look at things and use my face during steps, so I want to be able to do that throughout the season."

Sakamoto's short program this season is "Concierto del Angel." She will compete at Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy during the Grand Prix campaign.

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Kagiyama Enjoys Team Atmosphere of Camp

Yuma Kagiyama, the Olympic silver medalist in Beijing, cited the benefits of having Japan's entire squad all together in one place.

"It's not often that we get to practice together as a team of elite athletes," the 21-year-old Kagiyama noted. "We have a mix of men and women, and it's really stimulating. There are athletes with all kinds of personalities, such as athletes who are good at jumping, spinning and expressing themselves, so I think there are many areas where we can grow over these three days by getting a lot of stimulation."

Kagiyama said both his short program and free skate for this season were choreographed by Lori Nichol.

"The short program is titled 'The Sound of Silence' and the free program is named after a flamenco album, and it was really cool," Kagiyama commented. "As the title suggests, the short program started with a quiet melody, and I started with quiet edge work to match it. The vocals came in from the steps, and there were smooth movements. There was some choreography that had a bit of a sense of maturity, so I would like to work hard to express that."

Added Kagiyama, "The free program is my first time doing flamenco. Flamenco is not just about the face, but also about the hands, and there are many different hand shapes and it is difficult to vary the speed."

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Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.