Sakamoto landed six clean triple jumps in her skate to “No More Fight Left in Me” and earned level fours on her spins and step sequence.
The 2018 Olympian skated to “Now We Are Free” and showed her veteran poise as she calmly and smoothly moved through her program.
The top-tier skaters are well known, but exciting quests are right behind as young athletes aim to earn their own spots on the national team.
Uno delivers a bold reminder that he remains one of the world’s premier skating stars.
Both champions won by wide margins over the second-place finishers.
American Vincent Zhou and Japanese teenager Mana Kawabe are both in second place heading into the free skate.
“Everything is improving now and technically spiritual,” Uno said. “The most important thing I have practiced is the quadruple salchow.”
Kagiyama was nothing short of spectacular in his Grand Prix of Italy free skate to music from “Gladiator” en route to victory.
Their pairs figure skating medal was Japan’s first on the GP circuit since Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran claimed the silver at the NHK Trophy in...
Hatakawa, who began skating at age 6, has used her admiration for Japanese stars Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno as inspiration over the years.
