The first round of the Grand Prix series of figure skating, the US tournament, was held on the 23rd in the second half of the women's single free, and Kaori Sakamoto won her third victory in the Grand Prix series with a performance without any major mistakes.

The American tournament, which will be the first Grand Prix series, was held on the 23rd in the second half of the women's single free.



Sakamoto, who was leading in the first half, landed the double axel at the beginning and got on the flow.

In addition, even in spins where it was difficult to acquire levels due to changes in the rules, she got the highest rating of Level 4 in all three spins and skated the free program in pursuit of “femininity” with a soft expression.



Sakamoto won the free skate with 145.89 without any major mistakes, totaling 217.61, and won his third Grand Prix series victory.



Rino Matsu, who finished 8th in the first half, withdrew from the free skate.



In addition, in the free dance in the second half of the ice dance, a couple, Kanaka Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi, who ranked 5th in the first half, participated.



In the free dance, the two played "The Phantom of the Opera", which Takahashi handled during his single days, and both earned the highest rating, Level Four, for the combination of the two lifts at the beginning.



In addition, Muramoto won Level 4 and expressed the world view of the story with splendid steps and expressiveness in Twizuru, where two people repeat turns on one foot with matching timing.



The free dance scored 100.01 for a total of 169.68 for sixth place.

Sakamoto: “Consecutive jumps, I just wanted to score”

Kaori Sakamoto, who won the women's singles, reflected, "I'm very happy to win the gold medal for the first time at Skate America. I wanted to finish the consecutive jumps that I made a mistake in the short program, so I'm glad I managed to do it."



On top of that, he talked about the importance of practice as a factor behind good results. I think it will become. I really feel that I will not be able to do more than practice in the game after becoming a senior."



In addition, when asked by the overseas media why he continued to compete even after the Beijing Olympics ended, he said, "I've just reached a break after the Olympics, but I had decided to continue even before the Olympics started. I still wanted to continue skating, so I didn't have the option of quitting or resting, so I just wanted to keep competing."