At the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, which began in Shanghai, China, on the 1st, the short program of the first half of the men's single was held, and Beijing Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama took the lead with a stable performance that broke his season's best. I did.
On the first day of the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, the women's single was followed by the men's short first half program.
Three people from Japan participated, including 20-year-old Kagiyama, a silver medalist at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and winner of this season's Grand Prix Series NHK Trophy.
Kagiyama landed the opening quadruple salchow with height and sharpness, earning him a high performance score, and the subsequent quadruple and triple jumps were also brilliant.
He landed his third triple axel without any danger, and showed a sense of stability that overwhelmed the others. Immediately after finishing his performance, he showed a fist pump to express his response.
Kagiyama broke his season best and was the only one in the 100-point range, taking the lead with a score of 106.82, and will head into the free skate on the 3rd aiming for his first victory at the tournament.
Other Japanese athletes include 19-year-old Shun Sato, who placed third in this tournament last year, and improved his personal best by 7.59 to 99.20 with a relaxed performance that included brilliantly landing a highly difficult quadruple Lutz. 2nd place.
Also, 24-year-old Sota Yamamoto, who won his first Grand Prix Series in Canada this season and is competing in the Four Continents Championship for the first time, also improved his season best and placed 4th with a score of 94.44.
Yuma Kagiyama ``I performed until the end with the desire to win''
Yuma Kagiyama, who was the only skater to come out on top with a high score in the 100-point range and captivated the audience, said, ``I performed with confidence until the very end with the desire to win and skate without mistakes. I was able to get into the song and make the jumps flow as part of the song.I think my test will start from here, so I made sure to adjust properly and do my best to make a satisfying fist pump even in the free skate. "I want to do that," he said, enthusiastic about winning the tournament for the first time.