Italy's Kostner leads Olympic champ Zagitova at worlds

ASSAGO, Italy (AP) — Italy's home favorite Carolina Kostner skated a perfectly executed and evocative program to take a surprise lead over Olympic champion Alina Zagitova of Russia in the short program Wednesday at the world figure skating championships.

A former world champion coming off a fifth-place finish at the Pyeongchang Olympics just a month ago, the 31-year-old Kostner's performance demonstrated both technical prowess and maturity in balletic moves that held the crowd. She was rewarded bonus points for her jumps, pushing her technical score uncharacteristically above her presentation marks for a personal best of 80.27. She skated fittingly to Jacques Brel's "Ne me quitte pas," or "Don't leave me.