Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto gives stellar performance; wins fourth World title

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto capped her storied career on Friday in Prague, Czechia, by claiming her fourth World Championship title. Teammate Mone Chiba won the silver medal, while Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone soared from fifth place to capture the bronze.

2026 Olympic champion Alysa Liu sat out the event after a whirlwind season to focus on other ongoing commitments. Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx also took a break due to a chronic ankle injury.

Kaori Sakamoto

Short Program

Sakamoto placed first in the short program with a new season’s best of 79.31 for her passionate routine to “Time to Say Goodbye.” The 2026 Olympic silver medalist landed a triple Lutz, double Axel and triple flip-triple toe while picking up a level four on two spins. All elements received high grades of execution (GOE) throughout.

“I managed to finish without major issues, so overall I think today’s performance was good,” she said. “Recently in practice I’ve been doing clean run-throughs a lot, and within the first 10 seconds, I felt like ‘Okay, today I’ll do it without any mistakes again.’ So, it didn’t feel like a final performance, more like a normal practice session, and I felt quite relaxed going into it.”

Free Skate

Sakamoto gave the free skate of her life, scoring a new personal best of 158.97 for first place for her nostalgic routine to music by Édith Piaf. She landed a total of seven clean triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and she earned oodles of high GOEs throughout. The three-time World champion placed first overall with another personal best total score of 238.28.

The 25-year-old had already decided she would compete at Worlds after her Olympic free skate.

“The first alternate was Rinka Watanabe, and from the beginning of the year I had told her to be ready,” said Sakamoto. “So, when I got back to Japan, I contacted her and said that this would be my last Worlds, and I really wanted to go. She immediately said ‘Yes,’ that she wanted to watch me compete.”

Then Sakamoto contacted her coach who told her to take a week off.

“I actually took ten days completely away from skating,” said Sakamoto. “During that time, I was able to reset both my mind and my body. After that, I had to restart training and get back into competition shape. Even that process was a lot of fun. In the last week of training, I was able to skate both my short program and free program clean, and that’s how I got this medal. This whole month after the Olympics was really a lot of fun for me.”

When asked what she would miss about competing, the skater said: “The most is the whole process. Training hard every season, creating new programs, performing them at competitions, getting results and feedback, and then training again. Thinking back, that was really the flower of my youth, and that’s what I will miss the most.”

“What I will miss the least is maybe having to restrict my diet in order to compete,” she said. “I’m definitely not going to miss that.”

Fans around the world are calling her “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time), the same term used for the likes of Yuzuru Hanyu.

“Of course, I’m grateful when people call me the GOAT, but I also feel a little embarrassed,” said Sakamoto. “I really just did my job. When I think about legends of this sport, I think of Midori Ito, Shizuka Arakawa, and Mao Asada. It’s very difficult for me to imagine myself on the same level as them.”

Mone Chiba

Short Program

Mone Chiba of Japan earned a new personal best for second place (78.45) with her fun and solid short program to “Last Dance.” The 20-year-old landed a triple flip-triple toe, double Axel and triple Lutz while displaying level-four spins and footwork throughout. All elements earned high GOEs, particularly the layback spin which earned nearly all +5 across the board.

“My combination was pretty successful since I came here to Prague, and I think I did it well here too,” said the 2025 World bronze medalist. “But the moment I would say was my highlight was at the end, where I do this kind of neck twirling. I think over the last two seasons performing this program, today I did it the best.”

Free Skate

Chiba placed second in the free skate with a personal best score of 150.02. The only error came during the second half when she stepped out of the last jump on a triple Lutz-double toe-double loop. The two-time Four Continents medalist otherwise landed a total of seven clean triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe. All spins and footwork were graded a level four in her sophisticated routine to Romeo and Juliet, and she earned many positive GOEs throughout. Her total score of 228.47 was more than enough to maintain second place overall.

“Coming into this event, I had many goals,” said Chiba. “One of them, secretly, was to score over 220 points, and I achieved that. So I’m so happy about that aspect. This was the last event of the season, and coming here, I had so many experiences. I’m very grateful to have had all of them.”

“At some events, I felt like maybe I can’t do this anymore,” she added. “At others, I achieved what I set out to do, but it all came down to this last event. I also think this is probably the season where I most frequently skated last in the group, so I’m sure that will make me much stronger. I will take that into next season.”

Nina Pinzarrone

Short Program

Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone picked up a new personal best of 71.82 for her expressive short program to “Send in the Clowns,” placing fifth. The two-time European bronze medalist produced a double Axel, triple Lutz-triple toe and triple loop while showcasing level-four spins and footwork throughout. She sat in a close fifth going into the free skate.

Pinzarrone admitted to being “stressed” and wanted to show her “very best.”

“I am very happy about this skate and the points,” said the 19-year-old. “This is a very good end to this season. I was tired after the Olympics, so actually the first days of training back were a bit worse than usual. But after three days, it was all good and the training was even better than before. Now the last two weeks of training were really, really good, which I think also contributed to today’s result.”

Free Skate

Pinzarrone delivered a flawless performance to music from The Handmaid’s Tale. She landed a total of landing seven solid jumps, including a triple Lutz-triple toe. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and she pocketed a new personal best score of 143.38. With a total score of 215.20, the two-time Grand Prix medalist rose two spots to capture the bronze.

“Honestly, I have no words about this bronze medal,” she said. “I can’t believe it! I had no expectations at all, so it will take a while for me to realize what I achieved. When I saw that I came first, I didn’t realize it at first. But when Mona was skating, I started tearing up a bit because it finally hit me that I’m a medalist. I just wanted to enjoy and do my best.”

The skater, who withdrew from the Grand Prix due to injuries and surgery, recalled how hard it was to come back.

“If you had told me a few months ago that I would be here right now, I wouldn’t have believed it,” she said. “It was so hard at times. I didn’t even know if I would be able to go to Europeans, the Olympics, and Worlds. Only in the last two months I could really train without pain, and those two months pushed me to where I am now.”

Isabeau Levito

Short Program

USA’s Isabeau Levito landed a triple Lutz-triple toe, double Axel and triple flip in her elegant short program to “Zou Bisou Bisou.” The only glitch was an edge call on the triple Lutz. The 2024 World silver medalist also lost a few levels on the footwork and two spins (level three). Nevertheless, it was a good skate, and she placed fourth with 72.16 points.

The 19-year-old shared that she and her coach had decided after Milan to change the combination jump, a triple flip-triple toe, to the Lutz-toe.

“She (Yulia Kuznetsova) showed me a list of different combinations and their point values, and we immediately both thought the same thing,” said Levito. “I think I got a bit bored this season. I wanted to do something more interesting and raise the stakes for myself mentally. I’m so much happier and more motivated in training because I have something really fun to work for.”

Looking back at the Olympics, I think one takeaway is that I played it a little bit too safe,” she added. “I underestimated myself a bit too much. When you expect less of yourself, you start performing that way.”

Free Skate

Levito underrotated the back end of a triple Lutz-triple loop at the beginning of her poignant free skate to “Se” from Cinema Paradiso. The five-time Grand Prix medalist followed up with five more clan triple jumps, but the back end of triple flip-double Axel was landed on the quarter. Two spins were graded a level four, and she finished seventh with 134.83 points. With a total score of 206.99, she maintained fourth place overall.

The skater said she was both surprised and disappointed.

“Given my consistency, it’s okay,” said Levito. “I’m fourth at Worlds, which is still a very good accomplishment. I don’t really feel tired. I still feel somewhat happy.”

“I didn’t really feel like this season was this long, in my opinion,” she added. “I had a lot of fun training hard for this competition because the last loop is a fun combo for me. I enjoyed training a lot. I feel like I was very confident going into today.”

Lara Naki Gutmann

Short Program

Lara Naki Gutmann landed a triple toe-triple toe, double Axel and triple Lutz in her short program to music from La legge di Lidia Poët. All spins were graded a level four, and the European bronze medalist placed seventh with 69.33 points.

The 23-year-old said she had been experiencing a bit of back pain during the Olympics.

“I did physio every day for the last month and I still have some pain but nothing serious,” said Gutmann. “I tried to stay with the rhythm of my training. For the first two weeks post Olympics, I skated a little less. I did two full weeks to prepare to come here for Worlds. I have to thank my physio and all my team, physical trainer and coaches and my choreographer Lori who is here today with me for the first time.”

Free Skate

Gutmann landed a total of six clean triple jumps in her clever “Jaws” routine, scoring a new personal best of 135.79 for fifth place. She stepped out of a triple Lutz and slightly underrotated the back end of a triple toe-double Axel. However, all spins and footwork were graded a level four. With a total score of 205.12, the 2024 Finlandia Trophy bronze medalist climbed up to fifth place overall.

“I’m feeling really good,” said Gutmann. “Tired, but really, really good. I’m glad I could skate my ‘Jaws’ program today like this. I also have to say I’m proud of myself, how I handled the whole season. It’s been such a long season. I had to fight for the Olympic spot, and then I had to fight to be here and still be somehow in shape.”

She will begin working with Lori Nichol next week for next season.

“I will do one program with Lori and one with Stéphane (Lambiel) again,” confirmed Gutmann.

Amber Glenn

Short Program

USA’s Amber Glenn had a tight landing on her opening triple Axel before slightly underrotating the back end of a triple flip-triple toe in her uplifting routine to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” The triple loop was solid, however, and she picked up a level four for two spins and the footwork, placing third in the short program with 72.65 points.

The 26-year-old said she felt “pretty sick” for a while after the Olympics.

“I didn’t know what it was,” she said. “I was on a bunch of antibiotics. And you know, as an athlete, we have to be very careful with what we consume. Honestly, I’m just proud of myself for getting in and training and still being motivated to be here.”

However, the three-time national champion said she remained focused as best she could during the short program.

“There was the Axel, which was very forward,” Glenn pointed out. “I was kind of, ‘Whoa, whoa, I’m not losing my balance. No, I’m not losing my balance.’ Then the flip-toe came, and I was like, ‘Okay, reset. I’m going to do this thing.’ It was literally in my head all the time: ‘You’re going to do it.’ And I got it done. I’m very happy with that.”

Free Skate

Glenn had a good start in her free skate, opening with a solid triple Axel. She followed up with a triple flip-triple toe and triple Lutz-double toe. After putting a foot down on a triple Salchow, she popped the next loop and then singled an Axel on the back half of a triple flip. She also put a foot down on the final jump—a triple loop. The mistakes were costly, and she found herself in ninth place (130.47). With a total score of 203.12, the  2024–25 Grand Prix Final champion slipped to sixth place overall.

“It sucks,” said Glenn. “What else can I say? I lost focus. Thanks for all the support and love to all my fans. Thanks to the whole audience for your support. That was very sweet.”

Niina Petrokina

Short Program

Niina Petrokina of Estonia placed 11th (67.29) in the short program after struggling with a triple Lutz-triple toe. However, the triple flip was clean, and she earned a level four on all three spins in her routine to “Criminal Tango.”

“I am tired because it was a really long, hard season, and the last competition is always really tough,” said the 21-year-old. “Like, whenever we meet with other skaters here, everyone basically says that. It was not my best skate, but it’s still great. The crowd is always amazing! Big audience. And I know that there are so many people here supporting me. All of my friends and family who came here…that feels really warm inside. I was really nervous.”

Free Skate

Petrokina stepped out of a triple Lutz and underrotated a triple flip in the first half of her short program. However, the two-time and current European champion landed four clean triple jumps, including a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence. Two spins were awarded a level four, and she earned 134.98 for her routine to music from Dune. With a total score of 202.27, she rose to four spots to seventh place overall.

“I feel amazing right now,” said Petrokina. “I’m done. I was really nervous because it was hard to compete in the last competition of the season. But I pushed everything that I had inside of me and now I’m free. I don’t really remember what exactly I did after I finished my last pose. I think I did something that really means, ‘Yes, I’m free!'”

Rounding out the top 10

Jia Shin of the Republic of Korea, who was 13th in the short program, placed fourth (136.65) in the free skate and eighth overall (201.89).

“This was my first senior championship,” said the 18-year-old, “so I learned many things. It was a great experience. I learned how to relax, to be less nervous, to focus more, and to have more mental control. Throughout the season, I saw a lot of senior skaters and how they control their minds, and that’s what I learned from.”

Coming off a bronze-medal win at the 2026 Olympics, Japan’s Ami Nakai finished ninth (200.00) overall.

“It was a really long season,” said the 17-year-old. “Mentally it was really tough as well, but now that it’s over. I really feel like I’ve worked hard through it.”

The 2026 Four Continents silver medalist said two things stood out for her this season. Winning the Grand Prix in France and winning the Olympic medal.

“Those experiences and that feeling of happiness will remain important going forward,” Nakai said. “So, I want to properly accept those, as well as the competitions that didn’t go well. I hope to carry all this going into next season.”

Anastasiia Gubanova rounded out the field with a total score of 198.81.

I’m so happy the season is over,” said the 23-year-old. “It was so hard and so emotional, but despite the small mistakes today am happy. Even though I was tired I was able to concentrate and today my goal was just to skate, to feel the program that I am skating the last time, I wanted to enjoy it, and it worked.”

Gubanova also announced she plans on sticking around for another season.

“I will probably have a less full season,” she said. “I will not go to all the competitions. My choreographer, of course, will be Adam Solya again.”

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