Beijing, China, February 17, 2022: Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto took advantage of an off-night for red-hot favourite Kamila Valieva to earn a stunning bronze medal in the women’s figure skating at Capital Indoor Stadium on Thursday night.
Sakamoto was in third place, behind the Russian Olympic Committee pair of Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, with only the 15-year-old Valieva left to skate.
It looked certain to be a ROC sweep of the medals, but Valieva – under a cloud due to her alleged positive doping test and only cleared to skate after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling – stumbled at regular intervals, drawing gasps of anguish and disbelief from the spectators.
When her routine had finished, she knew she had blown it and was visibly angry and frustrated with herself.
The judges’ score confirmed this when they marked her with a low 141.93 – only the fifth highest mark of the free skate. Although she had led the short programme with 82.16 two days earlier, her total of 224.09 dropped her into fourth place.
This paved the way for Sakamoto, who had finished sixth at PyeongChang four years earlier, in the bronze medal position – and a fitting but unexpected reward for her efforts.
Performing to “No More Fight Left in Me”, the 21-year-old Japanese displayed the opposite – and held her nerve to keep herself in the medal chase.
Trusova, 17, was fourth after the short programme with 74.60 but scored a whopping 177.13 to move on to 251.73 and sweep into a huge lead.
Next up was Sakamoto, who moved into second place behind Trusova. The penultimate skater, 17-year-old world champion Shchernakova, was also outstanding and took over the lead, dropping the Japanese into third place.
The stage was set for Valieva, who had led the ROC to gold in the team event on February 7 before news of her positive test at the Russian Championships on December 25 had come to light. With all the controversy in recent days, she looked lacking in confidence and was not her usual graceful, elegant self, stumbling and falling to the ice on jumps that were, for her, routine.
When the scores were announced, Valieva was fourth – and Sakamoto had the bronze medal on a dramatic night of skating.
Shcherbakova (ROC) won gold with a total of 255.95 (80.20/175.75), Trusova (ROC) won the silver medal with 251.73 (74.60/177.13) and Sakamoto took a hard-earned bronze with a total of 233.13 (79.84/153.29).
Valieva finished in fourth place with 224.09 (82.16/141.93), ahead of two more Asian skaters, Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi on 214.44 (73.51/140.93) and Korea’s Winter Youth Olympic Games champion, You Young in sixth with 213.09 (70.34/142.75).
The three medallists came out for the mascot ceremony, and it was unthinkable before the evening’s action began that Valieva would not be among them.
With her fourth-place finish, at least there will be no asterisk against any of the medal winners, with the final destination of the medals still to be determined, which would have been the case had Valieva finished on the podium.
(Photo: OCA)
