Lausanne, Switzerland, January 15, 2020: Japan picked up more medals – and more gold – as the figure skating competition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games came to an end at Lausanne Skating Arena on Wednesday with the Mixed NOC team event.
The eight-team figure skating finale featured athletes from different nations competing together, with each team represented in the ice dance, pairs, ladies’ singles and men’s singles. Ranking points from the four rounds combined to determine the medals.
Team Courage - comprised of athletes from Estonia, Georgia, Japan and Russia - combined to win the gold medal.
Japan was represented in the ice dance by the Toronto-based pair of Utana Yoshida, 16, and 17-year-old Shingo Nishiyama, who had finished sixth in the ice dance competition earlier in the week.
Nishiyama and Yoshida gave Team Courage the best possible start by topping the ice dance rankings, earning their team a maximum eight points.
“It was fun out there today, for sure,” said Nishiyama. “I felt it was more relaxed today.”
After Alina Butaeva and Luka Berulava from Georgia ranked third in the pairs, Russia’s Kseniia Sinitsyna sealed the win for Team Courage by topping the scores in ladies’ singles.
The excellence of his teammates meant Arlet Levandi (EST) took an unassailable lead into the final phase, the men’s singles. He performed admirably, placing seventh.
Team Focus won the silver medal and the skaters included men’s individual champion Yuma Kagiyama – giving the Japanese prospect a second medal of Lausanne 2020.
The athletes embraced the composite format, cheering for their teammates as they performed and then waiting with them for the scores to be announced.
This was the final event for figure skating at Lausanne 2020. Of the four other gold medals available over the course of the competition, Russia took two with wins in the ice dance and pairs and there was a gold each for Japan (Yuma Kagiyama) and the Republic of Korea (You Young) in the men’s and women’s singles, respectively.
Source: Olympic Information Service
