Japan’s Sakamoto, Uno seek world figure skating ‘three-peats’

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Shoma Uno each will seek their third consecutive world crowns at the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships, which begin Wednesday in Montreal.

Not since American Peggy Fleming won world titles from 1966 through 1968 has anyone captured three women’s world titles in a row, but Sakamoto could achieve the feat and complete an undefeated 2023-2024 campaign.

Uno could become the first man to win three world titles in a row since American Nathan Chen completed his run in 2021, but he must fight off the challenge of Grand Prix Final winner Ilia Malinin of the United States.

The event features 200 top skaters from more than 40 nations, including Sakamoto, Uno and reigning pairs champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan.

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates will also defend their world ice dance crown on the home rink of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.

Sakamoto captured her first world title in 2022 at Montpelier, France, and defended the crown last year on home ice at Saitama, Japan.

This season, the 23-year-old from Kobe won Grand Prix stops at Canada and Finland and also took the Grand Prix Final in Beijing before claiming her fourth consecutive Japanese national title.

Sakamoto continued her perfect season by defending her title at last month’s Challenge Cup in the Netherlands, making her the huge favorite to defend the world crown as well.

“I can really feel that I’ve grown more this year than last year,” Sakamoto told the Olympic website. “I’m much more motivated.”

European champion Loena Hendrickx of Belgium and South Korean teen Kim Chae-yeon could be Sakamoto’s top challenger’s for the historic triumph.

On the men’s side, Uno has been unable to match the domination of his unbeaten 2022-23 campaign, settling for runner-up Grand Prix finishes in China and Japan and a Grand Prix Final loss to 19-year-old two-time US champion Malinin, the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition.

“Even if it becomes only Malinin being at the top in the future, I want to make sure that we can be rivals who can compete with each other properly,” Uno told the Olympics website. “I’m going to do my best this year at least.”

Two-time European champion Adam Siao Him Fa of France and Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who won the Four Continents crown last month in Shanghai, also figure to contend. Kagiyama, a two-time world runner-up, took a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Americans Chock, 31, and Bates, 35, are engaged. They became a partnership in 2011 and last year won their first world ice dance title.

This year, they hope to complete their first undefeated season after winning Grand Prix events on home ice and in Finland, the Grand Prix Final and taking a fifth US title.

Miura and Kihara, the first Japanese couple to capture the world pairs title, missed the Grand Prix season and national championships as Kihara coped with a back injury. They took second last month at the Four Continents in Shanghai.

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AFP

(NAMPA / AFP)