Winter Olympics 2026: USA and Japan sit one and two after first day of figure skating team event as Alysa Liu and Sakamoto Kaori show off peak form
Sakamoto Kaori is saying goodbye to the Olympic Games, but not before doing her best to help Japan win the gold medal in the figure skating team event at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
A silver medallist in the team event at Beijing 2022, Sakamoto looked effortless as she started off her career last Olympic campaign with a strong short program that earned her 78.88 points.
“I thought I skated really well for my first performance at this Olympics,” Sakamoto told Olympics.com. “I was my usual self. I was nervous like I always am but it wasn’t to a point where my legs were shaking.
“Today wasn’t a day where I was pumping my fists but one of huge relief.”
Except for a wrong edge on her opening triple Lutz, the Japanese skater was dazzling, earning top levels on all her spins and footwork to jump ahead of world champion Alysa Liu. Her top placement also boosted her team from sixth to second place in the overall rankings behind USA.
“Since I arrived in Italy, I’ve had more than enough time to prepare. I’m getting more comfortable with the ice with each day. The stage is set,” Sakamoto said. “I just want to continue being myself in the next skate and focus on what I have to do. If I do that I think it brings me closer to my goals here.”
Team USA’s Liu also showed good form, earning just shy of her season’s best with 74.90 points despite an under-rotation on her triple Lutz-triple loop combo and a small edge mistake on a triple flip.
Milano Cortina 2026 marks a second Olympic appearance for Liu, although she did not take part in the team event in her debut.
“I’m more proud of myself to be here and I’m more excited to show what I have,” Liu told Olympics.com how the two Games compare. “This event is so big. There’s so many eyes on you and I like that because I have so much that I want people to see. I have so much more that that I want to share.”
Finishing third in the segment, Italy’s Lara Naki Gutmann scored a personal best of 71.62 on home ice, breaking 70 points for the first time in her career.
