“Absolute confidence in the flip”
“Sure, the points are important but most importantly, I have to have a performance that I won’t regret,” Kagiyama told Olympics.com. “I am going all out from start to finish. I’m going to add a quad flip and I want to put it all together for a skate that I can be completely satisfied with.
“I have absolute confidence in the flip. I really do.”
Kagiyama has been lively in Milano, showing an energy he has not shown all season. Perhaps because he feels like the Olympic stage – where he already has three silver medals to his credit – is his stage.
Should Kagiyama nail his skate on Friday, things could get very interesting.
“Of course I would have loved a perfect skate, but this sport is more than about jumps,” he said. “I had fun on the step sequence that followed and I made sure I won my levels the rest of the way.
“I was a lot less nervous as I was in the free. I was the last skater today and my angle was to give them a performance that they could think about on the way home and be happy about.
“And I probably enjoyed it more than anybody. I was focused on the jumps and all the elements, but I had too much force on the Axel which was a shame. But it was nothing to get down about so I want to give myself a pat on the back.”
