Kaori Sakamoto will look to join a very select club when she takes the ice at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston for the short program on Wednesday, March 26. The three-time defending world titlist will be trying to become the first woman to win four straight crowns in 65 years.
American Carol Heiss, a month after capturing the Olympic gold medal at the Squaw Valley Games, won the last of her five consecutive world titles in 1960 in Vancouver, British Columbia, to join Hungary's Lily Kronberger, Austria's Herma Szabo and Norway's Sonja Henie as the only women to achieve the feat.
The 24-year-old Sakamoto will need to muster all of her power and skill to climb the mountain again, as South Korea's Chaeyeon Kim and Amber Glenn have emerged this season as prime challengers to the Kobe native.
Kaori Sakamoto Expresses Confidence Heading into the World Championships
"I am feeling great and looking to win a fourth consecutive title," Sakamoto was quoted as saying on Tuesday after practice. "There is no pressure. I am able to take on the challenge stress-free."
The 18-year-old Kim beat Sakamoto to win the Asian Winter Games gold in Harbin, China, in early February, and also topped the podium at the Four Continents Championships in Seoul later in the same month. Kim was the bronze medalist at last year's worlds.
"It's a great honor to be considered a medal contender here, and I really want to prove that these expectations are right. I want to live up to them," Kim stated on Tuesday.
Glenn, a 25-year-old from Plano, Texas, has enjoyed a fine season, winning every competition she has entered. She has emerged as a significant force with her ability to land the triple axel and will have the benefit of skating on home ice in Massachusetts this week.
Mone Chiba and Wakaba Higuchi will join Sakamoto in the women's field, with Chiba being the only legitimate medal contender. The moment has arrived for the 19-year-old Chiba to step up on the big stage. She has the talent to become a world medalist, but will have to display fortitude under pressure to do it.
Men's Medal Contenders at the World Championships
Yuma Kagiyama, a three-time world silver medalist, will try to topple 2024 winner Ilia Malinin of the United States. Malinin's jumping ability will be difficult for the 21-year-old Kagiyama to overcome, but should the American falter, Kagiyama could reign for the first time.
"My jumps, spins and footwork are in the best shape possible," Kagiyama stated in a recent interview with Nikkan Sports. "I want to compete with confidence."
The other major medal contenders will include Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov, who won the Four Continents in February, and showed that he is a skater on the rise, and South Korea's Jun Hwan Cha.
Shun Sato and Tatsuya Tsuboi will also skate for the Hinomaru, but seem unlikely to be in the medal race in the end.
A Rundown on Pairs and Ice Dance in Boston
Pairs Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the world champions in 2023, will try to ascend to the top once more. They finished second at the Grand Prix Final in December 2024 behind Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, who will come in as the favorites.
Italy's Sara Conti and Nicollo Macci also figure to be in the picture when the business end of the competition rolls around.
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi will be Japan's second pairs team in Boston.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the US will be seeking their third straight world title in ice dance at TD Garden. The duo placed second at the Four Continents behind Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, who took second at the GP Final, will also be in the running for a medal.
Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita will skate for Japan in ice dance.
The world championships will get underway on Wednesday, March 26, with the women's short program and the pairs short program.
Hamada in Running for Best Coach Award Again
Coach Mie Hamada, who won the ISU's Best Coach Award last year, is a finalist again this year. She will vie for the honor with Germany's Michael Huth and Uzbekistan's Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, the parents and coaches of Ilia Malinin.
This year's ISU Award winners will be revealed at a gala event on March 30 in Boston.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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