
At the first event of the 2025-26 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, a glimpse of Japan's immense talent at the elite level of figure skating was on display.
Teenager Ami Nakai won the Grand Prix de France women's competition with a personal-best score of 227.08 points, leading a Japanese sweep on Saturday night, October 18. Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, who'll retire after the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, was the runner-up (224.23). And Rion Sumiyoshi completed Japan's 1-2-3 finish with 216.06 points.

Nakai, 17, triumphed in her first senior Grand Prix competition with an impressive overall performance. She placed first in both the short program and the free skate in Angers, France. In doing so, Nakai showcased technical acumen and strong artistic presentation at the same time, including skating to What a Wonderful World in the latter.
Nakai's Olympic Quest
The bronze medalist at the 2023 World Junior Championships, Nakai threw her metaphorical hat into the ring in the quest for a coveted spot on Japan's figure skating squad for the upcoming Olympics.
Her emergence as a winner at the start of the six-event Grand Prix season will certainly add anticipation for fans to watch Nakai again in a marquee event. She was also assigned to participate in the Skate Canada International (October 31-November 2) in Saskatoon.
At this point, it'd be amiss if this edition of Odds and Evens didn't also highlight Nakai's emotional reaction to her victory in France.
"I came here aiming for a podium, so when I saw the score and realized I was first, my brain froze and stopped working and then the tears came flowing," Nakai said, according to Olympics.com.
Keep an Eye on Japan's Grand Prix Participants
In addition to Nakai, Sakamoto and Sumiyoshi, Team Japan's female representation for the next five Grand Prix events includes Yuna Aoki, Wakaba Higuchi, Mone Chiba, Rino Matsuike, Rinka Watanabe and Hana Yoshida.
The Grand Prix Final (December 4-7) will be held in Nagoya. Only the top six skaters in the standings will qualify.
A Strong Showing for Miura/Kihara
Also in Angers, two-time world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara triumphed in the pairs competition. Their margin of victory over Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps was impressive.
The Japan duo, who were atop the leaderboard for both the short program and the free skate, finished with 219.15 points, and the runners-up received 197.66.

American Star Malinin Cruises to Victory
At the Grand Prix de France, two-time reigning men's world champion Ilia Malinin of the United States had an exceptional performance highlighted by five quadruple jumps in the free skate. Showing he's at the top of his game, Malinin amassed 321.00 points en route to victory.
France's Adam Siao Him Fa was a distant second (280.95).
For Japan, Kao Miura and Tatsuya Tsuboi were third and fourth, respectively, after the short program. But both men struggled in the free skate and dropped out of medal contention. Miura finished 10th and Tsuboi placed seventh.
Yuma Kagiyama, silver medalist at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and a three-time runner-up at the world championships, is scheduled to compete in the upcoming NHK Trophy (November 7-9, in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture) and Finlandia Trophy (November 21-23). The two GP events should give a strong indication if Kagiyama is on track to be an Olympic medal contender just a few months from now in February 2026.
National squad skaters also receiving GP assignments in the fall of 2025 are Kazuki Tomono, Sota Yamamoto and Shun Sato.

Impressive Results for Japan's Junior Skaters
In her 1986 song Greatest Love of All, Whitney Houston proclaimed, "I believe the children are our future." And I was reminded of that song while perusing the overall results from the seven Junior Grand Prix events from August to October.
Year after year, talented teenagers are building the foundation for their careers as adults in figure skating on the high-level JGP circuit.
As has been the case throughout the 21st century, Japan's abundant talent in the junior figure skating ranks has been one of the nation's key factors for sustained excellence in the sport.
And in the run-up to the JGP Final (December 4-7) in Nagoya, let's review who has made their mark in this JGP season for Team Japan.
On the men's side, reigning junior world champion Rio Nakata won both of his JGP assignments (Latvia, Thailand). And his overall score in Latvia (246.94) is the highest on the circuit this season.
Nakata's compatriot Taiga Nishino won the JGP Italy in early September and was the runner-up in Poland. Sena Takahashi nabbed a runner-up finish (Turkey) and also claimed a bronze (United Arab Emirates). And Shun Uemura was the third-place finisher in Italy.
Nakata and Nishino are headed to the JGP Final.
Quick recap: Japanese men won three of the seven JGP events.
In addition, Japanese women won five of their seven competitions.

Shimada Looks Ahead to the JGP Final
Three-time world junior champion Mao Shimada was victorious twice (Thailand, UAE) on the JGP circuit.
In Abu Dhabi (the seventh and final event), Shimada clinched a spot in the JGP Final on October 10. It was a result that fired her up.
"I absolutely wanted to compete in the [Junior Grand Prix] Final held in my home country, so I'm incredibly happy,” Shimada said at Kansai Airport on October 12, Nikkan Sports reported.
She won the UAE title despite a left ankle injury sustained before the competition, according to published reports.
Describing how she performed in Abu Dhabi, Shimada said, "I skated comfortably to the music."
In addition to the top junior skater, Japan's Mayuko Oka, Mei Okada and Sumika Kanazawa also qualified for the six-woman JGP Final. South Korean twins Yujae Kim and Yuseong Kim also booked their spots in the prestigious competition.
How did Oka earn a berth in the final?
She won in Turkey and claimed the silver in Azerbaijan.
Okada had a similar story ― first in Latvia, second in Thailand.
And Kanazawa triumphed in Italy.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) @ed_odeven.

Nagoya Basho Tournament Records
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