Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama stormed home in Saturday’s free skate at the ISU Grand Prix Gran Premio d’Italia, overcoming a mistake-riddled short program to clinch the men’s singles title.
The 18-year-old world championship silver medalist came into the final day seventh after taking multiple tumbles in his short routine, but an outstanding free skate helped him top the table with 278.02 total points.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan performs in the men’s free program en route to winning gold in Gran Premio d’Italia, the third event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 6, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Opening with a quad salchow, Kagiyama also landed a quad toe-loop-triple toe-loop combination in his free skate routine, set to “Gladiator,” featuring three quad jumps.
A “surprised” Kagiyama said a pep talk from his father and coach Masakazu helped put him in the right frame of mind after his disappointing start to the competition.
“I was feeling down after the short program, but my father just told me to do my best at what I had practiced, which made me feel better,” Kagiyama said. “I looked to fight as a challenger.”
Russian Mikhail Kolyada was second on 273.55, after finishing the short program fourth, while local favorite Daniel Grassl of Italy took bronze with 269.00.
Aiming for the podium at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Kagiyama said he needed to iron out his mistakes to make an impact on the sport’s biggest stage.
“At the Olympics, you can’t have a come-from-behind win like today if you don’t put together both a good short program and free skate,” he said.
Anna Shcherbakova of Russia performs in the women’s free program en route to winning gold in Gran Premio d’Italia, the third event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 6, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
In the women’s, Mai Mihara turned in a personal best of 214.95 to finish fourth in the competition won by Russia’s world champion Anna Shcherbakova, who climbed from third in the short program to score 236.78.
Russia’s Maiia Khromykh and Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx rounded out the podium, while Japan’s Satoko Miyahara finished one spot behind Mihara on 209.57.
Coming off a fourth-place finish at Skate Canada, Mihara renewed her personal best for the second meet in a row, pumping her fists after completing her free skate and again after hearing her score.
“I had confidence I could skate without mistakes,” said the 22-year-old, who boosted her scoring potential by adding triple-triple combinations to her routine.
Having battled a form of juvenile arthritis since 2015, along with other injuries, Mihara said she had gotten on top of her health issues.
“I rest when I’m tired and get proper nutrition. I’ve got better at controlling (health conditions),” said Mihara, who hopes to book her ticket to Beijing at Japan’s national championships in December.
“I’ll aim for an even better performance,” she said.
Miyahara, aiming for her second straight Olympic berth, made a roughly nine-point improvement on her total score from Skate America, her first meet of the season, but continued under rotate jumps.
Mai Mihara of Japan performs in the women’s free program during Gran Premio d’Italia, the third event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 6, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Satoko Miyahara of Japan performs in the women’s free program during Gran Premio d’Italia, the third event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 6, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
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