Maybe the marquee occasion of any Winter Olympics, girls’s particular person determine skating acquired underway Tuesday and Italy.
And it was an incredible evening for Japan, because the evening completed with their three skaters among the many prime 4.
Ami Nakai leads after the brief program, adopted by fellow Staff Japan member Kaori Sakamoto. Staff USA’s Alysa Liu sits third, adopted by Mone Chiba of Japan.
Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian — competing underneath the Particular person Impartial Athlete (AIN) designation — set the early benchmark with a 72.89 because the second skater on the ice. Petrosian entered the 2026 Winter Olympics as a three-time nationwide champion, and that rating represented a private finest for the younger skater within the brief program.
Ami Nakai, the 17-year-old from Japan, took to the ice to start the penultimate group, with the toughest technical brief program within the discipline, which included a triple Axel. As she landed that leap cleanly, her smile informed the complete story. She then accomplished a triple Lutz/triple toe loop mixture, and introduced the group to its ft with a powerful efficiency that netted her a 78.71 … and the lead.
It was the second-highest brief program rating this season, behind solely teammate Kaori Sakamoto.
Hometown hero Lara Naki Gutmann closed out the penultimate group, already with a bronze medal to her title in the course of the 2026 Winter Olympics as a part of the Italian staff that completed third within the staff occasion. However she couldn’t seize the magic from earlier within the Video games, failing on a triple Lutz and solely finishing a double, a mistake that value her eight factors on the technical facet alone.
Gutmann’s rating of 61.56 put her into twelfth for them oment.
Nevertheless it was time for the ultimate group, which included the American trio of Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito. Nonetheless, the “Blade Angels” weren’t the one medal contenders within the remaining group, which included Sakamoto and Mone Chiba from Japan.
Liu went first, and the 2025 World Champion took to the ice with the third-hardest technical brief program within the discipline. She opened with a flawless triple flip, adopted shortly by a double Axel after which a spin sequence. Liu saved her triple-triple mixture for the second half of this system to earn a bonus, however she barely under-rotated the second half of that triple Lutz/triple toe loop pairing.
When the music stopped, Liu’s technical rating was 42.83, simply off the 45.02 mark set by Nakai.
When the judges had their say, Liu jumped into second place with a 76.59, simply behind Nakai.
Levito was subsequent, because the 18-year-old took to the Olympic ice for the primary time, as she was not a part of the Staff USA squad in the course of the staff occasion. She opened with a triple flip/triple toe loop mixture, adopted by a double Axel and a phenomenal spin/step sequence. As she reached the second half of her brief program, Levito labored in a triple toe loop — on the lookout for the bonus — together with one other inventive step sequence to shut it out.
Nonetheless, on assessment of the triple loop, it was proven she barely under-rotated on the leap, and a deduction adopted. Levito’s rating of 70.84 put her into fifth place for the second, with 4 skaters left to compete.
Following a strong effort from Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova, which was good for 71.77 and fourth place, it was over to Sakamoto. Skating to “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman (an apt selection given that is her remaining Video games), Sakamoto started her brief program with a triple Lutz, adopted by a double Axel. Her triple flip/triple toe loop mixture within the second half of her skate was clear, and a tough step sequence to shut out the skate left her with a technical rating of 42.19.
When the judges weighed in, Sakamoto jumped into second place with a rating of 77.23, simply behind Nakai and simply forward of Liu.
Then it was over to the ultimate member of the “Blade Angels,” Glenn. Together with Nakai, Glenn’s program was the one different one within the discipline with a triple Axel, carrying a possible massive bonus. Glenn opened her skate with it, delivering a large leap to start her brief program. She then delivered a triple flip/triple toe loop mixture, coming ahead on the touchdown of the toe loop however staying upright.
However then, Glenn pulled out of a double loop, failing to attain a single level for the ingredient. She misplaced seven factors on that alone, and her dejection following her skate informed the story.
“I had it,” lamented Glenn as she got here off the ice.
“One revolution within the air adjustments every part,” stated Tara Lipinski up within the NBC commentary field.
Glenn’s rating of 67.39 was good for simply twelfth place, with one skater left on the evening.
That skater? Mone Chiba from Japan. Her robust efficiency earned a 74.00, sliding her into fourth behind Liu.
Listed here are the top-15 skaters following the ladies’s brief program:
The ladies’s determine skating competitors concludes on Thursday with the free skate, which begins at 1:00 p.m. Japanese Time.
