Kaori Sakamoto (20 = Sysmex), who started at the top of the Women’s Short Program (SP), won her first GP series victory. Free also posted 153.91 points in 1st place, and although he was not officially recognized by the International Skating Federation (ISU), it was a personal best of 229.51 points overall. Although he suffered from sixth place in the Japan Championship last season, he was revived by Link, who became the Queen of Japan in 2018. Shinba Higuchi (19 = Meidai), who engaged the triple throttle (three and a half revolutions) of great ability for the first time in the competition, came second.

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The best scenery awaited us in a comfortable and rewarding feeling. “Wow!” Sakamoto screamed when he saw the number of 229.51 points. “Matrix”, which is the second season. The 7 jumps are aggregate points, and the 10-point performance composition points showing that the expression side is 9 points in 4 out of 5 items. “He hadn’t slipped clean last year. If he didn’t make a mistake, he would get as much.” I was aiming for this.

One day a year ago, I heard the sound of the waves while looking at the Kobe symbol “Port Tower”. “Hmm … I can’t.” When I realized it, sometimes I would walk through the city center “Sannomiya”, which was crowded with shoppers. Without results. Last season, I was concerned that the environment would skip tough jumps like the quad, and I kept losing the podium. After practicing in the morning, I went for a walk for a change. However, the negative thoughts that he had forgotten for a moment returned to normal when night practice came.

There was a turning point in January of this year. “Kao-chan, I wish I had done four laps.” They were the words of coach Kawahara, 24 years old. “I’ll do it when I feel like it.” Then the older brother pushed me back, saying, “Please do it.” When I tried it, there was a slight response. “If you can skip this, can you fight !?” The vector turned to me.

“Last year, I felt like ‘Sakamoto, I think it’s over.’ I didn’t know what he was thinking and what he wanted to do. “

This spring, due to the influence of the new corona virus, I could not stand on the ice for a month and a half. I thought about my own competitive life. 20 years old. As a skater, I noticed that I had passed the tipping point. “There are only a few years left.” Even in training on solid ground, I gritted my teeth and held my ground. I said with deep emotion on this day.

“I was thinking, ‘It’s difficult now, but we were smiling at the time of the game.’ I’m glad I can show it this way today.”

With the international tournament canceled one after the other due to the crown accident, the Japan Championship will be held in December. Sakamoto has changed.[Matsumoto Ko]