2026 Olympic Figure Skating Team Event | Women’s Short Program

Kaori Sakamoto strengthened Team Japan’s standings in the 2026 Olympic Figure Skating Team after the Women’s Short Program on Friday. Alysa Liu added nine points for Team USA, while Lara Naki Gutmann earned eight points for Team Italy. The first day of the 2026 Olympic Figure Skating Team event began with the Rhythm Dance followed by the Pairs’ Short Program in Milan, Italy.

In the Olympic Team Event, teams earn points based on placement rather than raw score, with 10 points for first place down to one point for tenth. All teams skate the short programs and rhythm dance, but only the top five advance to the free skate and free dance, with points from all eight segments combined to determine the final standings. The full standings after the Women’s Short Program are reflected at the bottom of the article.

Team Japan

Kaori Sakamoto combined grace and conviction in a stirring performance to “Time to Say Goodbye,” scoring a new season’s-best 78.88. In her farewell Olympics, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist landed a triple Lutz, double Axel and triple flip-triple toe. The only error was an edge call on the Lutz. She also picked up a level four on all spins and footwork, as well as very high grades of execution (GOE) throughout. With 10 points added to Team Japan’s standings, they are now in a close second place behind Team USA going into Day 2.

“The idea of getting the perfect 10 points had been something that made me put pressure on myself internally,” said the 25-year-old. “But today, I skated with the mindset of simply doing what I needed to do properly, so instead of it becoming overwhelming pressure, it turned into a good, healthy level of tension.”

“I think Day 1 of this competition had a really good start,” Sakamoto added. “I can really feel that what we’ve been aiming for over the past four years is slowly but surely getting closer. It’s hard to put into words, but I’m happy and I feel proud.”

Team USA

Alysa Liu presented a refined, emotionally nuanced performance to “Promise,” but it wasn’t without mistakes. She received an edge call on her opening triple flip and later landed the back end of a triple Lutz-triple loop on the quarter. However, the spins and footwork were very strong and graded a level four with high GOEs. The 2025 World champion placed second with 74.90 points and putting a hefty nine points in Team USA’s pocket.

“”I really loved doing the team event,” said the 20-year-old. “I took part in the World Team Trophy last year, my very first team experience overall, but the Olympic team felt a little different and really special, though similar. I wish I had been able to cheer for the other two before me from the box, but I didn’t have my dress or stuff back in the village, and I had to eat, so I wish I had planned things a little better.”

On her interesting-colored hair, the skater said that three years ago she began with one stripe.

“Then I let it grow out,” she said. “After a year, I did another one, and it reminded me of a tree. The third year comes around, I did another round. I am committed. Every year I get a new ring. I want to look like a tree.”

Team Italy

Lara Naki Gutman landed a triple toe-triple toe, double Axel and triple Lutz in her dramatic short program to music from La legge di Lidia Poët. All spins and footwork were graded a level four, and she picked up many positive GOEs throughout. The European bronze medalist picked up a new personal best score of 71.62 for third place, and eight points for Team Italy which is now in third place.

“I felt so good, the crowd was amazing, it gave me a lot of strength,” said Gutmann. “It was a little bit like the World Team Trophy in Japan. I had so many great feelings and I wanted to do the best performance I could do for myself, for my team, for Italy in this amazing stadium with my home crowd. So, in the moment, it just felt great.”

“Since the last Olympics, I worked a lot on everything in the last few years,” added the 23-year-old. “I’m really just a different person. I try to enjoy everything, enjoy the atmosphere. During the last days, there’s been a lot going on, a lot of things to do, but now I think I can train, relax a bit. I really want to live every moment, every moment.”

Team Korea

Jia Shin gave an exquisite short program to Chopin’s Nocturne No.20 C sharp minor which featured a triple Lutz-triple toe, double Axel and triple flip. All elements, including her level four spins, received positive GOEs. She was awarded 68.80 points for fourth place, moving Team Korea up to seventh place.

“This was my first Olympic skate for the team event,” noted the three-time national champion. “It was such an honor for me. I really want to thank my team members for cheering for me. This is why I enjoyed my performance so much!”

Team Georgia

Skating to “San Sanana” and “Jogi,” Anastasiia Gubanova opened with a solid triple flip-triple toe and double Axel, but later landed a triple Lutz on the quarter. Two spins were graded a level four and the 2023 European champion finished fifth with 67.79 with her tribal-infused short program. With the six points she earned, Team Georgia is now in fourth place.

“I enjoyed my program,” said Gubanova. “As for the jumps, it is a shame for the Lutz. I’ve worked on it a lot between Europeans and the Olympic Games, but I am glad it went better than at Europeans. It is a progress.”

Team Canada

Madeline Schizas placed sixth in the short program with 64.97 points, contributing five points to Team Canada’s standings. The three-time Challenger Series medalist only made one mistake when she slightly underrotated the back end of her opening triple Lutz-triple toe. The double Axel and triple loop were solid, however, and she also picked up a level four on all three spins.

There was a technical glitch at the when her music wasn’t queued correctly, however, she didn’t feel it made a difference.

“Obviously, at the Olympics you hope things like this don’t happen, but we all as athletes know how to deal with it,” said the 22-year-old. “I’m happy with my performance today. I think that I skated my elements very well.”

Rounding out the field

Lorine Schild of France placed seventh with 62.24 points. Her routine to “Stairway To Heaven” featured a triple Lutz-triple toe, double Axel and triple loop. All three spins were also graded a level four.

“It was very good,” said Schild. “It was amazing to skate on the Olympic stage and to skate with the encouragement of the French team. It was during the end of the program, during the steps, it was very motivating and very fun, but at the beginning it was a bit stressful going for the team because everything you do will be on the team. So there’s a little bit more pressure.”

China’s Ruiyang Zhang delivered a good short program to “Frozen” by Madonna in her debut. The only error came when she put a foot down on the back end of a triple Salchow-triple toe. She earned 59.83 points.

“I’m very excited about being at the Olympics,” said Zhang. “I heard the cheering, I heard the enthusiasm, and I felt it and that was very exciting. I’m always telling myself to be confident at every competition. That will help me improve myself.“

Ekaterina Kurakova of Poland earned 57.76 points, closing in on her season’s best, after her performance to “N’insiste pas” by Camille Lellouche.

“Finally, I had a successful skate because the last three years,” said the eight-time national champion. “I’m not going to lie, I was hyped before this to become better this year. But at every competition, something was not here, and I was like, come on, today needs to happen. So I was like, I’m going to go full power.”

“Honestly, I didn’t expect the team event to be so much fun,” she added. “It’s so amazing! It’s so great for us as the Polish team to have this team event because some of our skaters are going to retire after this season, and so this is a really great moment to have all of us together.”

Coming off an injury, Great Britain’s Kristen Spours of Great Britain scored 48.28 points, showing good effort in her routine to “Iron Sky.”

“I am so happy,” said the 25-year-old. “Finally, I can call myself an Olympian, which is a super cool moment for me. It’s been such a long and difficult journey. I never believed I’d make it here. Even yesterday, I had this massive stress that something could happen with my back, that I could get injured, and then I couldn’t quite make it. So, I feel like now I can breathe for the first time in a long time, knowing that the job is done. The job is done.”

The Team Event will continue on Saturday with the Men’s Short Program and Free Dance.

Related info:

• Official Results
• Olympic Qualification System for Figure Skating
• Competition Threads
• Replay Lounge
• More Olympic Figure Skating news

The post Sakamoto strengthens Japan standings at Olympic Team event appeared first on Golden Skate.