You have to really dig deep into the history books to find the last time that someone has won the women’s event at World Figure Skating Championships four times. It wasn’t Michelle Kwan or Katarina Witt, both of whom won four or more World titles in non-consecutive years. You have to go back to Carol Heiss, who won five in a row from 1956 to 1960. Kaori Sakamoto has the chance to do that, but nothing about this feat is going to be easy.
Worlds predictions
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GOLD Amber Glenn USA - The last time Worlds was in the US, the American women were stars (Gracie Gold won the short program, Ashley Wagner won the silver medal overall). Glenn has two things in particular going for her—a triple axel and an undefeated season so far. But the x factor here will be the power of the home crowd. We saw what happened with Gold and Wagner in 2016, and if Glenn can harness that energy and continue to show that improved mental prowess, the potential for the first American woman to win Worlds since Kimmie Meissner in 2006 is all there.
SILVER Chaeyeon Kim KOR - Kim has been the one under the radar all season; that is, until she won the biggest title of her career at Four Continents. Of the three top women coming in, she’s had the most consistency this season, especially of late. She is the reigning bronze medalist, after all, and there’s a lot to like about making sure the jumps get done. She also has some of the best content of her career this season in her two programs. For her to win this competition, Glenn and Sakamoto will need to make mistakes, but she’s certainly right there. The last time a Korean woman won Worlds was 12 years ago with Yuna Kim’s second title.
BRONZE Kaori Sakamoto JPN - The three-time and reigning World champion is back for more, but her season has been a lot more up-and-down than she’d like it to be. Part of it is her new and more difficult free skate layout, which has not been consistent for her; and earlier in the season, stamina played a role. Though she won both times, her last two Worlds had some hiccups, and she will likely need to be near perfect to get that history with the fourth title. The flip-toe will be key, as will the new axel-sal combo in the free.
4. Wakaba Higuchi JPN - It’s been a truly resurgent season for Higuchi, who last came to Worlds three years ago and won the silver here seven years ago. She’s delivered some of the best skating of this quadrennial this season, including a brilliant free skate at Grand Prix de France, and put down numbers we haven’t seen from her since the last Olympic season.
5. Alysa Liu USA - The home crowd could really be the booster for Liu, who thrived at Nationals in front of a crowd that just knew exactly the arc that was unfolding in front of them. The combo in the short has been the biggest liability for Liu. And if she can get by with a clean or, at most, a q on that combo, it can put her more in the conversation. But let’s just zoom out and remember that this is a skater who voluntarily retired three years ago after winning bronze at Worlds, and then missed it so much she came back just about a year ago and has gotten herself back on the Worlds stage. The story will continue to unfold here.
6. Niina Petrokina EST - She comes in on the heels of two wins, including the biggest one of her career at Europeans. And though her free skate has been on the rise this season—she’s skated two clean free skates in the last two months—it will be the short program that will be her biggest gauntlet. Worlds has not been the place where she’s put down her best skating, even before she broke her leg last year. She will have to battle through that to get herself in the running for the top five or even a medal.
7. Mone Chiba JPN - There’s just been something about Mone Chiba’s season that has just not felt balanced, nor has it seemed like momentum has been on her side. Whereas in past seasons, she’s really made big statements in the second half of the season, this year, she has been skating less assertively the longer the season has gone, and that has not given her the numbers. She was sixth at Four Continents, and that’s what she has to battle back from this week.
8. Nina Pinzarrone BEL - As the sole Belgian entry here in the women’s event (Loena Hendrickx just had surgery and Jade Hovine did not make the TES minimums), Pinzarrone has the task of finishing in the top ten to earn Belgium the opportunity to get a second spot at the Olympics at the qualifying event next season. It has been a middling season for her, a lot due to increased underrotation calls in her programs. That will be important this week.
9. Isabeau Levito USA - Her foot injury has been the liability for the reigning World silver medalist. And we have seen her once since her sole Grand Prix at Skate America in October. Her performance at Road to 26 Trophy last month marked her return, and you can tell she was still not 100% there. A big question this week is how close will she be to getting back to the form that we saw here last year?
10. Sofia Samodelkina KAZ - In her first season skating for Kazakhstan, she has been improving on both her consistency and her scores. Her performances at Four Continents showed that she was starting to get back to the form that she had when she was skating for Russia.
Others to watch for the top 10: Madeline Schizas, Anastasiia Gubanova, Lara Naki Gutmann, Haein Lee, Kimmy Repond, Ahsun Yun