Kaori Sakamoto closes glittering career with fourth world title
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Kaori Sakamoto of Japan celebrates after winning gold medal in the Women's Free Skating at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic.
EPA
PRAGUE – Retiring Japanese star Kaori Sakamoto signed off in style by claiming women’s world figure skating championships gold for a fourth time with career-best scores in Prague on March 27.
The 25-year-old Olympic silver medallist marked her farewell to the ice with an elegant, charismatic routine, earning personal bests of 158.97 in the free skate and a total score of 238.28.
“There are no regrets at all, I can say goodbye with this performance,” said Sakamoto. “I gave it all I have, there were a few tricky moments, but I think I gave my best.”
Her compatriot Mone Chiba took silver nearly 10 points behind, while Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone caused an upset by winning bronze as US champion Amber Glenn dropped from third overnight to sixth.
In the absence of reigning Olympic and world champion Alysa Liu, Sakamoto led all the way to reclaim the title she won three consecutive times between 2022 and 2024. She took silver in 2025.
The ice rink in the Czech capital, packed to capacity for the occasion, seemed to be waiting for only one thing – to see Sakamoto, one of the most beloved skaters on the circuit – end her superb career with a smile after the tears of sadness that had accompanied her silver medal at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
On March 27, she delivered a flawless programme, punctuated by seven triple jumps, impressively bouncing back just a month after the biggest disappointment of her career.
Sakamoto punched the air in delight after her performance.
“After that I had a feeling I’ve done everything that I could and this is a really good way to end a career,” she added after wiping away tears as her scores came up, hugging 20-year-old Chiba, who added silver to a bronze from last year.
“Today I tried not to cry, I was really trying hard not to cry but I heard so many people cheering for me and applauding me and when I saw that scene I couldn’t help it.
“Today I actually didn’t care about the results. Of course I wanted to skate with no regrets and to do my best but there so many people supporting me and watching and I wanted to do my best for them.”
With four world titles, Sakamoto ranks fifth all time among women’s figure skaters.
Far from Norwegian Sonja Henie’s unattainable record of 10 titles between 1927 and 1936, she is tied with legends Lily Kronberger of Hungary and Katarina Witt of Germany. AFP, REUTERS
