Japan’s Mai Mihara on Saturday put her bitterness at missing out on a spot in the Winter Olympics behind her by winning gold for the second time in the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, as the US enjoyed a one-two in the pairs event.
Mihara’s fourth-place finish at the Japanese nationals ended her hopes of competing in a first Winter Games in Beijing, but she held her nerve in Tallinn to reclaim a title she won five years ago.
In the pairs, Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov survived a fall in the free skate to win gold by an 8.16-point margin on fellow Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe in the Estonian capital.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Mihara, 22, led all the way, scoring a career high 218.03 points and bettering South Korean skaters Lee Hae-in (213.52) and Kim Ye-lim (209.91), who claimed their first ISU medals with silver and bronze respectfully.
“I was so nervous today as the nationals were in the back of my mind, like a flashback,” said Mihara.
“I was crying even before I went on the ice, but I was able to overcome that bitterness from nationals and bring home a gold medal to Japan,” she said.
Mihara extended her lead from the short program, despite a glitch on her final spin in her free skate to Fairy of the Forest and Galaxy by Yuko Toyoda, scoring a career best 145.41.
It was her fourth medal in the competition following her gold in 2017, with silver and bronze in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
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