Kaori SAKAMOTO (JPN) | Women Free Skating | NHK Trophy 2025 | #GPFigure

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on the ice representing Japan, Kai Sakamoto. Everyone in this arena in Asaka and everyone in the skating community watching worldwide invested in this her final season with significant choice of music. Ria K Sakamoto in her final NHK performance. [Music] double axle and then this triple flip [Music] followed up by Loots A to Triple Double. [Music] You see [Music] forever. Ever Christmas dream [Music] that [Music] The morning [Music] is She sticks the landing of the big combo. Triple flip, triple toe. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Despite not the most optimal line of double axles, does the triple toe, double toe after it. [Music] Oh, [Music] no. [Music] She’s clean. Triple. Come [Applause] [Music] sore. [Music] [Applause] [Music] What a way to deliver your final freekate on the senior Grand Prix circuit. Everything everybody wanted it to be for Kyrie Sakamoto. She’s a threetime world champion and she this season vying to add the title but she does not have the Olympic gold. She has a brilliant, brilliant performance. And unlike her earlier Grand Prix assignment where she lost out to the youngster Amy Kai, the spin levels here on this occasion, matching the jumping passes as well. But it’s so much more than that for Ki Sakamoto. It’s what she’s given to the community of skaters. the community of skaters that she competes with and the community of skaters that she inspires. She was nominated in the ISU awards as most valuable skater. And I think so many skaters across all four disciplines would count Carrie as valuable, not just because of what she does on the ice, but because of what she does off the ice. And great to see the coaching staff who were caught just in the back of shot living every knee action in the step sequence with her making her acknowledge the moment here and in the midst of the brilliance of this performance. It’s just tinged with the sadness thinking that we’re not going to see many more competitive performances from her. But who knows what the future holds. Hopefully lots of professional professional performing opportunities. As we look back at her trademark double axle and you can just see the rise and fall in the knee action which constitutes the great skating skills that she has unlike any others that we have seen before this component scores in the skating skills worthy of nines out of 10. Great flight in the flying sitspin. Changing into the sit behind feature going for the eight rotations as another feature in that position. And interestingly him Aamore by Edith Piaf. This part of the music choice inspired by Akiko Suzuki. Fellow Japanese skaters. We look back at the triple flip triple toe which does get a Q mark. So not ideal but great to see there the shot and recognition for the coaches longtime coaches Sonoko Nakano Muko Graham sweet see the consistency of that performance and it’s so admirable that Cowi has given the clean skate. There wasn’t the pressure on her in this performance as there will be as the season progresses in so far as she had a 10-point lead. But there was a sense of responsibility for the thousands of people here that have stayed till the end for the final performance on the second day of competition. She is loved and adored. [Applause] And so now to scores. The score, please. Is it getting close to her personal best of 155.77 that took her to her first world title? How close did she get? [Applause] 150.13. The total score for Sakamoto is she takes the title. She finished the competition Sakamoto 27 points. The leader earlier during the course of the NHK trophy. There were scenes backstage of this world champion. [Applause]