MILAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japan took silver in the figure skating team event at the Milano Cortina Olympics, but Kaori Sakamoto said the squad skated like champions as they piled up segment wins and kept the title fight alive to the end.
"Everybody has done a gold-medal performance," Sakamoto, a three-time world champion, said. "So it really doesn't matter what colour medal we get."
It was Japan's second silver in an Olympic team event. In Beijing, the team were initially awarded bronze before the medal ceremony was delayed after Russian Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, and Japan were later moved up to silver when the final standings were confirmed in 2024.
Japan's push in Milan was sparked on Saturday when Yuma Kagiyama won the men’s short program with 108.67 points to outscore Olympic favourite Ilia Malinin.
In pairs on Sunday, two-time world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara added another first-place finish, delighting fans waving Japanese flags around the arena.
Miura said their 155.55 points were far above what they had expected. "When we saw (the score), there was so much joy — we were overwhelmed with emotions," she said.
"We didn't really think about the team points... it was in the back of our minds, but we just wanted to really do well and do the best we can."
Sakamoto then topped the women's segment.
"Seeing that I scored number one in the women's category tonight was a big deal, I felt really emotional," the 25-year-old said.
The U.S. started on Sunday with a five-point lead over Japan but that quickly narrowed after the pairs and women's programmes, leaving the two teams level heading into the men’s free skate.
Shun Sato got the arena excited with the skate of his career, racking up 194.86 and keeping the crowd holding its breath until the marks appeared — only to fall a handful of points shy of Malinin's 200.03.
The U.S. eventually won with 69 points, ahead of Japan's 68 and Italy's 60.
"Seeing Ilia perform really well, and seeing the whole mood of the crowd, I felt I just tugged on that positive mood and was able to do a really good performance after him," Sato said.
"Of course I wanted to surpass Ilia, do better than him... I respect him very much as an ice skater and with tonight's performance I know that I can improve more to get up to that level to maybe one day beat him. It is a motivation to do better next time."
(Reporting by Agnieszka FlakEditing by Toby Davis)
