Sakamoto Kaori bid goodbye to her final competitive short program with a smile – and plenty of teary eyes in the stands.

Beaming and waving at the many supporters who travelled to Prague, Czechia, to see her, the Japanese figure skating icon was elated to get a step closer to her fourth world title after scoring a season’s best in the first segment of the 2026 ISU World Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday (25 March).

It was a full-circle moment for the 25-year-old. Sakamoto competed at her first-ever Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava, Czechia, 13 years ago and was now back in the country’s capital to bid farewell to an illustrious career that included four Olympic medals and three world titles.

“At that time (in 2013), during the competition, I could see maybe some people dispersed in the audience, so today to be able to be at the world championships in Prague and have so many people in the audience, I felt a little bit of how far I came,” Sakamoto told media, including Olympics.com. “It was a good feeling to have.”

Skating to Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye”, the Milano Cortina 2026 silver medallist opened with a triple Lutz, and followed that up with a double Axel and triple flip-triple toe loop combo. The effort earned her 79.31 points – just a point under the personal best she scored at the 2022 Worlds en route to her first title.

“My performance on the whole, I’m very satisfied with it,” Sakamoto said. “A week before I came here, I started getting clean skates every day in training, so the performance today reflected what I was able to do in training, so I’m very, very satisfied.”

Sakamoto was not the only skating veteran in the top three in Prague. USA’s Amber Glenn made her Junior Grand Prix debut at the same 2013 competition as Sakamoto, and here she lies third after the short program with 72.65 points.

Sitting in podium position alongside her long-time friend, 26-year-old Glenn was equally nostalgic about returning to Czechia after all those years, now in a very different status as the Olympic team champion and three-time national champion.

“Kaori has been an incredible example of showing that you can be one of the top skaters for a long period of time and do it in a healthy way,” Glenn said. “For so many years I idolised her, and to be here with her and at these competitions for the last couple of years has been very exciting.

“We see each other at these times, and to see the success over the years has been a tribute to how hard we’ve worked to keep healthy and to do this in the right way.”

Unlike Sakamoto, Glenn has not spoken of plans to wrap up her career. Still, her opening skate in Prague also had a deeper significance.

Eager to have a re-do of her short program after Milano Cortina 2026, where an invalid element dropped her down to 13th place, it was a determined Glenn who stepped out on the ice in Prague on Wednesday afternoon. And while it was not the smoothest of skates – Glenn hung on to her triple Axel and also looked tense in her following jumps – but still a solid bid for her first world championship medal.

Also looking for a comeback story after finishing fourth at Milano Cortina 2026, Japan’s Chiba Mone was thrilled to score a personal best of 78.45 for her spirited “Last Dance” short.

Chiba had solid jump sequences, landing a triple flip-triple toe loop, double Axel and triple Lutz, to rise to second place. But it was not the technical elements that made her most proud, but rather the signature hair swish that she does towards the skate’s finale.

“The combination jump and the last Lutz, the last jump, all were pretty successful ever since I came to Prague,” the 2025 Worlds bronze medallist said. “But the moment that I would give as my highlight would be at the end, when I’m doing my neck twirling. I think that over the last two seasons I’ve hit it the best today, so I’m very happy about that.”

Glenn’s teammate Isabeau Levito is in fourth after the short program.

Except for minor points lost on a bad edge on her triple Lutz-triple loop combo, the 2024 world silver medallist was clean on the jumps in her Sophia Loren-themed program. Levito scored 72.16 for her efforts, but missed some points for not reaching top levels on two spins and one step sequence.

Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone – seventh at the world championships in Boston last year – looks to improve on this result after delivering a clean skate to Susan Boyle’s “Send in the Clowns”.

She landed a double Axel and triple loop, and while her triple Lutz-triple toe loop was shaky, it got the green light from the judges and scored her top points, as did her spins and step sequences. Pinzarrone sits in fifth place after the short with 71.82 points.

Nakai Ami came into the competition in a spotlight not usually lavished on a skater making her senior worlds debut. But after a stellar season, which included a bronze medal at Milano Cortina 2026, the 17-year-old was expected to be one of the top medal contenders.

The Japanese skater could still climb up in the free skate, but losing points on the biggest jump in her arsenal – the triple Axel – was a costly mistake. Usually solid on this high-scoring element, Nakai doubled it in Prague and also had a two-footed landing, which trimmed off more points.

She followed that up with a solid triple Lutz-triple toe loop combo and triple loop, but it was still not enough to pass the 70-point mark. Nakai currently sits in eighth place with 69.10 points.

The women’s competition concludes on Friday with the free skate.

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2026: Women’s short program results (Top 10)

1. Sakamoto Kaori (JPN) – 79.31
2. Chiba Mone (JPN) – 78.45
3. Amber Glenn (USA) – 72.65
4. Isabeau Levito (USA) – 72.16
5. Nina Pinzarrone (BEL) – 71.82
6. Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO) – 69.92
7. Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA) – 69.33
8. Nakai Ami (JPN) – 69.10
9. Sarah Everhardt (USA) – 68.74
10. Lee Haein (KOR) – 68.50