Japan's Sakamoto claims three-peat in World Figure Skating Championships

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto became the first woman to claim a three-peat in figure skating since American Peggy Fleming in 1968 at the ongoing World Championships in Montreal on Friday.

With a total score of 222.96, Sakamoto managed to finish the season undefeated after winning the ISU Grand Prix Final and the Japanese National Championships in December last year. 17-year-olds Isabeau Levito of the U.S., who won her first senior world medal, and Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea, who is competing in her second World Championships, rounded off the podium. Belgium's Loena Hendrickx stumbled to fourth place after leading the short program on Wednesday.

Beating Levito by more than ten points, Sakamoto had to rally from fourth place in the short program. She confidently opened her performance with a double axel, then performed a triple lutz just as the singing of Lauryn Hill kicked in, followed by a clean triple salchow. She earned a level 4 (the highest) on her change combination spin and secured a level 3 on step sequence. 

The 23-year-old then accomplished three separate combinations, including a triple loop and double toe loop, triple flip and triple toe loop, and a perfect landing of double axel-triple toe loop-double toe loop before solidifying her comeback win with a final triple loop, and ending the night with a standing ovation from some 6,000 spectators. 

"I was fourth in the short program, so I was a little anxious about that, but today I was in a really good place emotionally," said Sakamoto. "I was able to calm down today. I was able to keep focused and do my elements one after the other and I am happy with this result.

"After my triple-triple combination, the roar of the crowd was very loud," she reflected. "I told myself, 'If I ride this excitement, I will be spinning my wheels,' so I tried to keep myself calm until the very end."

Earlier on Thursday, 40-year-old local Deanna Stellato-Dudek became the oldest woman to win a figure skating world title after a top finish with Maxime Deschamps in the pairs event.