Olympic Figure Skating Team Event Results 2026 Women's Short Program Scorers, Highlights

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took the top spot in the team event of the women's figure skating short program on Friday, comfortably beating Alysa Liu of the United States with a top-class performance at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Sakamoto put together terrific combinations and skated her way to a score of 78.88, despite being put under real pressure by Liu, who scored 74.90 before her.

World Champion Liu did little wrong, effortlessly combining personality, technique and noticeable enjoyment to secure nine points in the team event for the United States.

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The Italian crowd also came away with a smile on their faces after seeing Lara Naki Gutmann deliver a memorable skate that scored 71.62, her first time beyond the 70 marker.

Team Women's Short Standings:

1. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) - 78.88 (41.97, 36.91)
2. Alysa Liu (USA) - 74.90 (39.52, 35.38)
3. Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA) - 71.62 (38.28, 33.34)
4. Jia Shin (KOR) - 68.80 (37.93, 30.87)
5. Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO) - 67.79 (35.24, 32.55)
6. Madeline Schizas (CAN) - 64.97 (34.43, 30.54)
7. Lorine Schild (FRA) - 62.24 (34.74, 27.50)
8. Ruiyang Zhang (CHN) - 59.83 (33.08, 26.75)
9. Ekaterina Kurakova (POL) - 57.76 (29.37, 28.39)
10. Kristen Spours (GBR) - 48.28 (24.10, 24.18)

Sakamoto's win was Japan's second of the day in the team event, following Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara taking the full 10 points in the team pairs event.

In the overall team-event standings, the United States sit top of the leaderboard after three events, with Liu's nine points taking the total to 25, two ahead of Japan and three ahead of Italy.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates took the full 10 with victory in the ice dance, while Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea finished fifth in the team pairs earlier in the day.