Olympics-Figure Skating-Japan take silver and bronze in bittersweet night for Kagiyama

By Agnieszka Flak

MILAN, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Japan claimed silver and bronze in the men’s figure skating final on Friday, but the double podium proved bittersweet for Yuma Kagiyama, who said he was a bit frustrated by an error‑filled skate that fell short of his hopes on Olympic ice.

Kagiyama earned silver while teammate Shun Sato took bronze at the Milano Cortina Games after a cascade of mistakes upended the expected order and left pre-event favourite Ilia Malinin tumbling down the leaderboard.

Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov delivered the day’s biggest shock, seizing the Olympic title after producing the cleanest and most composed free skate of the final fight. 

Even though Kagiyama was widely expected to finish second, the result did not seem a given after he fell at the start and executed only one of his quads cleanly. He covered his head with his hands when his score was read out. 

“I’m relieved to have won the medal, but I was also a little disappointed with my performance, so I think that feeling was very apparent,” the 22-year-old said afterwards.

Still, he did not give up. 

“After the two mistakes in the first half, I think that in a normal competition, I would have been completely shaken up and my spirits would have dropped,” he said. 

“But today, on this Olympic stage, I was skating with such determination to never give up and skate until the very end, so I managed to persevere in the second half.”

Kagiyama, who also took silver at the Beijing Olympics, said performing at the Olympics was special but it also came with particular pressures. 

“Everyone was very nervous, especially with the free program, it’s nerve-wracking for everyone,” he said.

LESSONS OF RESILIENCE

Coached by his father, two-times Olympian Masakazu Kagiyama, the Japanese skater said he drew on early lessons about resilience to get through the performance. 

“My father told me that even if I fell … it would be enough as long as I gave it my all,” he said.

Kagiyama said skating to Puccini’s Turandot before an Italian crowd in the city where the opera premiered was exhilarating, but admitted he felt he had not fully done the piece justice.

His free skate to a four‑minute bespoke edit of composer Christopher Tin’s finale had been expected to be one of the event’s highlights and a fitting nod to the opera’s centenary in Milan.

“I tried my best to give it my all. I really wish I could have put on a better performance, especially in a place like Milan,” Kagiyama said. “I feel a little bit sad and sorry that I wasn’t able to do the programme perfectly.” 

While Kagiyama expected to walk away with a medal in Milan, finishing on the podium was a shock for his teammate Sato. 

“I really didn’t expect to win a medal and stand on the podium tonight,” Sato said. “So right now, I don’t know if it’s a dream or reality.”

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)