Satoko Miyahara Wins Skate America, Kaori Sakamoto Places 2nd

From October 19 – 21, this year’s edition of Skate America took place in Everett, Washington. This was the first event in the International Skating Union’s 2018 – 2019 Grand Prix Series. For the second consecutive year, Satoko Miyahara won the women’s portion of the event, with Kaori Sakamoto following in second.

Satoko won with a total score of 219.71. Her short program received a score of 73.86, putting her in first place. “I was nervous, but I was able to turn that into power,” Satoko said after her skate. “Since my goal now is to show in competition what I’ve done in practice, I think the short program was decent enough as a first step.”

Satoko’s free skate was the top one of the event, with a score of 145.85. “I was nervous during the performance, so I’m glad,” she said. “The best thing was that there wasn’t a lack of turns in my jumps at this tournament.” With this win, Satoko has become the first woman to win back to back at Skate America since South Korea’s Yuna Kim in 2008 and 2009.

Kaori came in second with a total score of 213.90. Her short program was ranked second, with a score of 71.29. Kaori’s free skate was also ranked second, with a score of 142.61.

Japan’s only other entry in this competiton, Marin Honda, finished in eighth place with a total score of 158.04.

This coming weekend sees Shoma Uno, Kazuki Tomono, Wakaba Higuchi, Yura Matsuda, and Mako Yamashita taking the ice at Skate Canada in Laval, Quebec.

Satoko Miyahara

Short program