BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Japanese skaters Yuna Aoki, Ami Nakai and Mone Chiba swept the women's podium at the ISU Figure Skating Four Continents here on Friday.
The 24-year-old Aoki shone with 145.98 points in free skating to secure the title with a total score of 217.39 points. Although Nakai ranked first in the short program on Thursday, the 17-year-old fell down in her opening jump on Friday and finished second with 215.78 points in total. Chiba took bronze with 202.23 points.
"I created my personal best today. I want to say my efforts were finally paid off. As long as I can, I will keep skating and show myself on the rink," said Aoki.
China's Zhang Ruiyang, Zhu Yi and An Xiangyi ranked 10th, 12th and 16th in the women's event respectively. For the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Zhang, 18, said, "I still need to evaluate and choose the most suitable jumps for me to perform at the Olympics."
American skaters dominated the ice dance podium, as Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik collected 202.86 points from rhythm dance and free dance to win the gold, followed by the runners-up Caroline Green and Michael Parsons with 194.72 points, while the bronze medal went to Oona Brown and Gage Brown on 190.78 points.
Chinese pairs Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, Ren Junfei and Xing Jianing, and Xiao Zixi and He Linghao finished 9th, 10th and 11th in the ice dance respectively.
"This Four Continents tournament is like a test event for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Compared to our performance at the National Figure Skating Championships last month, we made some adjustments on rhythm dance and will continue to improve ourselves," said the 31-year-old Liu.
Wang added: "Maybe no one will completely get ready for the Olympics, but we have prepared for this moment for a long time. With no doubt, we will show everything we have at the Milan-Cortina 2026."
On Saturday, the men's short program and the pairs free skating competitions will take place at the Beijing's National Indoor Stadium. ■
