2026 Winter Olympics: Ami Nakai, 17, tops women’s figure skating short program as Japan dominates

Japan dominated the short program in women’s figure skating at Milan-Cortina 2026, with its athletes taking three of the top four positions after the short program.

Ami Nakai, 17, stormed to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 78.71, the best score of the season.

She is followed by three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, while compatriot Mune Chiba – who won bronze at last year’s world championships – is fourth.

They capitalized on mistakes by the impressive Americans, with world champion Alyssa Liu in third and Amber Glenn further down the field.

Liu, with her instantly recognizable halo hair and lip piercing, blew the roof off the arena as her routine won plaudits from onlookers ranging from teammate Ilya Malinin to rap icon Snoop Dogg.

However, she lost points on her triple Lutz due to landing in the quarter – and did not complete the full turn, instead turning back onto the ice 90 degrees.

Meanwhile, American champion Glenn suffered a disaster as she missed the triple ring – meaning it was scored as an invalid item, and therefore scored no points for the item.

Glenn, 26, burst into tears as she left the rink. She sits 13th in the standings and knows her medal hopes are over.

Adelia Petrosyan, the Russian champion who competes as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), is in fifth place.

Team GB’s Kristen Spoors – in her final event before retiring due to injury – finished 29th.

The Woking-born skater will miss the free skate, with the top 24 finishers qualifying for the medals decider on Thursday night.