Figure skating: Rika Kihira leads after Four Continents short program

Rika Kihira started her title defense at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in impressive fashion Thursday, surging to the head of the field in the women's short program.The 17-year-old Japanese national champion scored 81.18 for her routine featuring a triple axel, triple flip-triple toe loop combination and triple Lutz.She will go into Saturday's free skating segment at Mokdong Ice Rink with a 5.25-point lead over Bradie Tennell of the United States. South Korea's You Young finished the short program in third place a further 2.38 points back.Among the other Japanese competit…READ FULL ARTICLE