Figure skating: Kaori Sakamoto 1st after women's short program at nationals

Kaori Sakamoto was in pole position to win her second women's singles crown at Japan's national figure skating championships and earn a spot at the Beijing Olympics after topping Thursday's short program at Saitama Super Arena.The 21-year-old, who won her maiden national title in 2018 and was runner-up to Rika Kihira last year, scored 79.23 to finish the section 4.57 points ahead of Wakaba Higuchi in second place.Mana Kawabe rounded out the top three on 74.27, with four-time national champion and 2018 Olympian Satoko Miyahara fourth on 73.76.The Dec. 23-26 nationals are the final qualifying…READ FULL ARTICLE