Arizona Tribune - Japan's Mihara wins second gold, US 1-2 in pairs at Four Continents

Mihara's fourth-placed finish at the Japanese nationals ended her hopes of competing in a first Winter Games in Beijing but she held her nerve in Tallinn to reclaim a title she won five years ago.

In the pairs, Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov survived a fall in the free skate to win gold by an 8.16-point margin on fellow Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe in the Estonian capital.

Mihara, 22, led all the way, scoring a career high 218.03 points and bettering South Korean skaters Lee Hae-in (213.52) and Kim Ye-lim (209.91), who claimed their first ISU medals with silver and bronze respectfully.

"I was so nervous today as the nationals were in the back of my mind, like a flashback," said Mihara.

"I was crying even before I went on the ice, but I was able to overcome that bitterness from nationals and bring home a gold medal to Japan."

Mihara extended her lead from the short programme, despite a glitch on her final spin in her free skate to 'Fairy of the Forest' and 'Galaxy' by Yuko Toyoda, scoring a career best 145.41.

It was her fourth medal in the competition following her gold in 2017, with silver and bronze in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

"The order was 1,2,3 so I didn't want to end up with fourth placement this time," she said.

"This gold has a totally different meaning than 2017.

"This time I put pressure on myself. I needed to go on the top of the podium and get the gold. I was overwhelmed with joy on seeing the results, with tears rolling."

Lee and Kim bettered South Korean national champion You Young who finished sixth after an error-strewn free skate including a fall on her triple toeloop.

Sixteen-year-old Lee skated to "Homage to Korea" by Ji Pyeong Kwon for her first participation in the competition, landing seven clean triple jumps, for a career best 143.55, and improving her previous personal best by 10 points.

Kim, 19, held third place despite finishing fourth in the free dance to Puccini's Turandot, as she prepares for the Olympics after finishing second at nationals.

"This competition has given me confidence," she said.

"It was very close to nationals and I was worried about my condition. I had a clean programme today so this gives me confidence."

In pairs, despite Lu falling in their free skate to Ronan Hardiman's "Ancient Lands", the Americans held their lead from the short programme, scoring 189.10 points overall, with Chan and Akira Howe scoring 180.94.

Canada's Evelyn Walsh and Trennt Michaud scored 179.70 points to take bronze.

The American and Canadian skaters are not competing in the Beijing Olympics.

Most of the top skaters from Asia and North America have opted to skip the competition, which takes place just two weeks before the Winter Games, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

China have not sent a team to Estonia.

The competition concludes on Sunday with South Korean champion Cha Jun-hwan leading Japanese duo Kazuki Tomono and Kao Miura in the men's event going into the free skating final.

P.Smith--AT