Kazuki Tomono’s stunning short program leads Skate America, while Metelkina and Berulava top pairs

Japanese figure skater Kazuki Tomono delivered his best short program in more than three years as Skate America opened Friday night, giving him the lead over Kevin Aymoz of France and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov heading into the free skate.

Jason Brown of the U.S. was fifth behind Italy’s Daniel Grassl in his first Grand Prix event of the season.

In the pairs competition, Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava continued their fast rise through the world ranks with a near-perfect program set to the figure skating staple “Bolero,” helping them to build a solid lead over Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara.

The 27-year-old Tomono, who is trying to earn one of Japan’s spots at the Winter Olympics in February, was solid from his opening quad toe-triple toe combo through his quad salchow and triple axel. By the time he finished his short program, set to music by New York-based musical duo SOFI TUKKER, the crowd inside the arena in Lake Placid, New York, was standing in ovation.

His score of 95.77 was not only a season’s best, but Tomono’s best short-program score since the 2022 world championships.

Aymoz, the six-time French champion, scored 93.56 points in a bounce-back performance from a poor showing at Skate Canada that left him in tears in the kiss-and-cry area. The veteran has been dealing with a left foot injury but didn’t look like it, landing an opening quad toe-triple toe before a solid triple axel and triple lutz to finish out his short program.

Shaidorov, the last performer on the ice, is still trying to win his first Grand Prix event after taking bronze at the Cup of China earlier this season. The 21-year-old world silver medalist will have some ground to make up in Lake Placid, though, after his component scores dragged down a program highlighted by a pair of quads and produced a score of 89.67 points.

Grassl was fourth with 83.68 points, while Brown finished with 82.69, despite a program that relies solely on triple jumps.

The 30-year-old American, who is trying to land a spot on his third Olympic team for the Milan Cortina Games, is competing at back-to-back Grand Prix events — Skate America followed by the Grand Prix of Finland next weekend. It is an unorthodox path for a high-level skater, but one that Brown hopes will sharpen him up before nationals in January and potentially the Olympics.

He had plenty to sharpen Friday night during a reworked short-program version of his iconic “Riverdance.” Brown under-rotated his opening triple axel and spun out on a triple lutz-triple toe combination, which dragged down his total. But the fast, precise footwork that is a hallmark not only of “Riverdance” but also Brown’s skating allowed him to finish in the top five.

“It’s so special,” said Brown, who hugged all the young skaters who collected the stuffed animals thrown to the ice. “It’s my first time getting to do this program in front of a home crowd. All the emotions flooded back.”

It has been a full decade since Brown made his Grand Prix debut at Skate America.

“You feel the nerves,” he said. “You feel the excitement.”

Metelkina and Berulava, the Russian-born pair representing Georgia, followed their victory at the Cup of China by scoring a season’s best 78.83 points. The highlights were their side-by-side triple salchows, almost in unison, and their throw triple twist.

“We’ve very happy today. We skated very good. Clean,” Berulava said. “Step by step.”

It was the side-by-side jump that caused problems for Miura and Kihara, the two-time reigning world champions from Japan. She popped the planned triple toe loop, and that element alone made the difference. They scored 74.42 points.

Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany were third with 68.26 points. Emily Chan and Spencer Howe were fifth for the U.S.

The men’s and pairs medals will be decided on Saturday night, after the start of the ice dance competition and the women’s short program. Those medals will be decided on the final day of Skate America on Sunday.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics