Kagiyama and Sakamoto lead Japanese sweep of men’s and women's short programs at NHK Trophy

TOKYO (AP) — Defending champion Yuma Kagiyama performed a near-flawless routine on Friday to lead a Japanese sweep of the men’s figure skating short program at the NHK Trophy.

Skating to “The Sound of Silence,” Kagiyama nailed an effortless quadruple salchow on his opening jump and followed with a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination.

The 2022 Olympic silver medalist added a triple axel to finish with a season-best 105.70 points.

“I was trying to equal the score I had at the Olympics but was three points short,” the three-time world silver medalist said. “Today’s performance, from beginning to end, went just as planned.”

Kagiyama’s compatriot Kao Miura was second with a personal-best 102.96 points while Tatsuya Tsuboi completed a sweep of the top three places for the host nation with 85.02.

“All three skaters did what they needed to do today,” Kagiyama said. “Tatsuya had great flow and we were given great motivation. Kao was creating real momentum and I needed to do well.”

Andrew Torgashev of the United States was fourth with 84.36.

In the women’s short program, three-time and reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan finished first with a season-best 78.93 points.

Sakamoto, who won gold at Skate Canada two weeks ago, opened with a double axel and also cleanly landed a triple lutz and triple flip-triple toeloop combination.

“I was very pleased with the lutz and it was highly evaluated,” Sakamoto said. “I was able to concentrate well throughout the entire routine.”

Like the men’s short program, the women’s top three was also swept by the host nation.

Mone Chiba was second with 71.69, followed by Yuna Aoki with 69.78.

Alysa Liu of the United States, who is making a comeback, was fourth with 65.03.

Liu started off with a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and landed a double axel and a triple lutz later in her routine.

Two-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States were first after the ice dance short program.

The U.S. champions, who were second at Skate America, collected level fours and threes for their elements for a season’s best score of 86.32 points.

“We made some really good strides since Skate America, specifically with this program,” Bates said. “We put a lot of effort into improving it and changed some of the music, some of the choreography, which can be challenging in the midst of the Grand Prix.”

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, also of the United States, were second with 79.64, followed by Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania with 77.91.

In pairs, skating to “Paint it Black,” world silver medalists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan were first after the short program with 71.90 points.

Miura and Kihara completed a triple twist, throw triple lutz but Miura landed forward on a triple toe which was downgraded.

“There was a mistake we were able to recover from ... that was very good for us,” Miura said. “Our choreographer has changed and we thought we needed to create something new.”

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia were second with 70.28, followed by Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea of the U.S. with 69.15.

The NHK Trophy is the fourth event in the ISU’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.

A total of 60 skaters and couples are representing 16 countries in men’s women’s, pairs and ice dance competitions.

The next round of the GP Series is Nov. 15-17 at the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Finland.

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Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea of the U.S. compete in the pairs short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia compete in the pairs short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan compete in the pairs short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuna Aoki of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Mone Chiba of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Mone Chiba of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Andrew Torgashev of the U.S. competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Andrew Torgashev of the U.S. competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Tatsuya Tsuboi of Japan competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kao Miura of Japan competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan reacts after competing in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Jimmy Carter 's long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia where the 39th U.S. president's life began more than 100 years ago.

A motorcade with Carter's flag-draped casket is heading to his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on the way to Atlanta. The procession began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president served as pallbearers. A mournful train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned to face the hearse for a final goodbye, their hands on their hearts.

The Carter family, including the former president's four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch as his six-day state funeral begins.

The longest-lived U.S. president, Carter died at his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.

Families lined the procession route in downtown Plains, near the historic train depot where Carter headquartered his presidential campaign. Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins bearing Carter’s photo.

“We want to pay our respects,” said 12-year-old Will Porter Shelbrock, who was born more than three decades after Carter left the White House in 1981. “He was ahead of his time on what he tried to do and tried to accomplish.”

It was Shelbrock’s idea to make the trip to Plains from Gainesville, Fla., with his grandmother, Susan Cone, 66, so they could witness the start of Carter's final journey. Shelbrock said he admires Carter for his humanitarian work building houses and waging peace, and for installing solar panels on the White House.

Carter and his late wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, were born in Plains and lived most of their lives in and around the town, with the exceptions of Jimmy's Navy career and his terms as Georgia governor and president.

The procession will stop in front of Carter's home on his family farm just outside of Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times to honor his place as the 39th president. Carter's remains then will proceed to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.

There, he will lie in repose until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. His state funeral is Thursday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church.

He will be buried near his home, next to Rosalynn Carter.

Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.

People wait for a funeral procession for former President Jimmy Carter to move through downtown Plains, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)

People line the road before the hearse with the casket of former President Jimmy Carter departs Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, move the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter welcomes visitors to Maranatha Baptist Church before teaching Sunday school in Plains, Ga., June 8, 2014. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

FILE - People wait in line outside Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., to get into a Sunday school class taught by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Aug. 23, 2015. It was Carter's first lesson since announcing plans for intravenous drug doses and radiation to treat melanoma found in his brain after surgery to remove a tumor from his liver. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

People line the street in Plains, Ga., before the hearse carrying the casket of former President Jimmy Carter passes through the town Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown, Aug. 23, 2015, in Plains, Ga. The 90-year-old Carter gave one lesson to about 300 people filling the small Baptist church that he and his wife, Rosalynn, attend. It was Carter's first lesson since detailing the intravenous drug doses and radiation treatment planned to treat melanoma found in his brain after surgery to remove a tumor from his liver. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)