World Figure Skating Championships – Sovereign Nicole Schott – Sport

Nicole Schott has traveled to World Championships six times, and she never seemed so relieved and liberated when the music of the short freestyle faded away as she did on Wednesday in Saitama: she had a fabulous performance in Japan, the best World Championship short program of her career : sovereign, harmonious, error-free from the double axel to the triple combination of flip and toe loop. And she certainly wouldn’t have complained if the figure skating judges had given her a few more points for execution. Nicole Schott, 26, who was tenth in the World Championships last year, is seventh in the freestyle decision on Friday (9.20 a.m., Eurosport). The favorite is the leading Japanese Kaori Sakamoto, third at the Beijing Winter Games. Pair skaters Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel, who finished third at the European Championships in January, were less fortunate. Robert Kunkel suffers from back pain. The second duo, Alisa Efimowa and Ruben Blommaert from Oberstdorf, fell, but were in seventh place before the freestyle.