The China Mail - Japanese teen Nakai leads Sakamoto after Olympic women's short programme

The 17-year-old's sparkling, circus-like skate to "La Strada" by Nino Rota stole the show and earned her a personal best 78.71 points at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

She is ahead of Sakamoto, a former three-time world champion who took Olympic bronze in Beijing four years ago, and is just 1.48 behind in second with 77.23 points.

Liu is in third place going into Thursday's free skating final after hitting her personal best 76.59.

"I feel like I'm dreaming," said a beaming Nakai.

"I just tried to stay in my skate, and have a good time for the rest of the skate."

Nakai punched the air in delight after nailing her elements including a difficult three-and-a-half-rotation triple axel among her four triple jumps.

Sakamoto, 25, was also delighted after delivering a clean skate to "Time To Say Goodbye" performed by Andrea Bocelli in what will be the three-time Olympic medallist's final competition.

US men's skating star Ilia Malinin, whose failure to win singles gold was one of the shocks of this Olympics, watched in the stands.

Liu, 20, scored her personal best for her mesmerising two-and-a-half-minute routine to "Promise" by Laufey as she bids for an Olympic singles gold to add to her team title.

But US champion Amber Glenn left the ice in tears as she saw her chances slip away.

Glenn had gotten off to strong start matching Nakai's triple axel jump in her skate to Madonna's "Like A Prayer".

But the 26-year-old missed her final triple jump meaning she earned zero points for that element and is in 13th position over ten points behind Nakai.

"The Americans push me with their difficult jumps, including the triple Axel," said Nakai.

"I want to make sure I land the triple Axel and then enjoy the performance until the very end of it.”

Japan's Chiba Mone (74.00) is in fourth followed by Russian champion Adeliia Petrosian (72.89) in fifth.

Petrosian gave a confident performance as she bids to keep the women's gold in Russian hands for a fourth consecutive Games.

The 18-year-old is competing under a neutral banner as Russian and Belarusian skaters have been banned from Olympic events since Moscow began its offensive on Ukraine in 2022.

In glittery black pants and a red sequin top for her Michael Jackson tribute, the three-time Russian champion nailed all her jumps including a triple-triple.

Her performance proved a hit with soft toys thrown onto the ice after her skate and it earned her a personal best score.

Among her coaching team is Eteri Tutberidze, who also trained Kamila Valieva, the Russian teen whose failed doping test overshadowed the 2022 Beijing Games.

"I am very happy with my skate," said Petrosian, who arrived in Milan untested against top international competitors.

"At first I was worried, not about my skate but about my emotions. This was the most important start of my life.

"I'm feeling really calm, and I hope this will help me with my free skate because this (short programme) already helped me today.

"The audience was very warm and very loud, and every time I thought it could be less loud, it was even louder."

A.Zhang--ThChM