Ami Nakai stole the spotlight in the women’s short program at Milano Cortina 2026, delivering a gutsy, crowd-pleasing performance Wednesday night. The 17-year-old from Japan landed a clean triple Axel and a difficult jump combination, earning a season-best 78.71 points and heading into Thursday’s free skate in first place.
The triple Axel remains a rare and decisive weapon at this level — and it was the difference-maker for Nakai against more seasoned rivals. Close behind her were veteran Kaori Sakamoto, who posted 77.23 after a powerful, emotionally charged skate, and U.S. youngster Alysa Liu, who set a personal best of 76.59. With only a handful of points separating the top three, the podium is wide open going into the long program.
How Nakai rose to the top
Nakai’s short blended daring with polish. In her breakthrough senior season she nailed a triple Lutz–triple toe combination and another hefty triple, picking up both base value and positive grades of execution. More impressive than any single element was her composure: she said a favorable warm-up draw and an effort to simply enjoy the moment helped her translate practice form into competition results.
The slim gaps on the leaderboard raise the stakes for Thursday. Nakai will need to balance the technical bravado that got her here with richer choreography and sustained stamina over the longer program if she wants to convert this lead into a medal.
Performance details and context
Judges rewarded Nakai’s clean deliveries across jumps, spins and footwork, with strong marks for skating skills, transitions and interpretation. The successfully landed triple Axel boosted her technical base value and minimized the risk of negative grades of execution — a critical advantage in such a tight field. Her climb from a lower national rank last year to Olympic short-program leader speaks to rapid gains in both consistency and ambition. Coaches have urged her to keep the technical edge while expanding the program’s artistic texture for the free skate.
Where the favorites stand
Sakamoto arrived at the event carrying big titles and Olympic pedigree. Her short program felt free and forceful, though a slightly under-rotated combination trimmed a few points; still, 77.23 keeps her well within reach. Alysa Liu’s personal best came on the back of an emotional skate and a bold attempt at a rare triple Lutz–triple loop combination, with the loop called under-rotated. That risk, however, bolsters her technical profile heading into Thursday.
Other contenders had mixed nights. Amber Glenn — a multiple-time U.S. champion — was penalized for an invalid element, which dropped her down the standings.
Other notable competitors
Japan’s Mone Chiba sits fourth after a clean short, while Adeliia Petrosian, skating as an Individual Neutral Athlete, posted a personal best in fifth. Names such as Loena Hendrickx and Anastasiia Gubanova also recorded season- or personal-best scores, underscoring the depth on display. Twenty-seven skaters from 20 nations plus two neutral athletes contested the short program, and the top 24 advance to the free skate on Thursday.
Other Winter Games storylines to watch
Beyond the rink, Cortina offered vivid twists across the sliding and skiing events. In bobsleigh, Johannes Lochner denied Germany’s usual strongman Francesco Friedrich the top spot, taking gold at the Cortina Sliding Centre — a notable shake-up in a sport often dominated by a handful of crews. Alpine eyes turned to Mikaela Shiffrin as she approached the slalom, her final race of these Games, while cross-country highlights included performances from Frida Karlsson and Jesse Diggins and Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo pursuing more milestones.
Free skate to decide the medals
The free skate on Thursday, February 19, 2026, will close with the top three from the short in reverse order, meaning Liu, Sakamoto and Nakai will finish the night. With narrow margins and high technical stakes, the long program promises drama: a clean, artistically rich skate could vault any of them onto the podium, while a mistake could erase today’s gains. Execution, jump content and program components will carry the day as judges and fans alike watch to see whether this young rising star can hold off the established contenders.