Photo/Illutration Kaori Sakamoto, of Japan, performs in the women’s short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Montpellier, south of France, March 23, 2022. (AP Photo)

MONTPELLIER, France--Olympic bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan took a comfortable lead over Loena Hendrickx of Belgium and American figure skater Mariah Bell on Wednesday after the short program at the world championships.

Sakamoto’s program, set to music from the film “Gladiator,” featured a triple flip-triple toe loop and earned huge component marks for a score of 80.32 points. That was more than five points clear of Hendrickx, who was seventh at the Beijing Games last month, and nearly eight points ahead of Bell, who finished 11th at the Olympics.

Sakamoto broke up a Russian sweep of the podium in Beijing with her bronze medal. But none of her rivals--gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova, silver medalist Alexandra Trusova and fourth-place finisher Kamila Valieva--is allowed at worlds, with Russian athletes barred from international competition following the invasion of Ukraine.

Valieva is among several Russian skaters performing in an exhibition in Saransk this weekend.

You Young of South Korea was fourth after her short program. U.S. skater Alysa Liu was in fifth place.

The world championships continue later Wednesday with the pairs short program, which is missing the top five finishers at the Beijing Games. That’s because along with the silver- and bronze-winning Russian teams, gold medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong and Chinese teammates Peng Cheng and Jin Yang are also absent from worlds.

That leaves the American team of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, who were sixth in Beijing, as the favorites to win the world championship. The first medal at worlds will be awarded following the pairs free skate Thursday.

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