Perhaps the marquee event of any Winter Olympics, women’s individual figure skating got underway Tuesday and Italy.

And it was a tremendous night for Japan, as the night finished with their three skaters among the top four.

Ami Nakai leads after the short program, followed by fellow Team Japan member Kaori Sakamoto. Team USA’s Alysa Liu sits third, followed by Mone Chiba of Japan.

Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian — competing under the Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) designation — set the early benchmark with a 72.89 as the second skater on the ice. Petrosian entered the 2026 Winter Olympics as a three-time national champion, and that score represented a personal best for the young skater in the short program.

Ami Nakai, the 17-year-old from Japan, took to the ice to begin the penultimate group, with the hardest technical short program in the field, which included a triple Axel. As she landed that jump cleanly, her smile told the entire story. She then completed a triple Lutz/triple toe loop combination, and brought the crowd to its feet with a strong performance that netted her a 78.71 … and the lead.

It was the second-highest short program score this season, behind only teammate Kaori Sakamoto.

Hometown hero Lara Naki Gutmann closed out the penultimate group, already with a bronze medal to her name during the 2026 Winter Olympics as part of the Italian team that finished third in the team event. But she could not capture the magic from earlier in the Games, failing on a triple Lutz and only completing a double, a mistake that cost her eight points on the technical side alone.

Gutmann’s score of 61.56 put her into 12th for them oment.

But it was time for the final group, which included the American trio of Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito. However, the “Blade Angels” were not the only medal contenders in the final group, which included Sakamoto and Mone Chiba from Japan.

Liu went first, and the 2025 World Champion took to the ice with the third-hardest technical short program in the field. She opened with a flawless triple flip, followed shortly by a double Axel and then a spin sequence. Liu saved her triple-triple combination for the second half of the program to earn a bonus, but she slightly under-rotated the second half of that triple Lutz/triple toe loop pairing.

When the music stopped, Liu’s technical score was 42.83, just off the 45.02 mark set by Nakai.

When the judges had their say, Liu jumped into second place with a 76.59, just behind Nakai.

Levito was next, as the 18-year-old took to the Olympic ice for the first time, as she was not part of the Team USA squad during the team event. She opened with a triple flip/triple toe loop combination, followed by a double Axel and a beautiful spin/step sequence. As she reached the second half of her short program, Levito worked in a triple toe loop — looking for the bonus — along with another artistic step sequence to close it out.

However, on review of the triple loop, it was shown she slightly under-rotated on the jump, and a deduction followed. Levito’s score of 70.84 put her into fifth place for the moment, with four skaters left to compete.

Following a solid effort from Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova, which was good for 71.77 and fourth place, it was over to Sakamoto. Skating to “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman (an apt choice given this is her final Games), Sakamoto began her short program with a triple Lutz, followed by a double Axel. Her triple flip/triple toe loop combination in the second half of her skate was clean, and a difficult step sequence to close out the skate left her with a technical score of 42.19.

When the judges weighed in, Sakamoto jumped into second place with a score of 77.23, just behind Nakai and just ahead of Liu.

Then it was over to the final member of the “Blade Angels,” Glenn. Along with Nakai, Glenn’s program was the only other one in the field with a triple Axel, carrying a potential big bonus. Glenn opened her skate with it, delivering a massive jump to begin her short program. She then delivered a triple flip/triple toe loop combination, coming forward on the landing of the toe loop but staying upright.

But then, Glenn pulled out of a double loop, failing to score a single point for the element. She lost seven points on that alone, and her dejection following her skate told the story.

“I had it,” lamented Glenn as she came off the ice.

“One revolution in the air changes everything,” said Tara Lipinski up in the NBC commentary box.

Glenn’s score of 67.39 was good for just 12th place, with one skater left on the night.

That skater? Mone Chiba from Japan. Her strong performance earned a 74.00, sliding her into fourth behind Liu.

Here are the top-15 skaters following the women’s short program:

The women’s figure skating competition concludes on Thursday with the free skate, which begins at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.