TURIN, Italy, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japanese figure skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Rion Sumiyoshi won gold medals in the men's and women's singles events at the Torino 2025 FISU World University Winter Games on Saturday.
Kagiyama, silver medalist at the Beijing Winter Olympics, tallied an impressive score of 289.04 points.
Despite some flaws in the free skate, Kagiyama's high score in the short program secured him the championship. "This competition is different - it's so big and it feels almost like a festival. The support here was amazing," he said.
In the home crowd's enthusiastic applause, Italy's Daniel Grassl took second place, with his 186.74 points in the free skate earning a standing ovation.
Grassl said that he is happy to achieve the goal of standing on the podium, and the Winter Universiade shows how students can do their best in both sports and study.
South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan rounded out the podium.
Sumiyoshi claimed the women's singles title with 204.29 points, edging out her teammate Mone Chiba by less than a point. Sofia Samodelkina from Kazakhstan won the bronze medal. ■
