Figure skating: Repond and Kaiser far behind after short program

Kimmy Repond and Livia Kaiser finished 21st and 23rd after the short program, meaning that both Swiss figure skaters made the cut for the free skate on Thursday.

For the first time since 1984 and the performances of Sandra Cariboni and Myriam Oberwiler in Sarajevo, two Swiss women were represented in the singles.

Repond showed a solid program and received 59.20 points for her performance. This was only slightly lower than her score at the European Championships in January, when she came 6th after the short program with 59.28 points. The fact that the 19-year-old from Basel was unable to reach her full potential in Milan is shown by the fact that her best score is 68.68 points, set at last year’s European Championships.

Kaiser had to accept a few points deductions due to a fall and remained well below her best performance of 66.31 points achieved at the 2024 European Championships. The 21-year-old from Thurgau came 23rd after the short program with just 55.69 points and only just made the cut.

Both Swiss women did not have an easy preparation for their first Olympic Games. Repond struggled with foot problems for a long time and only made her comeback at the European Championships in Sheffield in January after an eight-month injury break. Kaiser slashed his calf in a training accident a year ago and struggled with the consequences for a long time.

Before the free skate of the best 24 skaters on Thursday, 17-year-old Japanese skater Ami Nakai (78.71) leads ahead of her compatriot Kaori Sakamoto (77.23) and American Alysa Liu (76.59).