Sawt Falasteen - Olympic silver medallist Kagiyama to take break from skating

Kagiyama finished runner-up behind Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov at the Milan-Cortina Games in February and picked up silver again at last month's world championships in Prague.

The 22-year-old, who also won Olympic silver at the 2022 Beijing Games, said on social media that he had "decided to take a break from competing" during the 2026-27 season.

"I want to use this time to rediscover what makes figure skating so special, take on new challenges and reflect on myself as I look toward the future," he said.

Kagiyama said he would skate in ice shows and events and had "a few projects in the works".

Kagiyama was seen as American Ilia Malinin's closest rival for gold heading to the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Malinin suffered a spectacular meltdown and finished eighth but Kagiyama could not take advantage as dark horse Shaidorov won the competition.

Malinin bounced back to win his third straight world title in Prague, with Kagiyama again finishing second.

Kagiyama said the "past few seasons have brought many frustrations and difficult moments, but I'm glad I was able to finish the season on a positive note".

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST