Kaori Sakamoto of Japan waves during women's victory ceremony of Japan Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena, in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Kaori Sakamoto delivered a commanding free skate performance Saturday to secure her second national championship and a berth at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

       Leading second-place Wakaba Higuchi by 4.57 points after Thursday's short program, the 21-year-old Sakamoto totaled a season-best 234.06 at Saitama Super Arena as she reclaimed the Japanese women's singles crown she first won in 2018.

       Sakamoto executed seven triple jumps -- including a triple flip-triple toe loop combination -- scoring 154.83 for her free routine and finishing the competition 12.28 clear of Higuchi.

       Mana Kawabe rounded out the podium a further 12.13 points back, with Mai Mihara fourth on 206.86. Four-time national champion Satoko Miyahara, who finished fourth at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, was fifth on 206.51.

       Sakamoto, the runner-up last year to back-to-back national champion Rika Kihira, raised both of her hands in joy as she exited the ice.

       "I couldn't be happier. I'm absolutely thrilled. A weight has been lifted off me," said the Kobe native, who was still a high schooler when she placed sixth in her Olympic debut in Pyeongchang.

       The four-day nationals, which wrap up Sunday, are the final qualification event for February's Beijing Games. The Japan Skating Federation will officially announce the Olympic team, with three competitors each in men's and women's singles, after the championships conclude.

       Previously considered the best medal chance among the Japanese women, the 19-year-old Kihira pulled out before the nationals due to a stress fracture in her right ankle and will not compete at the Olympics.

       In ice dancing, Misato Komatsubara and Takeru Komatsubara, also known as Tim Koleto, clinched a fourth straight national title after narrowly beating Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi.

       The husband-and-wife pair came in with a big enough lead from Thursday's rhythm dance to win by 1.86 points despite finishing second behind Muramoto and Takahashi in the free dance.

       Two-time defending Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu will aim for his second straight national title and sixth overall when the men's singles competition concludes on Sunday.

       He leads Pyeongchang silver medalist Shoma Uno by 9.43 points after returning from his long injury layoff with an outstanding short program on Friday.

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