Kaori Sakamoto won bronze in the Beijing Olympic women's singles figure skating competition Thursday, as Russian Olympic Committee skater Anna Shcherbakova took gold ahead of compatriot Alexandra Trusova.
The competition was overshadowed by the doping controversy involving the ROC's 15-year-old star Kamila Valieva, who topped Tuesday's short program but dropped to fourth overall following a mistake-riddled free skate at the Capital Indoor Stadium.
With the legal fight stemming from Valieva's positive drug test at December's Russian national championships unresolved, the International Olympic Committee said it would only give provisional status to the results if the prodigy finished on the podium.