HALIFAX, Canada (Kyodo) — Three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto earned her seventh career Grand Prix victory as Japanese figure skaters swept the podium at Skate Canada International on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Sakamoto scored 126.24 points in the free skate to bring her total to 201.21 points, 9.05 ahead of runner-up Rino Matsuike, who earned the highest free skate score of 139.85 after placing 10th in the short program.

Hana Yoshida rounded off the podium with a total of 191.37 in Halifax, Canada.

“It was good to win, but the way I performed is regrettable,” said Sakamoto, the bronze medalist at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. “I was shaken during training, and that resulted in my performance. I’ll try to use this frustration as fuel to do better next time.”

Sakamoto will next skate at the NHK Trophy beginning Nov. 8 in Tokyo.

Switzerland’s Kimmy Repond (191.07) finished fourth and Canada’s Madeline Schizas (190.04) was fifth.

Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their two assigned events and the top six in each of the four divisions advancing to the Grand Prix Final in early December in Grenoble, France.