Kaori Sakamoto takes the lead as she chases a final figure skating world title; Isabeau Levito is in fourth

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — It’s time to say goodbye for Kaori Sakamoto, and she’s aiming to go out on a high with the world figure skating title.

Sakamoto’s short program music, “Time to Say Goodbye,” was charged with emotion as she targets a fourth World Figure Skating Championships title before retirement.

Sakamoto shouted with joy and clapped as she learned her score of 79.31, a season-best that put her into first place by less than a point over fellow Japanese skater Mone Chiba, who skated a personal-best 78.45 in her disco-themed program.

There’s a strong U.S. challenge for the medals with Amber Glenn in third and South Jersey’s Isabeau Levito just behind her in fourth with a 72.16. Levito, who lives and trains in Mount Laurel, skated her short program to a medley of Sophia Loren songs. She’s coming off a 12th-place finish at February’s Olympics in Milan, Italy, her mother’s hometown.

Without Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, who withdrew from the world championships amid a hectic media schedule, the focus was on whether Sakamoto could regain the title she won three times in a row from 2022 through 2024 and whether three-time U.S. champion Glenn could claim a first world medal.

Glenn came to the world championships with an Olympic team gold but missed the individual medals after a short-program error. She was back on form Wednesday, starting with a big triple axel on her way to scoring 72.65.

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Ami Nakai’s triple axel propelled her into the Olympic short-program lead — she ended up with bronze — but went missing Wednesday. The 17-year-old Japanese skater could only manage an awkward double as her opening jump and has a tough task to recover from eighth.

The women’s free skate, or long program, is Friday (1 p.m., USA, Peacock).