Shoma Uno leads Japanese sweep of top 3 spots in men's short program at worlds

Olympic bronze medallist Shoma Uno edged silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama to lead a Japanese sweep of the first three spots after the men's short program at the figure skating world championships on Thursday in Montpellier, France.

Uno scored 109.63 points for his program, set to a Vivaldi concerto, for the second-highest score in the world this season behind Olympic champion Nathan Chen's program in Beijing. Kagiyama scored 105.69 points while Kazuki Tomono edged 17-year-old American phenom Ilia Malinin by less than a point for third place.

"It is really difficult to put all the power I have in my training into the competition," Uno said, "so I'm glad it worked out."

The competition continues later Thursday with the pairs free skate, which will decide the first medals at this year's world championships. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier have a slim lead over American teammates Ashley Cain-Gribble and Tim LeDuc, with Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan sitting in third place.

The race for world medals is wide open after Chen, the three-time reigning champion, was forced to withdraw last week with an injury sustained in training. Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-time world champion, also withdrew because of an injury.

Uno twice won the silver medal at the world championships, but he's never climbed to the top step of the podium. He'll try to finish off a remarkable career resurgence when he performs his entertaining "Bolero" free skate on Saturday.

"In the past three years I have changed so much," he said. "Three years ago I was skating toward the end of my career, but now I am skating for the future. I am amid the journey of my growth, so I want to show that."

WATCH | Uno skates to lead after men's short:

Malinin dominated the