Loena Hendrickx wins figure skating bronze in Japan
Back at the highest level, the Belgian skater won over both the Japanese audience and the judging panel with her free programme.
Osaka was the venue for the Japanese round of the figure skating Grand Prix series.
In the free programme, Loena Hendrickx gave a dazzling performance to the music of Yasmin Levy's song "La Alegria". Starting with the initial, more gentle section, during which the skater from Antwerp was able to string together triple jumps with great confidence, the routine then moved into a more up-tempo section, when Loena Hendrickx once again displayed all her grace on the ice.
The Belgian scored a very impressive 136.52 points for her free programme, but in the short programme, she was only able to score 62.45 points following a slight loss of balance and a fall on landing a triple flip.
Loena Hendrickx was ultimately awarded an overall score of 198.97 points – a score that earned her a place on the third step of the NHK Trophy podium, alongside Japan's three-time world champion Sakamoto (227.18 points) and Kazakhstan's Samodelkina (200.00 points).
The Belgian now has two weeks to prepare for her next international competition in Helsinki, Finland, and to work on her short programme, to the music of Céline Dion's song "Ashes".
Her return to the highest echelons of competition bodes well for the Winter Olympics, for which she has already qualified.