Kaori Sakamoto won her first world championships title in France on Friday, topping the women's free program and setting a personal best total score to dominate the field.
The 21-year-old entered Friday's skate with a 5.32-point buffer earned in the short program and showed again she is a cut above by scoring 155.77 in the free, giving her a total score of 236.09 to go clear of silver medalist Loena Hendrickx of Belgium by 18.39.
American Alysa Liu finished third.
Sakamoto's win in Montpellier makes her the sixth Japanese woman to win a world singles title and first since Mao Asada did it in 2014.
The win is the culmination of a season in which Sakamoto also won the NHK Trophy, her second national title and Olympic bronze in Beijing in February.
Speaking after her win on Friday, Sakamoto said she had to overcome a difficult post-Olympic period, with fatigue and burnout complicating her preparations for worlds.
"The training that I had to do before worlds was probably the most difficult I have ever had to do," she said.
"Most of the skaters coming to worlds had come through the Olympics as well and we were all operating in the same environment. So, I knew that I could not make an excuse just for myself that I was too tired."
Sakamoto said she struggled to get back into a rhythm and was very anxious ahead of the event in France, but that she was able to fall back on her preparation.
"The really hard training I did with my coaches in the past kind of helped to tide me over all the way to these world championships, so I am looking back on the result today so happy that I had confidence in myself."
At the Beijing Olympics, she finished behind the Russian duo of Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, neither of whom were competing in France due to a ban placed on their nation resulting from its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Like at the Olympics, Sakamoto did not attempt any quad jumps or a triple axel at the Sud de France Arena, relying instead on her expressiveness and technical prowess.
She said she faced a similar situation in Beijing, with other skaters "piling up points" with quads when she was not even attempting them.
That experience, along with others she has had over her career, help her bring a sense of calm to her performances.
"I think once I have experienced a situation, then I can tell myself I am OK with that...even under those circumstances I was able to count on my training coming through and that is where I feel that I have grown in all of these competitions."
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