RIKU MIURA + RYUICHI KIHARA
The Japanese pairs team of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara have been turning heads since they first appeared on the scene in the fall of 2019. Though both had previously competed on the international stages with other partners, neither had enjoyed any meaningful success.
In 2019, a coach on the other side of the world thought they would be a good match, and following a brief tryout a new partnership was formed.
Just months after teaming up, Riku Miura, a virtual unknown on the pairs scene, and Ryuichi Kihara, who had not competed internationally in a year, finished fifth at 2019 NHK Trophy.
While the result itself was not noteworthy, the connection, the energy and the intriguing potential of this team — that seemingly came out of nowhere — was obvious to everyone.
Kihara, who began skating at age 4, competed in singles for three seasons at the junior level, finishing 10th at the 2011 World Junior Championships. In January 2013, he turned to pairs and was teamed up with Narumi Takahashi, the 2012 World bronze medalist with Mervin Tran.
Takahashi and Kihara finished 18th at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games but ended the partnership following a 19th-place result at the 2015 World Championships.
Three months later, Kihara teamed up with Miu Suzaki. The duo had minimal success on the international stages in their three seasons together, finishing 21st at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games and 24th at the subsequent World Championships. In early 2019, Kihara suffered a concussion during a training session and was off the ice for many months.
When his partnership with Suzaki ended in April 2019, Kihara was about to move on, believing his career in figure skating was over. But that thought process was shelved just a few months later when he was asked if he would like to try out with Miura. He jumped at the opportunity. Though they knew of each other through competitions, they had never actually met.
Miura began her career as a singles skater at age 5. In 2014, she was teamed up with Shoya Ichihashi by Canadian coach Bruno Marcotte. The duo finished 10 at both the 2018 Four Continents and World Junior Championships. The at World Juniors and shortly afterward the partnership came to an end.
