{"id":9781,"date":"2026-03-01T13:45:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T13:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9781"},"modified":"2026-03-01T13:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T13:45:53","slug":"after-a-shocking-stumble-in-the-short-program-riku-miura-and-ryuichi-kihara-were-staring-at-the-kind-of-olympic-pressure-that-has-ended-careers-before-it-begins-one-mistake-one-moment-and-the-narr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9781","title":{"rendered":"After a shocking stumble in the short program, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara were staring at the kind of Olympic pressure that has ended careers before it begins. One mistake. One moment. And the narrative could have been collapse. Instead, they returned to the ice carrying far more than technical elements. There were tears behind the curtain, a shoulder that had already dislocated once, a back that barely held through training, and years of setbacks that few outside their inner circle fully understood. Every lift risked pain. Every throw jump demanded absolute trust. There was no margin for hesitation. What followed wasn\u2019t just a clean skate \u2014 it was defiance. They poured everything into that free program and delivered Japan\u2019s first-ever Olympic pairs gold, transforming doubt into history in a matter of minutes. The performance looked powerful on the surface. Behind it was calculated grit, medical tape, and the quiet knowledge that one wrong move could have ended it all. The raw, behind-the-scenes footage of what they endured before stepping onto the ice makes the victory hit even harder."},"content":{"rendered":"
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MILAN, Feb 16 (Reuters) \u2013 Figure skater Ryuichi Kihara said he could not stop crying since the early setback he and partner Riku Miura suffered on Sunday, but on Monday the duo climbed back to win Japan\u2019s first Olympic pairs gold with a powerful, Gladiator-themed free skate.<\/div>\n
The two\u2011time world champions had been devastated after finishing fifth in the short programme due to a lift error, but returned with a performance their coach said was built on heart, belief and seven years of resilience.<\/div>\n
Kihara, 33, said he struggled to shake off the previous day\u2019s mistake and arrived at practice still shaken.<\/div>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t stop crying since this morning, I just couldn\u2019t bounce back from yesterday\u2019s mistake, I really couldn\u2019t snap out of it, the tears kept flowing \u2026 even on the ice I couldn\u2019t stop crying,\u201d he said, but added that everyone\u2019s support helped him get back on track.<\/div>\n
\u201cRiku, my coach, my friends in Japan\u2026 everyone around me sent me messages of support. Everyone said it\u2019s not over yet\u2026 Normally I\u2019m the stronger one but this time around Riku really supported me,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
Miura said seeing her partner in tears pushed her to take the lead.<\/div>\n
\"How<\/div>\n
\u201cRyuichi has been crying since this morning, and so I felt like I needed to be strong and support him and help him focus,\u201d the 24-year-old said.<\/div>\n
The duo, who teamed up in 2019, had entered the Olympics as favourites after winning December\u2019s Grand Prix Final in Nagoya and topping the pairs segment in the team event, where they helped Japan secure silver.<\/div>\n
But their momentum has also been shaped by years of adversity: Kihara has battled recurring back injuries, while Miura has repeatedly competed through a chronically dislocating shoulder. At the 2025 Japan Championships, she dislocated it during warm\u2011ups, reset it herself, and still delivered a season\u2011best short programme.<\/div>\n
Their free skate reflected those struggles \u2014 a programme built around combat, survival and triumph.<\/div>\n
Skating to music from the \u201cGladiator\u201d soundtrack performed by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, they attacked every element with the steadiness that had deserted them a day earlier, their choreography echoing the resilience that has defined their partnership.<\/div>\n
\"Riku<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe made a huge mistake yesterday but for the past seven years we\u2019ve worked so hard \u2026 we have grown over the last seven years,\u201d Miura said, adding that they were determined to \u201cforget what happened yesterday and start from scratch\u201d.<\/div>\n
For Japan, their historic gold marks another milestone in a discipline long dominated by European and North American pairs. Before their 2022 world silver, Japan had gone a decade without a major ISU pairs podium.<\/div>\n
Kihara, who collapsed in tears after their skate, said they did not expect to win.<\/div>\n
\"Riku<\/div>\n
\u201cWe knew that the last group was filled with amazing skaters, and so we honestly didn\u2019t think that we would win gold tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of a disbelief \u2026 that we\u2019re able to get a medal for Japan pair skating for the first time ever.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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MILAN, Feb 16 (Reuters) \u2013 Figure skater Ryuichi Kihara said he could not stop crying since the early setback he and partner Riku Miura suffered on Sunday,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9783,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9781\/revisions\/9783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}