“It would have been perfect if we hadn’t messed up the final pose.” Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara about winning Four Continents Championships
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara about winning Four Continents Championships.
original source: Nikkansports / Nikkansports dd Feb 21st 2025 by Daisuke Fujizuka
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara spoke about winning the Four Continents Championships and working on choreography. Here’s a translation of their comment posted on Nikkansports.
At the finish, they laughed heartily after mistakenly facing the wrong direction in their final pose. Kihara commented with a laugh, “It would have been perfect if we hadn’t messed up the final pose.”
Heading into this competition, they had been confident, noting, “Since the Japanese Nationals up to the Four Continents, we’ve pushed ourselves the hardest this season. Even if it didn’t go well, we were prepared to accept that.”
The event took place at the Mokdong Ice Rink, the same venue where the newly formed pair made their debut at the 2020 competition. At that time, they finished in eighth place. Miura reflected, “It’s truly moving to skate in the same venue again,” while Kihara expressed, “Five years ago, we couldn’t have imagined being at this level. To win today is incredibly fulfilling.”
Speaking about the choreography of their free program, Riku said, “Well, I try to move my hands, but then my neck just locks up and doesn’t move smoothly. We’ve been working intensively on choreography that allows the head, hands, and feet to move simultaneously, adding elements like that and practicing those areas continuously.”
They also mention working with an ice dance coach, saying “We’ve been teammates with Coach Mark for a long time. But it was only from last season that we had him watch over an entire session. I think that has really made a significant difference.”
“This year, because of last year’s injury, I might have done fewer elements than before. With the extra time not used for elements, we focused more than ever on syncing our movements in unison. Even when we perform different independent movements, we practiced over and over, breaking down each part meticulously to ensure it always looks seamlessly coordinated,” added Ryuichi.
Related topics: Four Continents Championships, Riku Miura Ryuichi Kihara
Amazing pair, really