Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara: “We decided to prioritize enjoying skating over focusing on results. Before thinking about outcomes, we realized that enjoying the process is what truly matters.”
Interview with Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara.
original source: number.bunshun.jp dd. April 2d 2025 by Akiko Tamura
In an Interview posted on Sports Graphic Number Web, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara speak about this season and winning 2025 World Championships . Here’s a translation of her comments.
“When we won the title for the first time, I was genuinely just ‘happy.’ But over these past two years, dealing with injuries, challenges, and things not going well, being able to win this time brought about a mix of so many emotions… and through it all, I’m still incredibly happy.” Miura shared this with a smile during the press conference. As she said, the past two seasons for “Rikuryu” have been filled with ups and downs.
After winning Worlds for the first time in 2023, Kihara was diagnosed with spondylolysis and had to miss the Grand Prix series for the following season. At the 2024 World Championships, they finished second; however, an unexpected event occurred when Kihara collapsed due to an asthma attack after the competition and had to be hospitalized, missing the medal ceremony altogether.
This season, they aimed for a fresh start with a completely revamped program. While they won Skate America, they finished second at the NHK Trophy after making mistakes. At the Grand Prix Final, they earned a silver medal but appeared visibly upset, with Kihara shedding tears of frustration, saying, “Frankly, our performance wasn’t good enough.”
“Things began to change after the Japanese Nationals,” explained their coach Bruno Marcotte.
“Of course, competing for titles comes with pressure. But we talked about remembering the feelings they had when they first started skating together — about enjoying the opportunity to compete at the top,” Marcotte shared.
The pair took some time to rest in Japan after the Nationals, which the coach felt was crucial for them. “Avoiding excessive intensity and engaging in activities outside of skating likely helped them refresh their minds,” Marcotte said.
“I think it was probably because of me,” Ryuichi Kihara told. “During the first half of the season, I became overly focused on wanting to make everything better, and when I couldn’t meet my own expectations, I felt incredibly down on myself. I kept wondering, ‘Why is this happening?’ and those emotions became too overwhelming.”
“Ryuichi-kun usually takes the lead and supports me, and when he’s in a good place, he has the mental space to reach out to me, too. Even before competitions, he’d usually crack jokes over the tiniest things. But during the first half of the season, there was less of that,” Miura remarked.
“I found myself wondering, ‘If I’m supposed to love skating, why has it suddenly become so difficult?’” Kihara shared. “I took some time to reflect and realized that I had been setting my goals too high. From that point on, I started gradually adjusting my goals, which helped me develop a more positive outlook. I feel like I started returning to my old self, and perhaps Riku-chan responded to that as well.”
Looking back, Kihara recalled the joy and growth they experienced together after forming their partnership in 2019. “After meeting Riku-chan and forming a team with her, I had so many experiences that I’d never had before. At the beginning, everything felt new and exciting, but once something becomes normal, people naturally start to take it for granted. I wanted to remember those feelings again….”
“At some point, I had lost those feelings. That’s why I decided to prioritize enjoying skating over focusing on results. Before thinking about outcomes, I realized that enjoying the process is what truly matters,” Kihara concluded.
By rediscovering the joy of skating, they were able to reclaim the title. However, the celebratory mood lasted only one day, as Kihara explained:n”Having experienced failure after winning our last title, I strongly feel that we need to shift gears and move forward.”
“Although we didn’t intend for it to happen, we let our guard down and the quality of our practices declined. While we still had the desire to improve, something just wasn’t clicking,” Kihara said. Miura nodded in agreement, adding, “The main issue was losing focus. That definitely happened.”
Speaking about the Olympic team event, they mentioned: “In Sochi and PyeongChang, we relied heavily on our single skaters to carry the team. It wasn’t until Beijing that we could say Japan had a stronger overall presence. This time, I want people to feel like as long as Rikuryu is here, the team will be fine,” Kihara said. Miura nodded firmly, adding, “We’ll work hard to become that kind of team!”
When asked about whether they have thoughts about continuing their career after the Olympics, Kihara immediately responded: “The reason I started pair skating was because I wanted to extend my career for as long as possible. So right now, I don’t have a specific goal or endpoint in mind for this competition or that. Just one more day, as long as I can. That’s our motto.”
Related topics: Riku Miura Ryuichi Kihara
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