“Ryuichi was visiting the rink daily even if he couldn’t skate, it was important for him to be at the rink.” Miura and Kihara about the past season
Translation of Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara and their coach Bruno Marcotte’s comments about this season and Worlds.
original source: number.bunshun.jp dd. 29th March by Akiko Tamura
Here’s a translation of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara comments made in the interview posted on Sports Graphic Number Web.
Despite missing the first half of the season due to Kihara’s major injury, a lumbar vertebrae separation, Miura and Kihara put on a performance that showed their absolute best and won a silver medal at Worlds.
“The cause of Ryuichi’s pain was revealed when we went to Japan in October for the Japan Open,” said their soach Bruno Marcotte. “He had been complaining of back pain for a while, but the tests in Japan finally diagnosed him with lumbar vertebrae separation.”
“Riku kept training on the rink with other athletes all the time. Ryuichi was visiting the rink daily for physical therapy and other treatments, taking rest for his body. Even if he couldn’t skate, I thought it was important for him to be at the rink.”
They were finally able to resume regular training just two weeks before the Four Continents Championships in February. The result was second place. However, their score was 30 points lower than their personal best.
“A short program score of 65 was very hard to accept. Although it was the reality at that point and couldn’t be helped, they were not aiming for such a score in their training.”
Before the World Championships they returned to the free program “Woman” they used back in 2022 season.
“Both the short and free programs needed polishing. But there simply wasn’t enough time to polish both ahead of the World Championships. Our choice was to return to a previously practiced program for either the short or free skate. I strongly suggested “Woman” to them, and it was decided when they both agreed,” said Marcotte.
“I wanted to perform in a way that would make everyone like us more, and encourage people who didn’t know us to support. The Canadian audience is wonderful. They always respond if you put on a good performance. Even if the performance isn’t good, they are the kind of people who give amazing applause to everyone, so I skated to respond to that with all my might,” said Kahara the day after the free rpogram at Worlds.
The pair won silver but wasn’t able to take part in the award ceremony due Ryuichi’s health problems. At the press conference the following day, Kihara, whose symptoms had calmed down with medication, explained, “I had experienced symptoms after competitions before, but this was the first time it was so severe. Looking back now, I indeed had felt discomfort for the past few months, I clearly felt out of breath even during practice, and I felt numbness in my hands, but I thought it was due to lack of training. In retrospect, I might have been wrong. I would like to get treatment when I return to Japan.”
Miura had been supporting Kihara, who had been feeling anxious until they reached this point. “I felt it was very unusual for Ryuichi to make negative comments. Even when we were having good training, he often made negative comments, so I told him, ‘You can do it’ [laughs], I told him it would be better if he had more confidence than me,” Miura said.
“I am usually more composed, and I often play a supporting role. Even within that, I often showed my weak side (this season), and I was happy to receive support, and I am grateful. I once again felt that we are a good team,’ Kihara expressed his gratitude to his partner.
Related topics: Bruno Marcotte, Riku Miura Ryuichi Kihara, world championship
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