Miura Riku / Kihara Ryuichi put Japan back into medal conversation in figure skating team event
Reigning world champions Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi sent out a clear message on Friday 6 February: Japan will fight to the end for the first figure skating medal of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Skating their short program to “Paint it black”, the Beijing 2022 silver medallists in the team event won the short program segment and boosted Japan from eighth to sixth place with a personal best of 82.84 points
“We wanted to do our part for Team Japan,” Kihara said. “We’re really proud of the performance today. We were calm, managed to focus on executing each and every element with precision.”
The Japanese pair performed a flawless triple toeloop and triple Lutz throw, among other elements, shaking off all lingering concerns about Miura’s recent shoulder injury.
“A lot of things didn’t go our way the last four years including injuries. But we got through it all and that’s what made us stronger mind and body,” Miura said. “It showed that all the work we put in meant something. We weren’t nervous but just right in terms of tension. We were very aware of what we were doing.”
Team USA retained the lead after the pairs short program by two points with Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea placing fifth in the segment to add to the 10 points ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned their team in the rhythm dance.
Skating just before the Japanese champions, Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava delivered a drama-filled skate of their own, starting with Metelkina’s headstand opening pose that got the crowds cheering their approval.
The recently minted European champions scored 77.54 points to move Georgia up from sixth to third place in the standings.
“This was a calm, good, warm-up kind of skate,” Metelkina said. “We can do everything. Everything went well for us in training. We had a really good week ahead of the Olympics so we went out calmly and did what we had to do.”
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii also succeeded in giving their team a boost. The Italian pair train in Bergamo, less than an hour’s drive to the Milano Ice Skating Arena, and fed off the home energy to take Italy into second place in the rankings.
Getting the fans cheering even louder with hand gestures directed at the stands, Conti and Macii blazed through their intricate flamenco short program. They got top levels for their reverse lasso lift, step sequence and spin, though their death spiral was graded as level 3.
“We were hoping to be second to gain another point over Georgia. In this moment we’re tied,” Macii said. “We’ve done our best, that’s the important thing, that everyone does their best. If it happens, we will celebrate with Prosecco. If not, we know we tried until the end and we won’t have any regrets.”
For Conti, the Olympic debut was a return to competition after she injured her knee on 28 January. Skating with a nude-coloured knee brace, the Italian skater successfully landed the triple Salchow – the jump that has given her the most problems since the injury.
“It was a great emotion,” Conti said about competing on home ice. “We had fun and I am happy we managed to have fun despite everything. It was a great emotion to hear the Italian fans from start to finish.”
