(Saitama) Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara became the first Japanese world champions in pair figure skating on Thursday, even signing a Grand Slam after having already won the Grand Prix final and the Four Continents Championship.
Having arrived well ahead the day before thanks to their almost perfect short program, the Japanese pair managed their lead during the free program of the Worlds, organized in Saitama, north of Tokyo.
In front of an elated Japanese audience, Miura and Kihara scored 222.16 points in total, compared to 217.48 points for the outgoing world champions, Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier.
Italians Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, reigning European champions, complete the podium with 208.08 points.
The Japanese burst into tears when they announced their victory. A slight fall by Riku Miura during the free program made them fear that the title would escape them.
Riku Miura said he had “some regrets” about their execution of the free program where they finished second behind the duo Knierim / Frazier, while saying he was “very, very happy” with the title.
“We want to put together a perfect schedule next season,” Ryuichi Kihara said.
“Riku was injured after the Beijing Olympics, so we had a tough season,” he added. “But our relationship of trust and our bonds have pushed us to grow.”
Miura, 21, and Kihara, 30, have lined up together in competition since 2019. The pair won the Grand Prix Final in Turin last December and then the Four Continents Championship in February.
They also won bronze at the Beijing 2022 Olympics in the mixed team event.
Three Canadian pairs took part in the competition and the pair formed by Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps finished in fourth place with a final score of 199.97.
Their compatriots Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (193.00) took sixth place while Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar (181.95) finished the competition in 11th place.
Defending champion Shoma Uno of Japan took first place after the men’s short program on Thursday.
Uno scored 104.63 points and he holds a 4.25 point lead over Ilia Malinin (100.38), an 18-year-old American.
South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan (99.64) ranks third ahead of Canadian national champion Keegan Messing, who completed the short program with a score of 98.75.
The only other Canadian entered in the men’s individual competition, Conrad Orzel will not participate in the free program. His score of 67.65 left him 26th after the short program.
