{"id":8071,"date":"2026-03-04T10:10:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=8071"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:10:48","slug":"%e2%9b%b8%ef%b8%8f-he-was-crying-that-morning-then-one-hidden-message-changed-olympic-history-hours-before-their-free-skate-ryuichi-kihara-admitted-he-couldnt-st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=8071","title":{"rendered":"\u26f8\ufe0f \u201cHe Was Crying That Morning\u2026 Then One Hidden Message Changed Olympic History.\u201d Hours before their free skate, Ryuichi Kihara admitted he couldn\u2019t stop crying after the pair dropped to fifth place. A comeback looked impossible \u2014 until he noticed a quiet note Riku Miura had written on their shared patch container: \u201cWe\u2019ve got this.\u201d That small message reset everything. Moments later, the duo skated the performance of their lives, scoring a world-record 158.13 and winning Japan\u2019s first-ever Olympic gold in pairs. But what Miura said afterward surprised fans even more: when Kihara retires, she will retire too. After seven years together, their bond may be the real secret behind the miracle comeback. But the biggest question now is this: will \u201cRikuryu\u201d chase one more Olympic chapter\u2026 or was this perfect ending already the one they wanted?… FULL VIDEO BELOW \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At a Tokyo press conference, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara spoke about their comeback from fifth place and the 7-year bond that carried them to Olympic gold.<\/div>\n
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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara hold up their medals during a press conference on February 25, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. (\u00a9Sankei by Ikue Mio)<\/p>\n

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Riku Miura\u00a0and\u00a0Ryuichi Kihara, who won Japan\u2019s first-ever Olympic gold medal in pairs figure skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, held a press conference on February 25 at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

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Affectionately known in Japan as \u201cRikuryu,\u201d the pair looked back on their sensational comeback after placing fifth in the short program. Kihara expressed his gratitude to Miura, saying, \u201cShe helped me regain a strong state of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara during a press conference on February 25, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. (\u00a9Sankei by Ikue Mio)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seven Years of Trust<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After fumbling a lift element in the short program, Kihara admitted that \u201ca comeback seemed almost impossible.\u201d Even on the morning of the free skate the next day, he could not stop crying. What lifted his spirits was a message Miura had written on the container of the stick-on moxibustion patches they share: \u201cWe\u2019ve got this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Encouraged by those words, Kihara washed his face in the restroom, told Miura, \u201cI\u2019m OK now,\u201d and headed into the free skate. There, the duo delivered a stunning performance that earned a world-record pairs score of 158.13 points, securing the gold medal.<\/p>\n

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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara hold up their medals during a press conference on February 25, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. (\u00a9Sankei by Ikue Mio)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reflecting on the moment, Kihara said, \u201cThis shows the bond we\u2019ve built over seven years.\u201d Miura nodded in agreement and added, \u201cWhat matters most is how you reset and move forward. That mistake helped us grow tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Hero\u2019s Welcome Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n

They also said they were surprised by the warm welcome they received at the airport upon returning to Japan. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it was real,\u201d Kihara said. \u201cIf Urashima Taro existed, this might be how he felt.\u201d (Urashima Taro is a folktale hero who returns home after visiting an undersea palace, only to find many years have passed.)<\/p>\n

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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara during a press conference on February 25, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. (\u00a9Sankei by Ikue Mio)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for whether they will aim for the next Olympics four years from now, both said the decision remains undecided. Miura was firm, however: \u201cWhen Kihara retires, I\u2019ll retire too. I would never continue skating with a different partner.\u201d Looking ahead, the pair said they hope to become coaches and help strengthen pairs skating in Japan.<\/p>\n

When asked about the nature of their relationship, Kihara replied, \u201cComrades in battle?\u201d Miura followed with, \u201cIt goes beyond that \u2014 more like family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two then smiled and said in unison, \u201cWe\u2019ll leave that to your imagination,\u201d bringing the press conference to a close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a Tokyo press conference, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara spoke about their comeback from fifth place and the 7-year bond that carried them to Olympic gold…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8073,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8071\/revisions\/8073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}