Japan’s “Riku-Ryu” Figure Skating Duo to Hang Up Boots

Tokyo, April 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, gold medalists for the pairs figure skating event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, on Friday announced that they will retire from competitive skating at the end of this season. Collectively known as “Riku-Ryu,” 24-year-old Miura and 33-year-old Kihara became the first ever figure skating pair from Japan to clinch an Olympic gold at the massive sporting event held in February. The duo secured the top Olympic podium spot after hammering out a free skate world record score, more than making up for a costly error that left them in fifth place in the short program. Taking to social media, Miura and Kihara thanked their fans, their coach and their coaching team. “We’ve shared our ups and downs with you all, and the time that we’ve shared with you together is our priceless treasure,” they said in the social media post made in Japanese. “While our competitive figure skating career will come to an end, we don’t have any regrets and we feel that we’ve done everything we can,” they said. Fully utilizing their dynamic lift elements and in-sync spins, the two have racked up accolades in international competitions in a figure skating discipline that Japan had long struggled in. Teaming up in 2019, Miura and Kihara were part of the Japan team in the figure skating team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing, helping the country secure a silver medal. For the pairs event in the Beijing Games, the duo finished seventh. In the 2022-2023 season, Miura and Kihara won the season’s Grand Prix Final, the Four Continents Championships and the World Championships. They also won the 2025 World Championships in 2025. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]