The Moment The Scoreboard Confirmed Japan’s First-ever Olympic Pairs Gold, Ryuichi Kihara Dropped To His Knees Beside Riku Miura, His Shoulders Shaking As The Arena Erupted Around Them. Cameras Captured The Triumph — But They Couldn’t Capture The Years Of Quiet Heartbreak That Made Those Tears Impossible To Stop. Before The Medals, Before The History, There Were Abandoned Partnerships, Endless Doubt, And Nights When Kihara Wondered If He Simply Wasn’t Meant For Pairs Skating At All. At One Point He Was Back At A Rink In Aichi, Helping Hand Out Skates And Questioning Whether His Olympic Dream Had Already Slipped Away.
No one cried more than Ryuichi Kihara in the doubles event at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. But after all, those very tears paved the way for a golden moment for Japanese figure skating. Having nearly retired due to injury and a crisis of confidence, Ryuichi Kihara never imagined that a chance audition seven years … Read more