Beijing 2022 figure skating: Everything you need to know about Japan's Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi
The Japanese pair have already won bronze in the figure skating team event during this Olympic Winter Games.
Figure Skating
Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi have already made their mark for Japan at Beijing 2022.
However, they won't be stopping after contributing to their nation's figure skating team event bronze.
The duo will now be hoping to make the podium again as they prepare to take part in the pair skating.
Success at Beijing 2022
They've got off to a tremendous start to this Olympic Winter Games.
First of all, they were able to come fourth in the short program in the team event - coming 0.55 points behind United States of America's Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier.
That was followed by the pairs free skating, in which Miura and Kihara came second behind ROC's Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov.
This eventually proved enough to help Japan reach the podium as a team, coming behind ROC and USA.
Japan's other notable displays saw Uno Shoma and Higuchi Wakaba come second in the men's and women's single skating short program respectively, Kagiyama Yuma place first in the men's single skating free skate and Sakamoto Kaori finish second in the women's single skating free skate.
Varying experience
It would be hard to tell, but this is Miura's first-ever Olympic Winter Games, while her only World Championships display, in 2021, saw her come 10th.
On the other hand, Kihara is competing in his third Games, having taken part at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 - though he didn't get a medal in either of those.
Still, the Japanese duo showed their medal potential for the Games by winning bronze and silver in Grand Prix events during the 2021/22 season
Kihara also secured bronze in the 2021 World Team Trophy in Osaka.
Stronger together
Before the two teamed up, Miura was a relative unknown in the pairs scene while Kihara had not competed internationally in a year.
Their first finish was not a significant one, as they came fifth at the 2019 NHK Trophy, but it was the beginning of a special partnership.
Kihara had previously been paired with Takahashi Narumi and then Suzaki Miu, but was never able to challenge at the very highest level and he suffered a concussion in 2019 that left him out for months.
When he split with Suzaki in April of that year, Kihara believed his skating career was over before eventually being asked if he would like to pair up with Miura.
The 29-year-old jumped at the chance - a decision that has now undoubtedly been vindicated with their performance together at Beijing helping to earn each of their first Olympic medals.
They largely have Canadian coach Bruno Marcotte to thank for bringing them together. “I told her [Miura] if she wanted to go to the Olympics, he is the only Japanese guy that has experience," he told International Figure Skating. "I always felt that Ryuichi was a better skater than his results showed in the past and that with the height difference between him and Riku, they could have something special."
When can I watch Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi?
The pair will be taking part in the pair skating short program, which takes place on Friday 18 February at 18:30 Beijing time (19:30 back in Japan).
Should they make it to the free skate, as is expected, Miura and Kihara would be back on the ice the following day at 19:00 as the medals are decided.