OLYMPICS: Figure Skating-Japan's Olympic pairs champions Miura and Kihara to retire

Olympic pairs figure skating champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara will retire at the end of the season after making history as Japan’s first pairs gold medallists at Milano Cortina 2026. The duo said they leave the sport with pride and no regrets after a career highlighted by Olympic success and record-breaking performances.

Irene Wang/Reuters

April 17, 2026

A screengrab photo in video showing Miura and Kihara posing for photos with Olympic medals in Milan.

Reuters

Olympic pairs figure skating champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara will retire from competitive skating at the end of the season having become Japan's first pairs gold medallists at Milano Cortina 2026.

The duo, who teamed up in 2019, said on Friday (April 17) that they had given their all to their careers and had no regrets.

"We are proud of everything we went through, and feel we gained so much along the way," they wrote in a post on Instagram and added, "The two of us will now take on new challenges so that we can bring wider recognition to pair skating in Japan."

Miura, 24, and Kihara, 33, savoured a dramatic triumph on the Milan ice, coming back from fifth place with a brilliant free skate that earned a world record of 158.13 points under the revamped scoring system.

The pair also claimed back-to-back Winter Olympic team silver medals at Beijing 2022 and Milano Cortina.

-Irene Wang/Reuters