Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara delivered Japan’s first Olympic gold medal in pairs skating, incomes a world-record rating for his or her free skate on Monday night time to climb from fifth after their brief program to the highest step of the rostrum on the Milan Cortina Games.
The two-time defending world champions, whose uncharacteristic slip on a carry the earlier night time had left them taking part in catch-up, scored 158.13 factors for his or her free skate. That gave Miura and Kihara a career-best 231.24 factors and their long-sought gold medal to go together with the silver they helped the Japanese group win final week.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan compete through the pairs determine skating lengthy program on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Monday. Image: AP/Stephanie Scarbrough
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava earned the primary medal for Georgia at a Winter Games with their silver, scoring 221.75 factors. Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany took bronze with 219.09.
The chaotic brief program on Sunday night time had left a number of the greatest on the earth skating early and out of competition.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, the 2024 world champions from Canada, price themselves about 10 factors when she inexplicably fell whereas getting down from a carry. Stellato-Dudek additionally took a tough fall throughout their warmup for the free skate on Monday night time, sliding into one of many padded obstacles after which flexing her shoulder when she obtained again up.
The 42-year-old Stellato-Dudek, who was born within the Chicago space, was undoubtedly envisioning a a lot completely different Olympic debut. The Canadian pair wound up with 192.61 factors, placing them eleventh among the many 16 groups that made the free skate.
“Just to be out here on and skating on the ice was a privilege and really amazing,” Deschamps mentioned.
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, a non-public firstclass within the U.S. Army, took the lead by changing into the primary group to interrupt the 200-point barrier. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy rapidly knocked them from their perch regardless of a messy free skate.
But the rostrum contenders have been simply beginning to take the ice.
Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, the defending Olympic champions, bounced again from Sui’s fall on their opening triple loop of their brief program that left them in sixth place. They nonetheless had issues of their free skate, turning a triple salchow right into a double, however their rating of 208.64 factors put in them in first place with 5 pairs left to go; they completed fifth.
It wasn’t a nasty exhibiting by Sui and Han, given they solely started their comeback final June following a two-year retirement.
Miura and Kihara have been subsequent up — they usually produced a rating that proved not possible to beat.
They have been flawless on a triple toe-double axel-double axel sequence to begin their program, set to music from the “Gladiator” movies, whereas Miura landed with grace and magnificence on their throw triple loop. And as different groups struggled with their salchows, Miura and Kihara’s have been clear, with their throw triple loop placing an exclamation mark on this system.
Kihara was impassive after their brief program, however he erupted with a roar when their free skate rating was introduced.
Then he quietly dropped to his knees and hugged Miura when he realized they’d received gold.
© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.