Rika Kihira: 2018 NHK Trophy Champion

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Rika Kihira: 2018 NHK Trophy Champion Jun 29, 2019 7:23:11 GMT

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Post by Admin on Jun 29, 2019 7:23:11 GMT

Japanese figure skater Rika Kihira learns to perform quadruple jumps. A video from an athlete's training session appeared in the network, where she cleanly performed the quadruple salchow and quadruple toe loop.

Recall that the Japanese woman also has a triple Axel - the most difficult jump in the women's single skating, which in the whole history was performed only by 8 women, among whom was Russian Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

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In the current season, Kihira became the winner of the Grand Prix Final, where she managed to beat the Olympic champion Alina Zagitova .

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Rika Kihira: 2018 NHK Trophy Champion Sept 17, 2019 4:30:13 GMT

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Post by Admin on Sept 17, 2019 4:30:13 GMT

Rika Kihira has showed she is going to be one of the women to beat this season with victory at the Autumn Classic International.

Despite opting to leave out the quad Salchow she has practised for this campaign, last year's Grand Prix Final winner nailed two triple Axels in a spectacular free skate.

Kihira received a standing ovation after a performance which earned her 145.98 for a winning total of 224.16 as she added to her triumph in Thursday's short program.

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Rika Kihira: 2018 NHK Trophy Champion Feb 10, 2020 19:28:51 GMT

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Post by Admin on Feb 10, 2020 19:28:51 GMT

Triple Axel returns to centre stage
With European skaters not eligible, the Four Continents gave skaters a chance to take a big competition win this season in the absence of the '3A' - Russia's dominant trio of Alena Kostornaia, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova.

Sakamoto Kaori was fourth after the short program and attempted a quad jump - a quad toe loop - in her free skate.

But the 2018 Four Continents champion fell and under-rotated on the attempt and ended up in fifth place.

The triple Axel ended up taking centre stage with Kihira, You and Higuchi Wakaba including it in their free skates.

Higuchi started her routine with it but the Japanese fell in her attempt and ended up fourth overall, 15.51 points off third place.

You was the penultimate skater to take to the ice and opened with a solid triple Axel which had the home crowd roaring with delight.

Skating to a medley from the soundtrack to Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Lausanne 2020 gold medallist continued with a fine triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination.

The Seoul native went on to complete a clean skate for a personal best free skate score of 149.68 and a new career-high total of 223.23.

That saw her overtake Tennell by just a quarter of a point and take the lead with just one skater to go.

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Rika Kihira: 2018 NHK Trophy Champion Feb 11, 2020 19:01:43 GMT

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Post by Admin on Feb 11, 2020 19:01:43 GMT

Kihira's comeback
With the crowd in the arena still cheering You's performance, her training partner Kihira prepared to start her skate.

Leading by five points after the short program, the 17-year-old opened with a triple Salchow but then singled what should have been a triple Axel.

The three-and-a-half rotation jump had also cost her dear at the last World Championships, but the teenager did well to regain her focus.

Kihira was able to land it later in combination with a double toe loop to significantly boost her technical elements score as she completed the rest of her routine cleanly.

Skating to 'International Angel of Peace', she scored 151.16 to post a season's best total of 232.34 points and clinch overall victory by 9.11 points.

That made it five consecutive wins for Japan in the ladies' event with Japanese women winning 10 of the last 13 Four Continents titles.

Kihira told ISU.org, "I became a little bit impatient because of my first mistake in the Axel. But I was able to re-calculate and re-assemble the structure of my performance.

"I tried to switch my mind and focus on the next element right away after I did my first mistake. It was good experience for me to prepare for the next competition." - Kihira Rika

You was delighted with her performance, saying, "I was very happy to do the triple Axel and then there were no mistakes in my jumps. I focused on a clean performance. Especially since this event was held in Korea I had a little pressure.

“I’m the first Korean skater to have a medal since Yuna Kim and I feel very honoured to be first since her and to achieve this in my home country.”

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Rika Kihira: 2018 NHK Trophy Champion Jun 13, 2020 20:13:59 GMT

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Post by Admin on Jun 13, 2020 20:13:59 GMT

Kihira Rika announced today that Brian Orser will join her figure skating coaching team.

Kihira has golden Olympic ambitions for Beijing 2022 and feels that Orser can help her get to that goal.

"I decided this because I was certain I can absolutely grow (by working with Orser) ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics (in 2022)," Kihira told Kyodo News in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan.

Orser, who coached Yuna Kim to Olympic gold at Vancouver 2010 and Hanyu Yuzuru to consecutive gold medals at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018, will bring a big boost as Kihira looks to take her skating to the next level.

The 17-year-old Japanese star is not breaking with current coach Hamada Mie, Orser will come in as her second coach.

Kihira will train at the famed Toronto Cricket Club in Canada, where Hanyu, Evgenia Medvedeva, Jason Brown and Cha Jun-hwan all perfect their art.

Kihira hopes to sKihira: Training with Hanyu Yuzuru
Kihira is looking to add to her repertoire, and says that training alongside the likes of Olympic champion Hanyu will help her move forward.

"I want to learn how to do new spins, and how to combine my steps and jumps. I also want to absorb a lot from watching top figure skaters," she said.

Kihira caused a sensation when she became the first Japanese skater since Asada Mao in 2005 to win the Grand Prix Final on her debut in the 2018/19 season.

But things have been challenging since the rise of Russia and coach Eteri Tutberidze's 'Triple A' of Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova, and Alena Kostornaia, who made a clean sweep this 2019/20 season, topping the podium in all six Grand Prix events.

Kihira secured a fourth-place finish in the Final won by Kostornaia.tart training in Toronto as early as July, when travel restrictions due to the new coronavirus pandemic are lifted.

Rika Kihira: Quads and besting the Russians
With her focus set on the Winter Games in Beijing 2022 two years from now, Kihira has a new plan.

Her hope is that working on landing quadruple salchows and toeloops in the upcoming season will help her compete with the Russian quad squad.

"I will keep telling myself that I need to do better than the (Russian skaters) to win the Beijing Olympics, and train hard so I can go into competition confident that I will not lose this time," she said.