Olympic pairs’ figure skating gold medalists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara announced their engagement.
“Through both the happy times and the difficult ones, we’ve shared so many moments together, supporting each other every step of the way,” was posted on their social media accounts. “Over time, we became irreplaceable parts of each other’s lives — someone neither of us could imagine life without. We’re truly happy to finally be able to share this news with all of you.”
At the Milan Cortina Games, Miura and Kihara became the first pairs’ team from Japan to win an Olympic medal of any color. It was a rally for gold from fifth place after the short program.
It ended up being the last competition of their career. Miura and Kihara announced their retirement two months after the Games.
“While our competitive careers are coming to an end, we truly feel that we gave it our all, and have no regrets,” their retirement post read. “We are proud of everything we went through, and feel we gained so much along the way. The two of us will now take on new challenges so that we can bring wider recognition to pair skating in Japan. We hope that we can count on you to follow us on our journey.”
