Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Miura and Kihara conquer gold in pairs with a world record

PREDAZZO, Italy.– The Japanese duo of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara made history by becoming Olympic champions in the pairs figure skating event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games. With a total score of 231.24, the Japanese pair signed the best record of their career and set a new world record in the free program with 158.13 points.

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After placing fifth after the short program due to an error, the double world champions reacted with an impeccable performance in the free skate. They executed the three lifts of their routine with maximum difficulty and completed the throw and parallel jumps without errors, which allowed them to climb to the top of the podium and secure the first Olympic gold of their career.

Georgia takes the silver

The silver medal went to the Georgians Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, who scored 221.75 points. European champions and double junior world monarchs, they offered a solid and technically high-level program. A small adjustment in the landing of a triple loop jump prevented them from improving their personal best and putting even more pressure on the Japanese, although they excitedly celebrated their Olympic achievement.

Germany completes the podium

The bronze went to the Germans Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, with 219.09 points. After a clean short program, they maintained medal options, but an error on the triple Salchow in parallel during the free program complicated their aspirations. Even so, they resolved the rest of the elements with solvency and secured their place on the podium. The pairs competition was the fourth figure skating discipline to award medals at Milan-Cortina 2026. The gold in the team event went to the United States, while in ice dancing the French Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry triumphed, and in the men's individual category the Kazakh Mikhail Shaidorov prevailed. The women's competition will begin on February 17 with the short program.