The Rika Kihira Cheer Thread

[Sylvia]

Time to update this thread for Rika, the new national champion! She scored 229.20 total to win her first title last month. Fuji TV's broadcast videos:

SP (73.98):

【フジテレビ公式】全日本フィギュアスケート選手権2019＜女子ショート第1位･紀平梨花／演技+インタビュー＞

【全日本フィギュアスケート選手権2019】＜女子ショートプログラム第1位／紀平梨花 選手＞の演技+インタビューです！ 第1位：紀平梨花（17歳･関大KFSC）73.98点 第2位：宮原知子（21歳･関大）70.11点 第3位：坂本花織（19歳･シスメックス）69.95点 12月19日（木）から22日（日）まで地上...

www.youtube.com

FS (155.22):

【フジテレビ公式】全日本フィギュアスケート選手権2019＜女子フリー第1位･紀平梨花／演技+インタビュー＞

【全日本フィギュアスケート選手権2019】＜女子フリースケーティング第1位／紀平梨花 選手＞の演技+インタビューです！ ------------------------------------------------------------------- 第1位：紀平梨花（17歳･関西大学KFSC）229.20点...

www.youtube.com

News from the Nagoya Festival (ice show on January 4 that is supposed to be broadcast on Jan. 19):

RikaKFans on Twitter

“According to fan reports today: - Rika did 3Lz in practice. 3Lz3Lo, 3A, 3F3Lo - at the show Rika performed Spirit (3S, 3F rippon) + IAOP encore, ending part with 3Lo”

twitter.com

She is off to Colorado Springs to train for the next few weeks before 4CC:

FigureSkatingMisc on Twitter

“Rika Kihira spoke to the press at the airport before leaving for the US for training. She’ll spend about 3 weeks in Colorado working on quads, getting her skates ready, etc. Rika said she jumped so she was in the air at midnight for New Year’s. https://t.co/1oPiqgZBaD”

twitter.com

Iron Klaus on Twitter

“#RikaKihira left for the #US on January 9 to prepare and train for #4CC2020 and #Worlds2020. "While thinking about placement, I'd also like to strive for consistency." Her aspirations for the New Year is: "Challenges & Stability." https://t.co/RyWeBsActx”

twitter.com

Juro(ジュロ) ???‍? on Twitter

“Rika left for her training camp~ Some statements: “I want to have a year in which I can show my growth in skating, steps and jumps.” On jumping into the air at home on New Year:”There’s no particular meaning, it just came to my mind. I’ve been jumping alone at home.” *laugh* ...

twitter.com

 

[gotoschool]

That was one smooth, beautiful triple axel to open Rika's short program at Nationals with a fantastic quick arabesque on exit, a picture perfect lutz edge with a tremendous rippon tano, and a lovely cartwheel and edge through the arcing fan spiral at the end of the step sequence. The fluidity and rapidity with which her blades sliced through the ice so gracefully was exciting and simply beautiful along with the maturity of her intriguing and unusual expression. Rika is a captivating artist, skater and athlete. The leg lift into the combo was impressive but so challenging, so maybe entering straight would make it easier to land the backend cleanly, though she covered it pretty well.

Here is a high quality video of Rika's performance just posted with a better and closer camera angle as well. I wish Rika the best in the long and hope she can land the quads, triple axels and go clean through the rest with dynamic expression.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTp_pT_xT54&ab_channel=bonheur3

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Wowsers. According to the protocols, Kihira landed a quadruple salchow in her free skate.

 

[Sylvia]

Same YT account as SP has uploaded Rika's 1st place FS to "Baby, God Bless You" by Shinya Kiyozuka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAcn3I3Hg9o

Congrats to Rika on landing her first 4S in competition and her second straight national title!

 

[DELTA]

Congrats on landing 4S. Hopefully 1st of many.

 

[gotoschool]

In my opinion, Rika is the most impressive skater currently competing in terms of overall qualities with the back to back quad salchow and triple axel with limited pre-rotation, a proper Lutz edge in the short, and picturesque air position and fabulous flow in an out of the elements. She also has a profound aesthetic sense that transports the viewer on a beautiful journey with intricate precision and detail as she articulates every movement. She also has fluid and smooth skating with beautiful edges as seen by the marvelous s shaped change of edge spiral which hearkens back to classical style of her ideal skater and mentor Mao Asada who did the same element in almost the same location in Madame Butterfly at Worlds 2016. The same season Mao went to do a show with Stephane Lambiel called Ice Legends and now he is doing a great job as Rika's coach. The roots of the past come back to flower in another beautiful and unique expression. However, the underscoring is also so reminiscent of Mao for whom it was even more pronounced, and brings back memories of Rika's underscoring especially at 2018 nationals which I think she should have won along with Worlds 2019 where she should have medalled. In any case, Rika's powerful expression and athletic talent appeals to subjective expression in the mind that creates its own evaluation and to me is beginning to transcend the system much like Mao's performances did for me. Here is a 1080 copy of her marvelous performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqcq0Xc890M

 

[Marco]

Kudos on the 4sal. Superb!

Why didn't she try the lutz in the free? I thought it was going to be her last jump pass but perhaps everything went so well that she didn't want to mess it up and did just the 2axel instead?

I like this more lyrical program for her.

 

[Sylvia]

Many thanks to @Tak for translating/summarizing quite a few skater interviews in the JPN Nationals threads in the Kiss & Cry section - refer to the final sentence in this post @Marco:

Fuji TV had exclusive medalists interview late last night.
Kihira revealed that she exited a spin (right after 3loop) in wrong direction and was basically skating the program as "mirror image". Sakamoto interjected "I thought there was something wrong. You do not do the spiral with your tail towards the judges!" Kihira said she was in half a panic trying to get it back into the right orientation. She managed to do this just before 3flip combination jumps. She also mentioned that final jump (3Lz) was replaced by 2A because the "the pain came back".

 

[Sylvia]

Kihira's coaching change to Brian Orser was announced today (Sept. 8 in Japan):

紀平梨花、拠点をカナダに移しオーサー氏チームから指導「１日１日大切に」 - フィギュア : 日刊スポーツ

フィギュアスケート女子で全日本選手権を2連覇している紀平梨花（19＝トヨタ自動車）のマネジメント会社は8日、同選手が練習拠点をカナダ・トロントに移し、ブライア… - 日刊スポーツ新聞社のニュースサイト、ニッカンスポーツ・コム（nikkansports.com）

www.nikkansports.com

The management company of Rika Kihira (19 = Toyota Motor), who has won the All Japan Championship for two consecutive women in figure skating, moved the practice base to Toronto, Canada on the 8th, and the "team" led by Brian Orser (59)・ Announced that training will be conducted under the guidance of "Brian Orser".
... It consists of a coach, Ghislain Briand, and David Wilson, who choreographs Kihira's free season.
Kihira said, "I am very pleased to aim for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics under the guidance of coach Brian Orser, who has produced many toy skaters, and his team. Also, the Toronto Cricket Club, which will be the practice place, is , It is a blessed environment with wonderful facilities, so I would like to practice every day carefully."

ETA an English version:

Figure skating: Kihira moves to Canada to join Hanyu's coach Orser

Japanese figure skating star Rika Kihira has moved her training base to Toronto to work with Canadian coach Brian Orser, her management company said Wednesday.

english.kyodonews.net

 

[AxelAnnie]

Kihira's coaching change to Brian Orser was announced today (Sept. 8 in Japan):

紀平梨花、拠点をカナダに移しオーサー氏チームから指導「１日１日大切に」 - フィギュア : 日刊スポーツ

フィギュアスケート女子で全日本選手権を2連覇している紀平梨花（19＝トヨタ自動車）のマネジメント会社は8日、同選手が練習拠点をカナダ・トロントに移し、ブライア… - 日刊スポーツ新聞社のニュースサイト、ニッカンスポーツ・コム（nikkansports.com）

www.nikkansports.com

Well. This should be interesting.

 

[Sylvia]

Sad news for Rika fans ... she earlier had to withdraw from Skate Canada International and today has withdrawn from next week's NHK Trophy "as she continues to rehabilitate an injured right ankle, the Japan Skating Federation said Friday.
Kihira, who won her second straight national women's singles title last December, suffered the injury in July."

Figure skating: Rika Kihira to miss NHK Trophy due to ankle injury - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Two-time Japanese national figure skating champion Rika Kihira will not contest the NHK Trophy in Tokyo this month as she continues t

mainichi.jp

 

[angi]

Rika withdrew from Japanese Nationals unfortunately:

https://twitter.com/InTheLoPodcast/status/1472979323573485571

I hope she can come back strong for the next quad after she has time to heal.

 

[skatfan]

DANG. I was rooting for her to come back.