Rika Kihira

Rika Kihira (Japanese: 紀平 梨花; born 21 July 2002) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2019 Four Continents champion, 2018–19 Grand Prix Final champion, 2018 NHK Trophy champion, 2018 Internationaux de France champion, 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy champion, the 2019 Challenge Cup champion, the 2017–18 Japan Junior national champion and a three -time senior national medalist (2017–18 bronze, 2018–19 silver and 2019–20 gold). She finished within the top ten at the 2018 World Junior Championships and placed fourth at the 2019 World Championships.

Kihira is one of eleven women to have landed the triple Axel jump in a senior international competition. She is the first ever woman to land a triple Axel-triple jump combination in an international competition organized by the International Skating Union. To date, along with Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Alena Kostornaia, she is one of only three women who have attempted and landed the maximum number of triple jumps allowed in one senior international competition: four in the short program and eight in the long program (see Zayak rule).

Personal life

Kihira was born on 21 July 2002 in Nishinomiya, Japan.

Career

Kihira began learning to skate in 2007. In the 2015–16 season, she competed on the advanced novice level, winning gold at the Triglav Trophy.

She is coached by Mie Hamada and Yamato Tamura in Takatsuki, Osaka.

According to Hamada, Rika didn't have any triple jumps when she first came to her, but she still noticed Rika's high potential in her upper body strength (from gymnastics) and speed while running. Hamada recalled that she was convinced from the first day she saw Rika skate that she could "master a triple Axel." The first thing Hamada did was teach Rika how to control her axis while jumping in order to prepare her for triple jumps.

2016–17 season: International junior debut

Kihira made her Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in the 2016–17 season. In early September, she won the silver medal in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with a total score 0.08 less than Anastasiia Gubanova of Russia. Later that month, she outscored World junior champion Marin Honda by 15.49 points for the gold in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Kihira landed a triple Axel jump in the free skate. She qualified to the 2016–17 JGP Final in Marseille, France, where she finished fourth.

2017–18 season

Kihira began her season winning a gold medal at the Asian Trophy in Hong Kong. She was able to land a triple Axel in her free skate.

Kihira was assigned JGP events in Latvia and Italy. In her first event at JGP Riga, Kihira placed sixth in the short program after stepping out of her triple flip and falling on her triple Lutz. She finished second overall behind Daria Panenkova after winning the free skate.

In her next event at JGP Egna, she won the bronze medal behind Sofia Samodurova and Alena Kostornaia after placing second in the short program and third in the free skate. The results qualified her for her second JGP Final in Nagoya, Japan over Mako Yamashita through a tie breaker.

At the 2017 JGP Final, she became the first ever woman to land a triple Axel-triple jump combination in an international competition organized by the International Skating Union. She was the only non-Russian competitor and finished fourth overall, following a popped Axel and an underrotation on another jump.

Kihira won the gold medal at Junior Nationals. She placed sixth in the short program, but rebounded in the free skate with a triple Axel and triple Axel-triple toe loop-double toe loop.

On the senior level, Kihira won the bronze medal at Japanese Nationals, after placing fifth in the short program and second in the free skate. As she was age-ineligible to compete as a senior, she was sent to the 2018 World Junior Championships, where she placed eighth.

2018–19 season: Grand Prix Final & Four Continents gold

Making her senior debut, Kihira began the season with a gold medal at the 2018 Ondrej Nepela Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series event. Kihira placed first in the short program, despite falling on her triple Axel. She also placed first in the long program with eight fully rotated triple jumps, including a triple Axel-triple toe loop and a solo triple Axel, and set a free skate world record of 147.37 points.

For her senior Grand Prix debut, Kihira was originally assigned only one event. At 2018 NHK Trophy, Kihira was fifth in the short program after underrotating and falling on her triple Axel again. She placed first in the free skate with a solo triple Axel, a triple Axel-triple toe loop, and eight triple jumps in total. She won the gold medal overall. In doing so, she finished ahead of compatriot and reigning Japanese national champion Satoko Miyahara and 2015 World Champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who also performed a triple Axel in her free program. She admitted afterward: "When I finished my short program, I didn’t think I would be up here today. The short program motivated me to be good today."

Due to her results at the 2018 NHK Trophy, Rika was assigned another Grand Prix event. At the Internationaux de France, Kihira singled the triple Axel in the short program, placing third. In the free skate she underrotated her sole triple axel attempt, but still placed first and captured her second Grand Prix gold medal. Kihira stated that she was glad to have won, but was unsatisfied with her performance.

The 2018–19 Grand Prix Final was regarded by many commentators as a contest between Kihira and reigning Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, who had been forced to withdraw from the Ondrej Nepela Trophy earlier due to visa issues. Kihira won the short program with a world record score of 82.51, landing the triple Axel in the short program for the first time that season. She then placed first in the free skate with a score of 150.61 and won the gold medal, despite downgrading and falling on her opening triple axel.

Kihira entered the 2018 Japanese Championships as a favourite to take the national title, but she struggled with boot problems in the competition, and made multiple errors in the short program that left her in fifth place going into the free skate. She placed first in the free skate, her only mistake being a downgraded Euler in her three-jump combination. However, she won the silver medal overall in front of training mate and four-time national champion Satoko Miyahara. The gold medal went to Kaori Sakamoto.

At the 2019 Four Continents Championships, Kihira initially "hesitated" at including the triple Axel in the short program, but chose to do so, and singled it. She placed fifth in the short. In the free program, Kihira landed one triple Axel and substituted a double Axel-triple toe loop combination for the second, winning both the free program and the overall championship decisively. She observed: "During this season, I learned how to keep my concentration in my free skating no matter what happens in my short program."

Kihira was one of three Japanese ladies assigned to the 2019 World Championships, held in Saitama, and based on her season up until that point was widely considered the favourite to win the title. In the short program, she once again singled her triple Axel attempt, leaving her in seventh place and outside of the final group of six skaters. She came second in the free skate, earning a silver small medal, landing a clean triple Axel-triple toe loop and falling on her second triple axel. In fourth overall, she was 0.31 points behind bronze medalist Evgenia Medvedeva and 1.27 points behind silver medalist Elizabet Tursynbaeva. It was the only podium Kihira missed in the season, and the only international competition she did not win.

Kihira concluded the season as part of Team Japan at the 2019 World Team Trophy. She landed the triple axel in the short program for only the second time that season, setting another world record of 83.97. However, Kihira fell twice in the free, once on her opening triple Axel, and the other on her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, placing fifth. Team Japan won the silver medal overall.

2019–20 season: First national title

Kihira began her season at 2019 CS Autumn Classic International where she ranked both first in the short program and in the free, finishing in first place overall, and landing all three of her planned triple Axels, albeit with once called as underrotated. Kihira stated that she hoped to introduce a quad Salchow into competition later in the season, but had declined to attempt it there as she felt her triple Axel was more stable. A persistent ankle problem led her to not attempt to perform any triple Lutz jumps in competition.

Her next competition was Skate Canada where she placed first after a clean short program scoring 81.35. In the free skate Kihira stepped out of her first triple Axel but after that had a clean skate. She has earned 148.98 points in the free skate to score 230.33 for both programs and finish second overall behind Alexandra Trusova who landed three quad jumps in her free skate. Kihira stated afterward that Trusova's performance motivated her to work to increase her scoring potential going forward. Competing at the 2019 NHK Trophy, Kihira landed her Axel and combination cleanly but had a poor landing on her triple loop, placing second behind Alena Kostornaia, who also performed a triple Axel and broke Kihira's short program world record. Second in the free skate as well, she won a second silver medal and qualified to the Grand Prix Final. Kihira stated afterward that her ankle continued to be a problem after three months, with the possibility that it might be a tendon issue that would require time away from competition to resolve.

Competing at the Grand Prix Final, Kihira put her foot down on her triple Axel and fell on her jump combination, consequently placing sixth of the sixth skaters in the segment, almost fifteen points behind Kostornaia in first place. Kihira expressed regret over her performance, attributing much of it to discomfort with skating in the evening rather than the morning. In the free skate, Kihira attempted the quad Salchow in competition for the first time, achieving the rotation but falling. She placed fourth in that segment, and rose to fourth place overall. Speaking afterward, Kihira said "as for the quads, a lot of girls are doing different quads now and I know I also need to work harder. Of course I want to first get my quad Salchow consistent, and then maybe I will try quad toe."

Entering the 2019–20 Japanese Championships as the favourite for the title, Kihira placed first in the short program despite stepping out of her triple Axel and losing levels on one of her spins. She won the free skate commandingly, making only a single error when she underrotated the triple toe loop in her opening jump combination, and took the Japanese national title for the first time. She indicated that she hoped to reintroduce the triple Lutz into competition for the 2020 World Championships.

Skating technique

Kihira is regarded by analysts to be a complete skater, praised for both her technical and artistic skills. "You can talk about the triple axel all you want, but there is a little bit of everything there," remarked Kurt Browning. Tara Lipinski also noted her all-around ability: "We focus so much on her jumps, which are incredible. But what’s interesting to me is she’s mature beyond her years. She has such a solid base and foundation when it comes to her skating skills and ice coverage and extension."

Kihira is known for her difficult jump layouts. She is the first female skater to land eight fully rotated triples in a program. She has landed triple Axels and triple Axel-triple toe loops in international competition, being one of two ladies who have achieved the latter (the second being Alysa Liu). She was the youngest lady to land the triple Axel in an ISU-sanctioned competition, until Liu. She has also executed a triple Axel-triple toe loop-double toe loop in domestic competition. She is training the quad toe loop and quad Salchow.

All of Kihira's jumps notably have correct technique. Her toe jumps (toe loop, flip, and Lutz) have the proper toepick assist. Her Lutz has the correct takeoff edge, which is uncommon among the top ladies skaters. Her coach Mie Hamada recalled that Kihira used to have an outside edge on her flip, a flaw that she was able to fix, which suggests that she is a natural Lutz jumper. Kihira is also one of three ladies who are ranked in the top ten skaters within the past ten years to never receive an edge call.

In addition to her clean technique, Kihira's jumps are praised for their execution: complex transitions, good flow, considerable distance, effortlessness, and short set up.

As a junior, Kihira used to have problems with under-rotating her jumps. However, she was able to mostly get her under-rotations under control by her senior debut.

Programs

Records and achievements

• Set the ladies' technical score of 87.17 points in the free skate, currently held by Alexandra Trusova.
• Set the ladies' technical score of 48.17 points in the short program, currently held by Alena Kostornaia.
• Set the ladies' record of the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system for the free program with a score of 147.37 points at the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy, previously held by Alexandra Trusova (Russia).
• First lady to land a triple Axel + triple toe loop at the 2017–18 Junior Grand Prix Final.
• The youngest lady to land a triple Axel at the 2016 JGP Slovenia (14 years 54 days).
• Second lady to land two triple axel jumps in the same program (2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy) behind Mao Asada.
• First lady to land 8 (fully rotated) triple jumps in the free skate (3A, 3Lz+3T, 3Lo, 2A+3T, 3F+2T+2Lo, 3S, 3Lz) at the 2016 JGP Slovenia.
• Second junior lady to land a triple axel behind Mao Asada.

World record scores

Kihira has set two world record scores under the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Senior level

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Current ISU world best highlighted in bold and italic. Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold. Personal best highlighted in bold. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.

Junior level

• Personal best highlighted in bold.