Ryuichi Kihara

Kihara began learning to skate in 1996.[2] He finished 10th at the 2011 World Junior Championships. He competed in singles through January 28, 2013.

On January 30, 2013, the Japanese skating federation confirmed that Kihara would compete in pair skating with Narumi Takahashi, the 2012 World bronze medalist, and they would be coached by Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen.[3][4] They trained in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.[5] They represented Japan together at the 2014 Olympics and placed 19th.

The pair split in March 2015.[6]

In June 2015, Japanese media reported that Kihara had teamed up with former single skater Miu Suzaki, with whom he would continue to train in Michigan.[7] In December, they received the bronze medal at the Japan Championships. They did not appear internationally in their first season together.

After winning their first international medal (bronze) at the Asian Open Trophy in early August 2016 in Manila, Suzaki/Kihara took silver at the Japan Championships in December. Ranked twelfth in the short program and fourteenth in the free skate, they finished thirteenth overall at the 2017 Four Continents Championships, held in February in Gangneung, South Korea.

Suzaki/Kihara began their season with silver at the Asian Open Trophy in August 2017. Making their Grand Prix debut, they finished eighth at the 2017 NHK Trophy in November. They won their first national title at the 2017–18 Japan Championships, and were assigned to Japan's lone pairs spot at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. In February, they competed at the Olympics in both the team event and the individual event.[8] They placed 21st in the latter and missed the free skate. They concluded their season at the 2018 World Championships, where they placed 24th, again missing the free skate.

In October 2018, Suzaki/Kihara placed tenth at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy. They placed eighth at the 2018 Grand Prix Helsinki, their first Grand Prix event of the season. They also placed eighth at the 2018 NHK Trophy, their second assignment. They won a second national title at the 2018–19 Japan Championships. Due to a concussion sustained by Kihara in training, the pair withdrew from the 2019 Four Continents Championships and the home 2019 World Championships in Saitama.[9] They announced the end of their partnership in early April 2019.[10]

In August 2019, it was announced that Kihara had teamed up with Riku Miura and that the pair would train in Oakville, Ontario at the Skate Oakville Skating Club under Bruno Marcotte, Meagan Duhamel, and Brian Shales.[1]

Miura/Kihara made their international competitive debut at 2019 NHK Trophy, where they finished fifth.[11] They were the only pair competing at the 2019–20 Japan Championships, and had two falls in the short program.[12] The free skate proved more successful, allowing them to claim the Japanese national title and assignments to the ISU championships in the second half of the season.[13]

After an eighth-place finish at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, Miura/Kihara were assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[14]

Miura/Kihara was assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate Canada International, but this event was also cancelled as a result of the pandemic.[15]