Refreshed, Miura and Kihara are back in the game
2024 Skate America
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan dominated the Pairs’ event at 2024 Skate America, taking the gold on Saturday. The team clearly showed signs they are back in the game after a rough start at 2024 Lombardia Trophy. USA’s Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea claimed the silver, their first Grand Prix medal, while teammates Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov rose from fifth to snatch the bronze in their Grand Prix debut.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara
Miura and Kihara looked refreshed and sharp in their compelling short program to “Paint It Black.” The 2023 grand-slammers, who took silver last month at Lombardia Trophy, earned a season’s best score of 77.79.
While the triple twist was only graded a level two, the team showed good speed and lots of detail, earning a level four on all other elements. The jumps were spot on—side-by-side triple toes and a throw triple Lutz that garnered 1.82 grades of execution (GOE).
“We are very happy we got through the program without any major mistakes,” said Miura. “We are especially happy that we achieved a level four on the death spiral. On the other hand, we really worked hard on our twist since Lombardia Trophy and aimed for level four. We only got a level two, and we aim to get a better result there tomorrow.”
However, the two-time Four Continents medalists had a few errors in their free skate to “Adiós” by Benjamin Clementine. The triple twist was clean, but both skaters struggled on the side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axels. Miura then took a fall on a throw triple loop but later stepped out of the triple Salchows. The throw triple Lutz was strong, and all three lifts and the death spiral were rewarded a level four. They finished first in both the free skate and overall (136.44/214.23).
“We are back to the Grand Prix after two years,” said Kihara, who was recently diagnosed with asthma. “We are very happy to be back and also it’s been a while since we won a competition, so we are very happy also about that! Our goal for this season is to get through the season without serious illness and injuries.”
They will compete on home ice next at NHK Trophy.
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea
Kam and O’Shea were solid in their innovative short program to “Rain, in Your Black Eyes,” placing second with 70.66 points.
The 2024 Four Continents bronze medalists received a level four on all elements. The lift, in particular, had a unique entry and received +3s and +4s GOEs across the board. Kam put a hand down on the throw triple loop, but the side-by-side triple Salchows were solid.
“It’s good when you start skating well and putting out performances that you are proud of,” said O’Shea. “But then trying to live up to them time after time adds a different type of pressure and a different type of stress. We were both feeling that a little bit coming off a good performance in the short program at Nebelhorn and trying to replicate it while keeping ourselves growing in our own ways.”
“It was a good program,” he added. “A little bit off here and there, but we made it through the stress and fought through.”
The 2024 U.S. Champions struggled a bit with jumps in their routine to “Concealed Passion” and “Stand by Me.” O’Shea fought for the landing of a the side-by-side triple toes, while Kam overrotated her throw triple Lutz and stepped out on the landing. She also underrotated the triple Salchow-double Axels, two-footing the landing. She fought for the throw triple loop, but the team earned a level four on two lifts and the pair spin to place second in the free skate with a new personal best (131.07). With a total score of 201.73 (also a personal best), they maintained their second placement overall.
“We are really happy to be on the podium at Skate America,” said O’Shea. “This is our first Grand Prix medal. We worked very hard during the off-season, and this shows that the hard work paid off.”
“The long program was choreographed by Marie-France, and Drew Meekins was part of the process as well,” said Kam on the difficulty of the lifts towards the end of their program. “Our lifts are a strong part of our skating so, putting our lifts at the end is a strategic decision, to show right at the end what we are good at.”
The team will skate next at NHK Trophy.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov
Efimova and Mitrofanov showed good unison and musicality throughout their dynamic short to “Ameska” and “Uccen” in their Grand Prix debut together as a team. Efimova doubled the side-by-side triple toes but landed the throw triple loop. The 2024 U.S. silver medalists also earned a level four on their lift, death spiral and spin, scoring 63.05 for fifth place.
“We’ve worked overall on everything,” she said referring to after Nebelhorn. “Including technical, doing a lot of pieces of the program, and working on elements. We had the chance to work with our choreographer for four days. Renee Roca came to Boston a couple of weeks ago and we worked on our free program especially, so there will be some new transitions.”
“It was very nice to be here because it was my hometown,” added Mitrofanov. “I lived 10 minutes from here, so to be on this ice, it’s an absolute honor! I had an amazing time skating with Alisa and making the crowd enjoy the program!”
The team gave a brilliant and emotional skate to “Je suis malade” which featured a side-by-side triple Salchow-double Axel sequence, a throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow. Efimova doubled the triple toes, but the team showed a very nice forward-outside death spiral which received a level four. All lifts were graded a level four, as was the pair spin, and they posted a new personal best in both the free skate and total score (128.46/191.51) for third place overall.
“We are very happy we could overcome some difficulties as skating in an NHL-sized rink, ” said Mitrofanov. “We usually train in an Olympic size rink.”
“Our main goal of the season is to make the World team,” he revealed. “Therefore, we need to place in the top two at nationals and show good performances.”
The newly-formed team is excited about their next Grand Prix in France in two weeks.
“We will try to keep our stamina with the quick turnaround and skate as good or even better compared to here,” Mitrofanov summed up.
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia placed third with 68.64 points for their quirky short program to “Why?” by the British pop band Bronski Beat. The 2024 World Junior Champions left some points on the table with a couple levels but delivered a good triple twist. Metelkina touched down with her foot on the throw triple flip and her triple Salchow was landed on the quarter, but the team showed good energy.
Overall, the team felt their performance was “okay.” They had a bit of a late start to the season as they were trying to avoid feeling “burned out” towards the end—a lesson they learned last year.
However, they were very disappointed with their free skate to “A Necessary End” by Saltillo. Berulava turned out the landing of the triple Salchow-double Axel sequence, while Metelkina doubled hers and stepped out of the latter jump. She also put a hand down on the triple toes, but the throw triple flip and throw triple loop were clean. Unfortunately, Berulava lost a pivot on the death spiral which resulted in a fall. The lifts and spin were all graded a level four and they scored 122.79 for fourth place in the free skate. With a total score of 191.43, they missed the podium by nearly a tenth of a point.
“It’s a bit hard to process right now what happened,” said a disheartened Metelkina. “We felt very strong and prepared going into this event. Especially Luka, who is usually very strong on the jumps. So, we really have to figure out what happened. The mistake on the death-spiral, we never did this mistake ever before ever since we skated together.”
“The short margin to the bronze medal is not really what matters,” she continued. “The mistakes are what we have to improve and work on.”
Nevertheless, the team is looking forward to skating next at NHK Trophy. Metelkina shared that she has not been to Japan yet and is very excited about it.
Hungary’s Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko finished fifth overall with 184.01 points. The 2023 Skate Canada silver medalists compete next at the Finlandia Trophy.
“Things happen,” said Pavlova. “This wasn’t our best skate for sure. We were both a bit sick ahead of this competition. We have some time now to regroup and will be better at the next competition.”
Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby of Great Britain earned a new personal best in both the free skate and total score to finish sixth with 180.13 points. They will compete next at NHK Trophy.
“We are so happy!” said Vaipan-Law. “The moment when we finished our program and the crowd cheered was just amazing!”
“We feel like we are exactly at the right place we want to be at this point of the season,” added Digby. “We now want to keep the level, and of course, keep improving.”
They learned a few days ago that they were assigned to NHK Trophy and Anastasia said it felt surreal at first.
“It is a dream come true!” she said. “We love Japan, and we are super excited for that event!”
USA’s Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman and Milania Vaananen and Filippo Clerici of Finland finished seventh and eighth, respectively. McBeath and Parkman will compete next at Cup of China, while Vaananen and Clerici will to Finlandia Trophy next.
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