Muramoto and Reed: "We are super happy!"

[gsk8]

Muramoto and Reed were pleased with their short dance on Wednesday, especially after achieving all the key points in their Rhumba pattern, which they felt was a big achievement for them. Their routine to music from the soundtracks of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and The Last Emperor was solid, but there was still room on the table for more.

The team who trains in Michigan under Marina Zueva, Oleg Epstein, Massimo Scali, and Johnny Johns, earned a new personal best of 98.59 for a third place finish in the free dance and overall (163.86).

“We’re super happy,” said Muramoto of their bronze medal. “We’ve worked so hard coming into this Four Continents and it was definitely a confidence boost going into the Olympic Games. I think we deserved to be on the podium. Coming into this we didn’t think about if we medaled we would be the first Asian country to win a medal. We didn’t know that actually.”

“This really helps for the upcoming weeks of training before going to the Olympics,” said Reed. “We know what additional improvements we can work on, but we’re really happy about our results here. We skated well here for the free dance, but we know now that there is more emotion that we can add into this. It’s not fully bloomed yet.”

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The judges appeared to be a bit all over the place on GOES on their straight line and rotational lifts in the FD. Your thoughts? Overall?

 

[yume]

Congratulations to them. Their FD is really beautiful. First asians to win such a medal, great achievement.

 

[surimi]

I'm happy for them, and I personally liked them best of all the teams I've seen at CC. The final lift looked a bit laboured, but I've seen their CC FD routine 3 times already, which rarely happens to me with dance couples. Their speed is great, they appear as light as feathers on the ice, and their movements are so fluid and elegant. Plus I welcomed their out-of-the-box choice of music. Wishing them all the best at the Olympics.

 

[TMC]

I watched their FD several times and really really enjoyed it. On a shallower note, I also enjoyed the look of Chris's facial hair

 

[dorispulaski]

I adore their short dance this season. There are very few couples who produced a Latin SD and demonstrated being able to portray both the rhythms they chose so well, that with the sound off, you could identify it as a Latin medley. And they got level 4 on the rhumba Kana is such a rock star, and Chris has such good Latin hip action for a figure skater! Congratulations guys!

Their SD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMgn1BVCg-Y

Their FD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOotG2jSdA

 

[Barb]

I adore their short dance this season. There are very few couples who produced a Latin SD and demonstrated being able to portray both the rhythms they chose so well, that with the sound off, you could identify it as a Latin medley. And they got level 4 on the rhumba Kana is such a rock star, and Chris has such good Latin hip action for a figure skater! Congratulations guys!

Their SD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMgn1BVCg-Y

Their FD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOotG2jSdA

Agree, their SD is one of the best latin dances. It is great that they got 2 wonderful programs for the olympic season and technically they have improved a lot too. I really hope that Japan got to skate the LP in the Team Event, so they can get skate so many times, though really their season has been intense.

 

[Skater Boy]

patience has its reward for Chris. Yay. I mean the guy switched countries for this.

 

[dorispulaski]

He did not switch. He had dual citizenship, at birth, but Japan does not allow that after the kid grows up
https://www.justlanded.com/english/Japan/Japan-Guide/Visas-Permits/Japanese-citizenship

Though there are numerous requirements and a lot of paperwork, Japanese citizenship isn’t impossible to obtain. Just be aware, Japan does not permit dual-citizenship, therefore you will have no renounce your current nationality. Japan is a jus sanguinis state, which means nationality is deferred by blood, not by location of birth.

Chris and his sister had to renounce either US or Japanese citizenship. They chose to stay Japanese.

 

[Weathergal]

patience has its reward for Chris. Yay. I mean the guy switched countries for this.

What Chris has persevered through though is knee injuries and finding another partner after his sister Cathy retired. I've always liked Reed / Reed, and I'm a big fan of Muramoto / Reed. Really thrilled for them that they won the bronze at 4CCs!

 

[yude]

I'm guessing Kana or Chris will be the captain of team Japan for the team event in the Olympics

 

[Barb]

What Chris has persevered through though is knee injuries and finding another partner after his sister Cathy retired. I've always liked Reed / Reed, and I'm a big fan of Muramoto / Reed. Really thrilled for them that they won the bronze at 4CCs!

Honestly, I never cared about Cathy and Chris, I think they never got click completly as a team and their programs did not help them but it is a different story with Kana. I translated some comments in japanese of their videos and I am glad read people saying that they never cared about ice dance but now they will do, that they don´t understand much about ice dance because they are used to singles but that they think it is beautiful and they want that media give to Kana and Chris more exposition.

I'm guessing Kana or Chris will be the captain of Team Japan for the team event in the Olympics

it would be great!!

 

[noskates]

I've always liked watching Chris but I think what bothered me about Reed/Reed was Cathy. For some reason I just didn't think she "worked" with Chris. Kana is a great partner for him. I hope they do well at the Olympics although it's going to be a pretty deep competition. A LOT of talent.

 

[Mathman]

They could possibly make the difference in getting Japan to the free skate round at the Olympic team competition!

 

[noskates]

Oh Math - you're right!!!

 

[iluvtodd]

So happy for them! I've always liked Chris, and now what a partnership!

 

[Crossover]

Their programs this season are all great and their improvements are also very visible. Congrats to the medal and keep up the good work!