Rika Kihira | Page 44 | Golden Skate

Rika Kihira

What are the odds she'll pull out a quad attempt in her last gala (during the finale where everyone shows off a jump)? Or some other jump combination she hasn't done yet in competition? She did a 2A+3S at GPF, which suggests that she's still practising new combinations. A 3Lz+3Lo would be pretty epic too.
 
What are the odds she'll pull out a quad attempt in her last gala (during the finale where everyone shows off a jump)? Or some other jump combination she hasn't done yet in competition? She did a 2A+3S at GPF, which suggests that she's still practising new combinations. A 3Lz+3Lo would be pretty epic too.

I think a quad is unlikely but who knows!
I hope Rika goes to WTT!!! That competition is the most fun! Imagine if Yuzuru goes as well?? So many cute moments!
I think Rika will have a quad by next season and I think that will mess up her just acquired consistency. But, they Are playing the long game so... It’s what she needs to do. I’ll be supporting her no matter what! [emoji120]
 
So, we won't be dying while waiting for her next competition. Some Rika content will air on japanese tv

She'll be appearing live in MBS Chichinpuipui (plz don't ask me about the name) on 26th Dec, at 13:55pm JST. You could send messages, or questions to her via this email [[email protected]] (should be in Japanese I think)
cr: https://twitter.com/juronom/status/1077573264380092416

Rika will skate at Nagoya Festival this year as well �� cr: https://twitter.com/rikak_fans/status/1077502470434246657

Japanese tv interviewed Rika's best friend Sato here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tIhfYFglO4&feature=youtu.be if you're gonna watch it, it's after the victory ceremony

She said that Rika is usually the one who talks very much, and is a really interesting person. And Rika is the type of person that doesn't get nervous at all when talking in front of people.
Sato once took Rika to her idol's concert, her idol threw signed balls to fans, 2 of them thought they could never catch any ball from their position, but then there was a ball thrown to the left of Sato, hit someone's head and bounced back, so Rika jumped up and caught it.
After all those years being her best friend, Sato was still surprised by Rika's physical ability ��
But when Sato said that she wants the ball, Rika didn't give it to her. She said: "I caught the ball so I'm gonna bring it home."
Sato also talked about how Rika recovers really fast.

After winning a competition, normally it would be very exhausting, but right after that Rika still went to USJ with Sato and played a whole day until Rika's mother came to pick them up in the evening. Even when Rika only has like 2 hours of free time between her practice sessions, she would still go out with Sato.
That reflects really well in her FS in Nationals where she bounced back very fast after that failure in the SP.

Rika is the type of person that even when she didn't do well, she wouldn't continuously think about that failure, she would find a way to fix it by the next day.

cr: https://twitter.com/diepmy205/status/1077527015434022912

I think we talked about it a few pages ago but it seems she is in incredible physical form and has been that way since she was a kid (remember when they said she would walk around the house in handstands and she'd win races against the boys as a kid :laugh: ). This is probably why she can do like 35 3As in practice during a competition and not look tired at all. That takes a bit of stress off me about her practicing quads.

TSL has said it again in their last video, that she's going to colorado to practice quads in altitude. Her team said they'd resume quads training after nationals so this must be what they were talking about. I wonder why in altitude tho :think: is it about stamina or something?
 
I thought Rika said she fixed her boots before the FS at Nationals. Is something still wrong with them?

Her boots are basically dead, she needs a new pair (and a back up pair too in my opinion). She said she's been using the same boots for more than 5 months and they have gotten too soft which is why she needed to put gel and tape them.
 
So, we won't be dying while waiting for her next competition. Some Rika content will air on japanese tv

She'll be appearing live in MBS Chichinpuipui (plz don't ask me about the name) on 26th Dec, at 13:55pm JST. You could send messages, or questions to her via this email [[email protected]] (should be in Japanese I think)
cr: https://twitter.com/juronom/status/1077573264380092416

Rika will skate at Nagoya Festival this year as well cr: https://twitter.com/rikak_fans/status/1077502470434246657

Japanese tv interviewed Rika's best friend Sato here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tIhfYFglO4&feature=youtu.be if you're gonna watch it, it's after the victory ceremony

She said that Rika is usually the one who talks very much, and is a really interesting person. And Rika is the type of person that doesn't get nervous at all when talking in front of people.
Sato once took Rika to her idol's concert, her idol threw signed balls to fans, 2 of them thought they could never catch any ball from their position, but then there was a ball thrown to the left of Sato, hit someone's head and bounced back, so Rika jumped up and caught it.
After all those years being her best friend, Sato was still surprised by Rika's physical ability
But when Sato said that she wants the ball, Rika didn't give it to her. She said: "I caught the ball so I'm gonna bring it home."
Sato also talked about how Rika recovers really fast.

After winning a competition, normally it would be very exhausting, but right after that Rika still went to USJ with Sato and played a whole day until Rika's mother came to pick them up in the evening. Even when Rika only has like 2 hours of free time between her practice sessions, she would still go out with Sato.
That reflects really well in her FS in Nationals where she bounced back very fast after that failure in the SP.

Rika is the type of person that even when she didn't do well, she wouldn't continuously think about that failure, she would find a way to fix it by the next day.

cr: https://twitter.com/diepmy205/status/1077527015434022912

I think we talked about it a few pages ago but it seems she is in incredible physical form and has been that way since she was a kid (remember when they said she would walk around the house in handstands and she'd win races against the boys as a kid :laugh: ). This is probably why she can do like 35 3As in practice during a competition and not look tired at all. That takes a bit of stress off me about her practicing quads.

TSL has said it again in their last video, that she's going to colorado to practice quads in altitude. Her team said they'd resume quads training after nationals so this must be what they were talking about. I wonder why in altitude tho :think: is it about stamina or something?

Altitude training is probably for stamina as quads take effort, especially with two 3As in the same program. I feel they'll add a quad every year to have 3 quads for Beijing.

I thought Rika said she fixed her boots before the FS at Nationals. Is something still wrong with them?

Well, she didn't tighten up her boots with tape correctly the last time at Nationals, and she'll go through boots pretty quickly. Just hope she doesn't mess up again.

I think a quad is unlikely but who knows!
I hope Rika goes to WTT!!! That competition is the most fun! Imagine if Yuzuru goes as well?? So many cute moments!
I think Rika will have a quad by next season and I think that will mess up her just acquired consistency. But, they Are playing the long game so... It’s what she needs to do. I’ll be supporting her no matter what! [emoji120]

Yuzu must be thinking
Another 3A girl in my team. About time xD
Although I don't expect any cuter moments than between Yuzu and Mao.

Falling on quads is ok if the rest of the program is fine and Rika has been pretty good with that this season, minus a few hiccups here and there.
 
Altitude training is probably for stamina as quads take effort, especially with two 3As in the same program. I feel they'll add a quad every year to have 3 quads for Beijing.



Well, she didn't tighten up her boots with tape correctly the last time at Nationals, and she'll go through boots pretty quickly. Just hope she doesn't mess up again.



Yuzu must be thinking
Another 3A girl in my team. About time xD
Although I don't expect any cuter moments than between Yuzu and Mao.

Falling on quads is ok if the rest of the program is fine and Rika has been pretty good with that this season, minus a few hiccups here and there.

Nah. Hamada said something like "she'll need 1 quad, 2 3As to be competitive in Beijing". There will not be several and definitely not 3 quads. Thank god cause That's madness. I have goosebumps just watching Eteri girls attempt that. I don't think we'll see ladies actually land several quads in a program competition consistently & properly anytime soon, if ever. I mean only Sasha & Anna have tried 2 or 3 and every time they take at least one hard fall.
IF Rika manages to add her 4T in a program, her TES with GOE could reach 98-100+. That would be more than enough. No need for more. Just the idea of one quad already scares me enough :laugh:

Edit: and yes, she's been doing a great job with the rest of her jumps all season. Her layout is incredibly consistently clean even after she misses a 3A. She has transformed and truly become a whole new person this season. She makes me so proud.
 
So, we won't be dying while waiting for her next competition. Some Rika content will air on japanese tv

She'll be appearing live in MBS Chichinpuipui (plz don't ask me about the name) on 26th Dec, at 13:55pm JST. You could send messages, or questions to her via this email [[email protected]] (should be in Japanese I think)
cr: https://twitter.com/juronom/status/1077573264380092416

Rika will skate at Nagoya Festival this year as well cr: https://twitter.com/rikak_fans/status/1077502470434246657

Japanese tv interviewed Rika's best friend Sato here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tIhfYFglO4&feature=youtu.be if you're gonna watch it, it's after the victory ceremony

She said that Rika is usually the one who talks very much, and is a really interesting person. And Rika is the type of person that doesn't get nervous at all when talking in front of people.
Sato once took Rika to her idol's concert, her idol threw signed balls to fans, 2 of them thought they could never catch any ball from their position, but then there was a ball thrown to the left of Sato, hit someone's head and bounced back, so Rika jumped up and caught it.
After all those years being her best friend, Sato was still surprised by Rika's physical ability
But when Sato said that she wants the ball, Rika didn't give it to her. She said: "I caught the ball so I'm gonna bring it home."
Sato also talked about how Rika recovers really fast.

After winning a competition, normally it would be very exhausting, but right after that Rika still went to USJ with Sato and played a whole day until Rika's mother came to pick them up in the evening. Even when Rika only has like 2 hours of free time between her practice sessions, she would still go out with Sato.
That reflects really well in her FS in Nationals where she bounced back very fast after that failure in the SP.

Rika is the type of person that even when she didn't do well, she wouldn't continuously think about that failure, she would find a way to fix it by the next day.

cr: https://twitter.com/diepmy205/status/1077527015434022912

I think we talked about it a few pages ago but it seems she is in incredible physical form and has been that way since she was a kid (remember when they said she would walk around the house in handstands and she'd win races against the boys as a kid :laugh: ). This is probably why she can do like 35 3As in practice during a competition and not look tired at all. That takes a bit of stress off me about her practicing quads.

TSL has said it again in their last video, that she's going to colorado to practice quads in altitude. Her team said they'd resume quads training after nationals so this must be what they were talking about. I wonder why in altitude tho :think: is it about stamina or something?

I thought Rika said she fixed her boots before the FS at Nationals. Is something still wrong with them?

I think a quad is unlikely but who knows!
I hope Rika goes to WTT!!! That competition is the most fun! Imagine if Yuzuru goes as well?? So many cute moments!
I think Rika will have a quad by next season and I think that will mess up her just acquired consistency. But, they Are playing the long game so... It’s what she needs to do. I’ll be supporting her no matter what! [emoji120]

Nah. Hamada said something like "she'll need 1 quad, 2 3As to be competitive in Beijing". There will not be several and definitely not 3 quads. Thank god cause That's madness. I have goosebumps just watching Eteri girls attempt that. I don't think we'll see ladies actually land several quads in a program competition consistently & properly anytime soon, if ever. I mean only Sasha & Anna have tried 2 or 3 and every time they take at least one hard fall.
IF Rika manages to add her 4T in a program, her TES with GOE could reach 98-100+. That would be more than enough. No need for more. Just the idea of one quad already scares me enough :laugh:

Edit: and yes, she's been doing a great job with the rest of her jumps all season. Her layout is incredibly consistently clean even after she misses a 3A. She has transformed and truly become a whole new person this season. She makes me so proud.

She's on 87 TES atm. She would need two quads to hit 100. I personally don't think three quads is too realistic either, but she's done 4S and 4T before, so it's realistic that she'll try both for Beijing. I mean, it's three years, like the odds of perfecting slightly UR quads in three years. It's not like she's learning them from scratch either, and her technique is better than that of Anna and Sasha. If anyone can pull off two quads consistently anytime soon, it's Rika.

Not going to lie, skating without a double in competition would be mighty impressive. I think only Yuzu has pulled that off this season as Shoma and Nathan tend to do 2T in SP.
 
She's on 87 TES atm. She would need two quads to hit 100. I personally don't think three quads is too realistic either, but she's done 4S and 4T before, so it's realistic that she'll try both for Beijing. I mean, it's three years, like the odds of perfecting slightly UR quads in three years. It's not like she's learning them from scratch either, and her technique is better than that of Anna and Sasha. If anyone can pull off two quads consistently anytime soon, it's Rika.

Not going to lie, skating without a double in competition would be mighty impressive. I think only Yuzu has pulled that off this season as Shoma and Nathan tend to do 2T in SP.

no she wouldn't need 2 quads to hit 100 :laugh: She could do 8 triples + a clean 4T with positive GOE, that definitely goes above 100 TES. What i'm saying is 3 quads is madness. It's not even about having the technique or being able to do it, it's dangerous, crazy and unnecessary tbh. Plus Hamada is not Eteri; she wouldn't let that happen, that's not the kind of coach she is. Remember that their plan is improving, getting better, stronger and a more complete skater going to Beijing. Even doing quads in practice is dangerous. Imagine trying to consistently land 2-3 of them on top of 2 3AS? That is ridiculous. :noshake: Not even adult male skaters can do it without ruining their bodies.

We are talking about it but we have yet to see what her 4T even looks like now :laugh: and if it's gonna make it to competition at all :think:

By the way i've seen a few people on twitter quote her. Apparently she said quads are easier than the 3A for her because the landing is easier to control. I have yet to see the source. Where did she say that? Does someone here know?

Some behind the scenes footage of Rika and the other japanese ladies after the gala https://twitter.com/masumas60386609/status/1077690110366216192
I love the friendly atmosphere there is between the japanese ladies :luv17:
 
no she wouldn't need 2 quads to hit 100 :laugh: She could do 8 triples + a clean 4T with positive GOE, that definitely goes above 100 TES. What i'm saying is 3 quads is madness. It's not even about having the technique or being able to do it, it's dangerous, crazy and unnecessary tbh. Plus Hamada is not Eteri; she wouldn't let that happen, that's not the kind of coach she is. Remember that their plan is improving, getting better, stronger and a more complete skater going to Beijing. Even doing quads in practice is dangerous. Imagine trying to consistently land 2-3 of them on top of 2 3AS? That is ridiculous. :noshake: Not even adult male skaters can do it without ruining their bodies.

We are talking about it but we have yet to see what her 4T even looks like now :laugh: and if it's gonna make it to competition at all :think:

By the way i've seen a few people on twitter quote her. Apparently she said quads are easier than the 3A for her because the landing is easier to control. I have yet to see the source. Where did she say that? Does someone here know?

Some behind the scenes footage of Rika and the other japanese ladies after the gala https://twitter.com/masumas60386609/status/1077690110366216192
I love the friendly atmosphere there is between the japanese ladies :luv17:

She would need +5 GOE for everything for one quad to get her to 100 TES. 4T is only 9.50 and she is on 87 TES atm if clean. She needs to swap out at least a 2T for it, so she needs to make up 14 points. We're not going to see a +4 GOE 4T soon I'd think, so she'd need to boost her existing GOEs for that. Although we'll see just what happens regarding quads. If what she said about quads is true...wouldn't honestly surprise me given Nathan's documented struggles with the 3A.

I think such an atmosphere seems to be a thing amongst female skaters from the same country. It's very positive for the sport indeed.
 
Rika was on a tv show and they were talking about her incredibly strong body again. They touched her "brick wall like" abs and they asked her to flex her biceps again :laugh2:
https://twitter.com/oay19830504/status/1077804989131632640

These are the stats of her solo 3A at Nats measured thanks to fujitv ice scope https://twitter.com/rikak_fans/status/1077915630072938496
Also it seems her 3A is higher and covers more distance than a lot of the men competing at Nats :agree:

Rika with Daisuke Takahashi https://twitter.com/hydrobIading/status/1077883730029694976


By the way her solo 3lo is her weirdest jump, someone on my twitter feed called it "a drunken 3lo" :laugh: i have anxiety every time she goes for it because it has weird air position, i am sometimes surprised she can land it. It's the jump she receives the least GOE on as well.
We've seen her do 2A-eu-3S at GPF gala, i wonder how many combos she works on :think:
 
Rika was on a tv show and they were talking about her incredibly strong body again. They touched her "brick wall like" abs and they asked her to flex her biceps again :laugh2:
https://twitter.com/oay19830504/status/1077804989131632640

These are the stats of her solo 3A at Nats measured thanks to fujitv ice scope https://twitter.com/rikak_fans/status/1077915630072938496
Also it seems her 3A is higher and covers more distance than a lot of the men competing at Nats :agree:

Rika with Daisuke Takahashi https://twitter.com/hydrobIading/status/1077883730029694976


By the way her solo 3lo is her weirdest jump, someone on my twitter feed called it "a drunken 3lo" :laugh: i have anxiety every time she goes for it because it has weird air position, i am sometimes surprised she can land it. It's the jump she receives the least GOE on as well.
We've seen her do 2A-eu-3S at GPF gala, i wonder how many combos she works on :think:

I think she is doing tano to her 3lo. I wonder if it would not be better to give to this.:scratch2:
 
I think she is doing tano to her 3lo. I wonder if it would not be better to give to this.:scratch2:

She does a rippon. Maybe you're right, without a rippon her air position on the 3lo could be more stable; or maybe she has to work on getting better height on it, that could help fix it too. I imagine they'll work on it since Hamada has been all about making everything better step by step with her.

Miki Ando had some nice words to say about Rika after nationals
https://twitter.com/M1K1_ANDO/status/1077200807773167624
According to Google translate, she says "The strength and change of her determination to fulfill the senior season debut is truly eye-catching. Figure skating greatly depends on your feelings. Face her strength and shine, her strength is real! Congratulations on the best stage with the best shine ..." that is so sweet of her :luv17:
 
My two favorite skaters will face again at world. I knew after Ondrej and Nebelhorn trophy they will be rivals at GPF. Rika is such a talented skater.
 
I could not connect and congratulate her on her victory at the GPF but I was happy for her, it's another step that brings her closer to the 2022 Olympics, and she continues to fight for the place on the National podium, she can be proud of her.

It's even more encouraging when you know she does it when she had problems with her boots.

She made me laugh with her biceps lol I love her personality, it's only a few months before the 4CC and the World so I think it's good that she devotes this time to improving her fitness for her jumps. She's a real little champion.
 
Here is a new video of Rika dressed stylishly on a talk show with her skating boots placed right in front of her, as she talks about skating, the triple axel and shows off her biceps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9NBzrdAL-o

Rika flexing her biceps is now obligatory every time she appears on tv :laugh2:
They asked Rika about Alina in the show as well and someone on twitter provided the translation.

Rika said that Alina is pretty strong mentally, she has a great control in every situations. As the OGM she respected her so much b/c Rika too wants to not just appear in Olympics but deliver a perfect program there. Also when asked if she and Alina talked a lot she said that they couldn't because both she and Alina's English are not good :laugh:
 
Vimeo has deleted all of my videos :( , so send me a PM if you'd like a temporary download link for the GPF Gala.
 
Vimeo has deleted all of my videos :( , so send me a PM if you'd like a temporary download link for the GPF Gala.

oh so sorry! it seems even on vimeo they're taking down videos now! i personally had downloaded everything you uploaded already :agree:

GOOD NEWS: Rika did a Q&A with fans during the instagram live she did with her sister today, she mentioned that pink is her favorite color and that her new boots feel great (she got new boots yeay :hap10: ). She is also already jumping the 3A with them.

cr: https://twitter.com/kc_kobelife/status/1079740883203813377
We'll see her in a few days at Nagoya's festival
 
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