Rika Kihira | Page 94 | Golden Skate

Rika Kihira

What do you think of Rika's FS this year? I think it is quite an improvement on last year's FS. Rika seems to connect to the music. I wasn't a fan of Wilson's SP for Rika. Her Clair D Lune was pretty but nothing particularly special. However, I think this has a lot more potential and isn't the campy program that you would expect when you think of Titanic.

 
What do you think of Rika's FS this year? I think it is quite an improvement on last year's FS. Rika seems to connect to the music. I wasn't a fan of Wilson's SP for Rika. Her Clair D Lune was pretty but nothing particularly special. However, I think this has a lot more potential and isn't the campy program that you would expect when you think of Titanic.

Thank you for sharing the link!

It's very pretty, very soft right now; I'm not sure how much I like it, but I do know that most programmes don't do much for me until I see them in competition. I think that it will definitely improve as she gets more mileage with it - her skating has the power for her to be able to really sell the climax. It still has a way to go to rival International Angel of Peace as my favourite Rika FP, but it's early days!

(I can't actually recall her FP from this past season. Her SP was the fun one with the cartwheel, but her FP? I'm drawing a blank, and I know I must have seen it, she skated at Worlds.)
 
What do you think of Rika's FS this year?
In my opinion, it looks quite promising, but I expect that it will take some time to transform this programme into its final form. I am more hesitant towards her SP - I know that people (myself as well) are very much into the cartwheel, but for me, the middle part of the programme is z a little bit of a miss situation - I don't really understand the message behind it.
 

Apparently, Rika hasn't been jumping for two months due to injury. I hope she is able to heal.
 

Apparently, Rika hasn't been jumping for two months due to injury. I hope she is able to heal.
That would explain the jump selection. I was originally thinking, oh, there's a few 3S and a 3S-2T, is she planning a 4S combination? But then, she does nothing else other than 2A, 2S and 3S, so she clearly looked like she wasn't jumping at all.

I am wondering how much time she has to prepare herself for competition. If she's STILL injured, which it looks like, I'm a little concerned for her GP events. There's almost no chance she'll have time for a 4T this season, so I don't see her winning an Olympic medal, unless something else happens with the Russians. Which is a major pity, because I always saw her as potentially challenging for gold, but the Worlds injury really messed up her timing here.
 
That would explain the jump selection. I was originally thinking, oh, there's a few 3S and a 3S-2T, is she planning a 4S combination? But then, she does nothing else other than 2A, 2S and 3S, so she clearly looked like she wasn't jumping at all.

I am wondering how much time she has to prepare herself for competition. If she's STILL injured, which it looks like, I'm a little concerned for her GP events. There's almost no chance she'll have time for a 4T this season, so I don't see her winning an Olympic medal, unless something else happens with the Russians. Which is a major pity, because I always saw her as potentially challenging for gold, but the Worlds injury really messed up her timing here.
Yes, it's actually impressive she can jump at all since apparently she hasn't been jumping for 2 months. I agree she is unlikely to add another jumping pass. It might be wise to withdraw from the GP and just focus on recovery for JN.
 
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Interview with Rika:


Goodness she seems badly injured :( But, also interesting information about her program choice. She is very practical, self motivated woman.
 
Interview with Rika:


Goodness she seems badly injured :( But, also interesting information about her program choice. She is very practical, self motivated woman.
Thanks for posting that! Since Japanese is completely unknown to me, I can never find such interviews on my own.
Though, I have to say that I do not recommend Google for translation. I've read that Rika has broken her neck. :sneaky:
 
Rika is moving to the TCC (or trying to, again), now that the Canadian international borders are open:

 
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