Engagement Announcement

Japanese Olympic pairs figure skating champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara announced their engagement on Sunday, becoming partners off the ice as well as on it. Multiple outlets including The Star, The Japan Times, Hindustan Times and The Straits Times reported that the pair posted the news on Instagram accompanied by a photograph of Kihara kneeling on the ice to present Miura with a ring. “We’re engaged,” they wrote. “Through both the happy times and the difficult ones, we’ve shared so many moments together, supporting each other every step of the way.”

They added that over time they “became irreplaceable parts of each other’s lives.” NBC Sports carried a fuller version of the message in which the couple said they were “truly happy to finally be able to share this news with all of you” and described each other as someone neither could imagine life without. The Straits Times noted that the announcement ended months of speculation about their relationship. Malay Mail reported that Kihara also shared an emotional message on the platform X that drew millions of views, tens of thousands of likes and shares, and included the hashtag #shesaidyes together with a photograph credited to Nobuaki Tanaka. According to The Star and several other reports, the Instagram post alone attracted more than 14,000 congratulatory messages within five hours.

Miura is 24 and Kihara turned 34 the day before the announcement. They are affectionately known in Japan as Riku-Ryu, Rikuryu or RikuRyu. The Manila Times described them as two-time world champions who became media darlings after their Olympic success.

Path to Olympic Gold

Miura and Kihara teamed up in 2019 and went on to become the first Japanese pair to win Olympic gold in figure skating at the Milano Cortina Winter Games in February 2026. NBC Sports noted that they were also the first pairs team from Japan to win an Olympic medal of any color. The Straits Times reported that they earned Japan’s first pairs Winter Olympic medal.

Their free-skate performance in Milan was built around themes of combat, survival and triumph and was set to music from “Gladiator.” After an uncharacteristic error left them in fifth place following the short program, they rallied to take gold with a world-record score. The Star, The Japan Times and Hindustan Times described the free program as spellbinding, with the crowd on its feet long before the final strains of the music ended. Kihara later said he had felt “completely devastated” after the short-program setback and immediately burst into tears, images that were replayed extensively on Japanese television.

The pair were known for smiling, laughing and hugging, with Kihara sometimes carrying the 146-centimetre Miura onto and off the ice. They overcame significant physical challenges: Kihara battled recurring back injuries while Miura repeatedly competed with a chronically dislocated shoulder.

Life After Competition

Miura and Kihara announced their retirement from competitive skating in April 2026, two months after the Olympics. NBC Sports quoted their retirement post in which they said they felt they had given their all and had no regrets, expressing pride in everything they had been through and a desire to bring wider recognition to pair skating in Japan. The Straits Times reported that they are now performing in ice shows while pursuing coaching careers. Miura is from Hyogo Prefecture and Kihara from Aichi Prefecture.

At a press conference after returning to Japan in February, Kihara described the pair as “comrades in arms” while Miura said they were like family, according to The Straits Times. In their engagement announcement they said they would continue to support each other and move forward together one step at a time while staying true to themselves.

The couple’s journey from pairing in 2019 through injury setbacks, Olympic triumph and now engagement has been widely followed in Japan, where figure skating frequently tops news bulletins.