Rika Kihira Biography - Life Story and Hopes for an Olympic Medal

Rika Kihira is a Japanese figure skater. She is a two-time Four Continents champion (2019, 2020), the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, a four-time Grand Prix series medalist (2018 NHK Trophy gold, 2018 Internationaux de France gold, 2019 Skate Canada silver, 2019 NHK Trophy silver), a two-time International Challenge Cup champion, and a two-time Japanese national champion (2019, 2020). Kihira is currently the highest ranked ladies figure skater in the world by the International Skating Union. On the junior level, she is the 2016 JGP Slovenia champion, the 2016 JGP Czech Republic silver medalist, the 2017 JGP Latvia silver medalist, and the 2017 Japanese junior national champion. Kihira is the seventh ladies skater to have landed the triple Axel jump in an International Skating Union competition, the first ever woman to land a triple Axel-triple Toeloop combination, the first woman to land eight clean triples in a free skate, the second woman to land four clean triples in the short program, and the third woman to land twelve clean triples in one competition (all the maximum allowed under the Zayak rule).