Rika Kihira

Rika Kihira
Kihira at the 2017–18 JGP Final
Personal information
Native name 紀平 梨花
Country represented Japan Japan
Born (2002-07-21) 21 July 2002
Nishinomiya, Japan
Home town Nishinomiya-shi
Height 1.54 m (5 ft 1⁄2 in)
Coach Mie Hamada
Yamato Tamura
H. Okamoto
Cathy Reed
Choreographer Jeffrey Buttle
Tom Dickson
Skating club Kansai University Kaisers FSC
Training locations Takatsuki, Osaka
Began skating 2007
Season's bests 27 (2017–18)[1]
18 (2016–17)[2]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total 218.16
2018 CS Nepela Trophy
Short program 70.79
2018 CS Nepela Trophy
Free skate 147.37
2018 CS Nepela Trophy

Rika Kihira (Japanese: 紀平 梨花; born July 21, 2002) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy champion, the 2017–18 Japan Junior national champion and senior national bronze medalist. She finished within the top ten at the 2018 World Junior Championships.

Kihira is one of eight ladies competitors to land the triple Axel jump in an international competition. She is the first ever woman to land a triple axel + triple jump combination in an international competition organized by the International Skating Union.

Personal life

Kihira was born on July 21, 2002 in Nishinomiya, Japan.[3]

Career

Kihira began learning to skate in 2007.[3] In the 2015–16 season, she competed on the advanced novice level, winning gold at the Triglav Trophy.

She is coached by Mie Hamada and Yamato Tamura in Takatsuki, Osaka.[3]

2016–17 season: Junior international debut

Kihira at the 2016–17 JGP Final.

Kihira made her Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in the 2016–17 season. In early September, she won the silver medal in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with a total score 0.08 less than Anastasiia Gubanova of Russia. Later that month, she outscored World junior champion Marin Honda by 15.49 points for the gold in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Kihira landed a triple Axel jump in the free skate.[4] She qualified to the 2016–17 JGP Final in Marseille, France, where she finished 4th.

2017–18 season

Kihira began her season winning a gold medal at the Asian Trophy in Hong Kong. She was able to land a triple Axel in her free skate.[5]

Kihira was assigned JGP events in Latvia and Italy. In her first event at JGP Riga, Kihira placed 6th in the short program after stepping out of her triple flip and falling on her triple lutz. She finished 2nd overall behind Daria Panenkova after winning the free skate. In her next event at JGP Egna, she won the bronze medal behind Sofia Samodurova and Alena Kostornaia after placing second in the short program and third in the free skate. The results qualified her for her second JGP Final in Nagoya, Japan over Mako Yamashita through a tie breaker.[6] At the 2017 JGP Final, she became the first ever woman to land a triple axel-triple jump combination in an international competition organized by the International Skating Union. She was the only non-Russian competitor and finished 4th overall.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2018-2019
2017–2018
[8][9]
2016–2017
[3]
2015–2016

Records and achievements

World record scores

Kihira has set one world record scores under the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system.

Senior ladies' free skating records
Date Score Event Note
22 September 2018 147.37 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy Record was broken by Alina Zagitova of Russia at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[10]
Event 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19
GP FranceTBD
GP NHK TrophyTBD
CS Ondrej Nepela1st
International: Junior[10]
Junior Worlds8th
JGP Final4th4th
JGP Czech Rep.2nd
JGP Italy3rd
JGP Latvia2nd
JGP Slovenia1st
Asian Trophy1st J
International: Novice[10]
Asian Trophy5th N
Triglav Trophy1st N
National[11]
Japan3rd
Japan Junior11th11th1st
Japan Novice11th A1st A
Levels: J = Junior; N = Advanced novice; A = Novice-A

Detailed results

Senior level

Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold. Personal best highlighted in bold.

2018–19 season
Date Event SP FS Total
November 23–25, 2018 2018 Internationaux de France
TBD

November 9–11, 2018 2018 NHK Trophy
TBD

September 19–22, 2018 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy 1
70.79		 1
147.37		 1
218.16

Junior level

Kihira at the 2017–18 JGP Final
Kihira at the 2016–17 JGP Final
2017–18 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
March 5–11, 2017 2018 World Junior Championships Junior 4
63.74		 9
111.51		 8
175.25
December 21–24, 2017 2017–18 Japan Championships Senior 5
66.74		 2
141.29		 3
208.03
December 7–10, 2017 2017−18 JGP Final Junior 4
66.82		 4
125.63		 4
192.45
November 24–26, 2017 2017–18 Japan Junior Championships Junior 6
57.89		 1
135.57		 1
193.46
October 11–14, 2017 2017 JGP Italy Junior 2
66.72		 3
119.09		 3
185.81
September 6–9, 2017 2017 JGP Latvia Junior 6
55.05		 1
125.41		 2
180.46
August 2–5, 2017 2017 Asian Open Trophy Junior 1
60.26		 1
122.80		 1
183.06
2016–17 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
December 8–11, 2016 2016−17 JGP Final Junior 5
54.78		 3
120.38		 4
175.16
November 18–20, 2016 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships Junior 4
58.86		 14
94.87		 11
153.73
September 21–25, 2016 2016 JGP Slovenia Junior 2
65.93		 1
128.31		 1
194.24
August 31–September 3, 2016 2016 JGP Czech Republic Junior 1
66.78		 2
118.73		 2
185.51
  • Personal best highlighted in bold.

References

  1. ↑ "Seasons Best Score 2017/2018". International Skating Union.
  2. ↑ "Seasons Best Score 2016/2017". International Skating Union.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Rika KIHIRA: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ "ISU JGP Ljubljana 2016 Junior Ladies Free Skating: Judges Details Per Skater" (PDF). International Skating Union. September 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Asian Figure Skating Trophy 2016 Junior Ladies Free Skating: Judges Details Per Skater" (PDF). Hong Kong Skating Union. August 5, 2017.
  6. ↑ "ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2017/2018 Junior Ladies Final Results". International Skating Union. October 14, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "木下グループ presents スターズ・オン・アイス 2018 (Special)". TBS 2. 21 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "フィギュア紀平梨花が練習で４回転ジャンプに成功". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). 日刊スポーツ. July 2, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Rika KIHIRA: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 "Competition Results: Rika KIHIRA". International Skating Union.
  11. ↑ "紀平 梨花" [KIHIRA Rika] (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016.
World Record Holders
Preceded by
Russia Alexandra Trusova		 Ladies' Free Skating
22 September 2018 – 28 September 2018		 Succeeded by
Russia Alina Zagitova
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