NAGANO – Rika Kihira’s second straight victory at the Japan Championships came with a significant and important milestone. Her quadruple salchow in her free skate to “Baby, God Bless You” marked the first time a Japanese female had landed a quad in competition in 18 years (since Miki Ando’s quad salchow at the Junior Grand Prix Final in 2002).
There was a more than 15-year gap between Ando’s historic feat and Russia’s Alexandra Trusova becoming the second female to land a quad salchow in international competition when she did it at the world junior championships in March 2018.
Since then, Russian female skaters have been tearing off quads left and right and leaving everybody else in the dust. It is very apparent that until skaters from other countries can successfully execute the four-rotation jumps, the sport is going to be dominated by Russia.
The fact that Kihira was able to cleanly land the quad salchow on her first attempt this season represents progress. She is going to have to continue to up her game with at least another quad if she is going to vie for world and Olympic medals with the likes of Trusova, Alena Kostornaia and Anna Shcherbakova in the coming years.
“I am really happy about being able to successfully jump the quad salchow!” the 18-year-old stated after her victory. “I was calmer than I thought when I succeeded, and I was in the mindset that if I wasn’t able to land the quad salchow, I would most likely make mistakes on my other jumps, as that is how difficult this jump is. So when I was able to strongly land the jump, it allowed me to carry out my program as planned while remaining calm.”
Kihira was asked how she felt about being the second Japanese after Ando to hit the jump, but said the historical aspect of the accomplishment had not entered her mind.
“I wasn’t really thinking about it that way, so this is my first time finding out, but during this season I was practicing hard for the quad as I really want to work towards successfully landing the jump in the Beijing Olympic Games,” Kihira said. “Keeping that in mind, I am really happy that my hard work connected to that strong jump in the competition!”
With Kihira making her season debut here, she admitted that by her free skate, fatigue was setting in.
“My triple axels in my short program went pretty well, but after that I think I was getting drained, so during the competition my jumps started to become almost like under rotated,” Kihira commented. “But the fact that even with that condition, I was able to land my jumps gives me confidence. I’m really glad that I was successful in both my quads and axels in the event.”
Kihira confessed that she made a mistake with location during her free skate and did not remember much else after her quad salchow as a result.
“There was an incident during my performance when I accidentally started my step and spin sequences on the opposite side of the judges which made me a bit panicked,” Kihira noted. “While I was able to skate pretty smoothly in the second half of my program, the fact that I skated in the opposite direction sat at the corner of my head for the rest of my performance, so I don’t really remember the details of my skate. My nod (at the end of the program) was more about being glad that I was able to jump the quad salchow, but I also don’t remember too much about my other jumps so I have to re-watch the clips. I’m just really pleased about my score.”
Kihira acknowledged that training during the pandemic and in a different place has been difficult for her.
“At a time where we didn’t know if any competitions were going to actually take place, it was really difficult to maintain my motivation,” Kihira said. “Also, I had muscle aches every day training in a new environment and it got pretty worrisome when I wasn’t able to do any jumps at times. I really didn’t know what was the right thing to do at the time, so I’m glad that I was able to bring out my strengths during this competition.
Kihira made it clear she has more work to do to get where she wants to be.
“Recently I’ve been able to jump the quad salchows well, and I also felt like my boots fit well too, so I feel like I’ve been able to move forward,” Kihira remarked. “However, I still feel like my performance has a lot of places for improvement, like my jumps that would likely be deducted points and a lot of other mistakes I thought that I had which I will need to refine in order to achieve a higher score. So if the worlds take place, with refinement, I aim to exhibit both my short and free program performance in a manner that I can’t do any better in.”
Hanyu talks about new free skate
Yuzuru Hanyu’s fantastic free skate to “Heaven and Earth” has to be considered one of his greatest ever. He said that he was especially motivated to make it memorable.
“This free program has a special place in my heart, so as soon as I hear the song, I’ll start to feel a rush of emotions,” Hanyu commented. “Each of the moves for this program was created with a lot of care like any other program, but the jumps especially needed to be executed at a high level, considering the overall flow of the performance playing an important role in communicating the deeper meaning of the program. Although this was the first event, I believe I was able to convey and express what this program meant to me, with the seamless and consecutive integration of jumps.”
Hanyu identifies with Kenshin Uesugi, the feudal lord depicted as part of the NHK television series “Heaven and Earth” that aired back in 1969, and wanted to convey this during the program.
“There is a certain aesthetic regarding Kenshin Uesugi’s philosophical approach to war and conflict, especially with the tension that arose from regulations that eventually led him to his journey in becoming a Buddhist priest,” Hanyu stated. “The new ground that Uesugi broke with his spiritual transcendence is where I felt something in common with him, and is also what I kept in mind during my performance on the rink.”
Back at full strength, Hanyu is holding himself back a bit and trying not to overdo it on his jumps at this point.
“I would say that yesterday’s performance was a bit of a rough cut,” Hanyu commented about his short program to “Let Me Entertain You.” “There is a part of me that wants to fully exhibit my performance, but instead of being all hyped up about being able to successfully jump, I want to remain calm and smart about it, like rock music performed with enough leeway. As of yesterday, I don’t think I’ve fully reached that point yet, and there is room for improvement.”
Hongo gets special support in return
Rika Hongo, who took last season off, received a warm welcome here from her many fans, and one in particular who did something special for her. Hongo supporter Satoe asked illustrator Mika Matsuda (@nigaoe877) to create a drawing of Rika that was then screened onto banners that were distributed to fans in Nagano. These were held up during the short program and free skate inside Big Hat when Hongo performed.
“I started supporting Rika in 2014. After seeing her skates for the first time, I was fascinated by her dynamic and unique charm,” Satoe commented. “In my life so far, I was encouraged by her hard work many times during difficult times. I think it’s because of her skating that I am now. All-Japan in 2020 was special. She is the oldest female skater. I also thought this could be her last All-Japan. And because of the corona in this tournament, I couldn’t make a voice and couldn’t throw flowers at the rink, so I thought I’d use a banner to convey my feelings of support.
“I wanted to tell her that a lot of fans love your skates,” Satoe continued. “I wondered how I could send the maximum to her who came back after overcoming the hardships for the first time in two years. It’s not the power of me alone, but the power of many skate fans and Mika who support her. I would be happy if it could convey something to her heart.”
Matsuda, the gifted artist from Fukuoka who has become popular with her drawing of skaters on social media, also created an incredible Christmas card last month that depicted Japanese and foreign skaters, coaches, choreographers, writers and others. It was a huge hit online during the holiday season.
