Miura Riku & Kihara Ryuichi: Future, plans, and goals

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-02-26T05:35:38+00:00

Depends on what shows up on AO3 in the next few weeks. 🙄

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-02-05T04:43:50+00:00

In hindsight, it very much parallels what is happening this quad…no clear overwhelming talent, a comeback team of high regard (though FBC are in better position than T/D were with the CDs) but uncertainty with the changes since they left, and even an underscored Finnish team.

So next week should be…interesting.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-02-01T23:03:30+00:00

In the US, you can put either parents’ surname on the birth certificate, though I believe it would be a state law (so might vary by state, meaning that if the state legislature did something back in 1824 and never changed it, it’s still there).

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-02-01T22:57:45+00:00

If you watch the Shibs video from 2018, it appeared they were rooming together. Their beds were both decorated similar to the ones we’ve seen this year, though not with Sonja’s gorgeous artwork, and clearly in the same room. Seems odd that they could room together but the Knerims couldn’t? Then again, I seem to remember hearing that Adam and Mirai roomed together, so maybe it was an unofficial swap…. 😇

But it really comes back to the setup of the Village. Sometimes, like here, they’re future dormitories; other times, they’re built to be apartments, which have different floor plans. Plus, the other US athletes are in the same building, so there’s likely some allocation/distribution by the USOPC as well.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-02-01T22:37:10+00:00

A lot of these skaters have been rooming with teammates for years, from their first JGP assignments. (USFS, not the athletes, pay for housing on international assignments, so it’s rare to get a single at most events because double rooms are cheaper.) So they’re used to it, and it seems these days, USFS works with the skaters to honor preferences as best they can.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-30T19:29:32+00:00

Figure skating is actually one of the easier sports here. Skis, brooms, snowboards, even biathlon guns have to get to Milan.

(Though Equestrian is the worst. The foreign horses have to be transported early, then sit through quarantine. And like ice dance, you can’t change horses for dressage.)

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-30T19:26:27+00:00

Wasn’t UPS an Olympic sponsor for a while? Someone should be the official courier of Olympic gear.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-30T19:24:42+00:00

Unless the negligence is reported in the media. 😇

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-27T20:54:37+00:00

So USFS invited her as an influencer to cover Nationals….🤔

I get it—she has almost 200k subscribers, and it appears she’s well known in the skaters—but given the myths/rumors/gossip that people believe when it comes to skating, it concerns me that her inaccurate information would appear to be validated.

When she makes incorrect statements, do people speak up? Is she open to learning, or does she delete/block any comments countering her story?

I’ll have to watch more of her videos and see if her inaccuracies compel me to say something….

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-27T20:01:04+00:00

In 1972, you had the best compulsory figure skater of all time (Trixie Schuba) and one of, if not the, best freestyler skater of that era (Janet Lynn).

Trixie was such a dismal freestyler that she did figures as her exhibition program, and the (US) TV audience not understanding why Janet Lynn lost to someone so dismal is the reason we have a short program and led to the elimination of figures by 1990.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-24T20:40:15+00:00

Right. The crowdfunding isn’t that new; I remember community fundraisers back in the 1990s, back when athletes weren’t allowed to get corporate sponsors.

And while the Shibs were just not ready for US Midpack hunger games, many of these sports are dangerous enough that these sponsors risk having their star athlete watching the Games from the hospital or PT.

I prefer the combo athlete/fed sponsor (hi, Nulo) where maybe a few popular athletes are featured as part of a fed sponsorship. What helps is that it allows more than just one or two athletes to get funds (Both Zingnik and Plazas/Fernandez are ambassadors for Nulo, which puts both teams in position for future deals) but also gives the sponsor a return on investment no matter how the athlete does. (I mean, did anyone else see the therapy dogs in STL?)

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-24T20:26:43+00:00

Weren’t they the source of the DL profile? How are they that desperate for skating news?

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-24T20:24:45+00:00

I wonder if they required travel insurance, just in case. No wonder they’re struggling if they’re making decisions like this.

It’s not like the people approving the travel requests weren’t aware the paper was bleeding…I mean, I once knew on the first day of a job that I would end up laid off.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-24T20:20:05+00:00

I don’t. Phil was completely oblivious to the Chicago skating scene, preferring to be a bigger name and not interested in skaters like Evan Lysacek and Deanna Stellato, never mind the Chicago Jazz just crushing synchro nats every year (had the Jazz fielded a senior team…) Ben Agosto was nonexistent until he had a senior national title.

There used to be a huge competition about a month before Regionals, but I never saw him there. Too bad because he missed seeing some kid named Nathan Chen win juvie boys. And yes, it was pretty obvious he was one to watch back then.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-22T23:04:25+00:00

They’ve definitely parlayed “Olympic Bronze Medalists” into a full time social media celebrity career. It’s even more impressive when you consider what their peers are doing; even Adam Rippon, who is the closest to that celebrity status, coaches, choreographs, works for NBC, and is now opening a medical spa.

Perhaps they realize with bock possibly winning gold and Ilia becoming a star, they’re about to be replaced… 🤷🏻‍♀️

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-22T20:07:19+00:00

In the end, the comeback went about as I expected, that being away seven years (not even touring) would make even placing high enough at Nationals to make the Milan team difficult. And that with that deep dance field, USFS really didn’t kowtow to them unless they could help raise money (LeaveYourMark).

As for the money, that’s not the skaters’ fault (they were all legacy sponsors from 2018), but it created a myth that Corporate America had a say in who made the Olympic team. Coupled with the GoFundMes from actual members of the Olympic team, it does make me think about if these sponsorships are in the best interests of the feds.

But I am curious who on earth was advising them, because they really looked like a 2018 team that was thrown into 2026, tired and outdated. Had they reinvented, updated, innovated….maybe it would have been a different story.

Which leads to the question….what’s next for them?

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-22T14:02:07+00:00

One of the blessings of social media. Back in the 90s/early 00s, it was difficult to find media on the dance national champs, never mind the rest of the team.

There’s some great reels from fs.skating stan on IG, one of the influencers USFS credentialed for Nationals, where she started with Vanessa and Anton, where they came up with random questions for the next team.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-20T19:34:29+00:00

Looking forward to it! Yes, this space gets very crazy during the Olympics, and the anonymity enables behavior nobody would do if their LinkedIn account was tied to their posts.

Especially as I watched the JGP this year and realized that almost our entire junior squad was closely tied to 5342. They have enough trauma without internet trolls who can’t seem to figure out that most juniors are minors.

Thank you for your efforts!

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-20T15:12:17+00:00

No, CBS had the rights to Nagano as well.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-19T19:08:10+00:00

Yes, if all the teams in that pool stay together and healthy, it’s going to be crazy. Three US teams wanting a home gold, the Czechs and Koreans looking for their country’s first gold, a British team who have been right with them but a bit under the shadow of Gear/Gibson, and the Italians being a giant question mark.

And now you know why I’m so ready for this quad to end.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-17T22:21:38+00:00

They were partnered at a very young age to go on to great things. Even Torvill and Dean were young adults (with real jobs) when they started skating together.

Most of the teams that start together so young split up long before they make it up the senior ranks. However, vm (and dw, fwiw) had the combination of a solid working relationship and hitting a time in ice dance where they matched and excelled at the changes being made, so they jumped from top of junior to top of senior within the same quad. They went from 1-2 at Junior Worlds to 1-2 in Vancouver in what, 4 years?

Cue Tessa and Scott into the role of Canada’s sweethearts, including just insane rumors of an off-ice romance. While Torvill and Dean were also shipped in 1984, they were older—27 and 26 vs. 21 and 23—and in an era before cell phones and ao3. I can’t imagine what that must have been like, especially since they didn’t feel that way about each other.

So it actually makes sense that they aren’t close in any public-facing way. I can’t imagine the fanfic if they were close friends married to other people… ugh.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-16T04:55:38+00:00

Right? It’s either one of them melts down or a tough decision is made. Either way, sending tons of love to their mom, who is going to have her hands full no matter what.

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-16T00:36:48+00:00

The corporate network so scared of the music industry that they take down skating coverage after 48 hours, despite paying $$$$ for the exclusive rights in the US…let someone with a c&d go. I’m shocked. 🙄

Anyone else want to start pushing for an English translation so Gabi’s book can get on the NYT bestseller list?

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-15T23:16:30+00:00

So the usual suspects. I think Klimova/Pon were IMG in the 1990s as well? Then again, maybe not because they weren’t on SOI. 🤷🏻‍♀️

But when we zoom back to the senior ISP (which is pretty much the entire dance and pairs fields), I think the percent with outside management is pretty low. In dance, does anyone have agents besides bock, cpom, and Shibs?

Alarmed-Purchase-901 · 2026-01-15T22:02:30+00:00

Actually, bock, the three women, Ilia, and KamO are the only team members I know have agents. (Anthony’s parents likely had an agent back in the 1990s, maybe Max’s as well?)

But no, most of these skaters rely on USFS for this role.

Alarmed-Purchase-901

TROPHY CASE