By Scott Mammoser, Team FSO contributing writer
Photos by Robin Ritoss
SEOUL – Japanese pairs team Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won their second Four Continents gold medal on Friday with 217.32 points to hold off two Canadian pairs teams.
When Miura and Kihara began their partnership during the 2019-20 season, medals were far from their radar. For instance, they placed eighth when the Four Continents Championships was last held in Seoul that year.
“When we were here five years ago, we could not picture us being in this position,” said Kihara, who formerly skated with Miu Suzaki. “So, we are so relieved that we were able to accomplish this. This medal represents how far we have come the past five years, and it is also the start to our next five years.”
Miura and Kihara also won Four Continents in 2023, one month before winning the World Championships. Skating to “Adios” by Benjamin Clementine on Friday, they retained their lead after the short program. 
Reigning World and Four Continents Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada improved from a shaky fourth-place short program to claim the silver medal with 210.92 points.
“When I skated the first time around, Four Continents didn’t exist,” the 41-year-old Stellato-Dudek joked. “I think it’s a really cool event to be a part of, and now we have a bronze, a silver and a gold from Four Continents.”
Stellato-Dudek also emphasized the fact that she, Miura and Kihara were all skating together in early warm-up groups with their previous partners. She said she really respects them for persevering long enough to join the elite ranks.
Two-time Canadian silver medalists Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud won bronze with 198.40 points to a Tango of “Jalousie” and “Scent of A Woman.” The team improved from their fifth place finish at this event last year. This is Michaud’s second Four Continents bronze medal. He won bronze in 2022 with his former partner, Evelyn Walsh.
“Getting a personal best for us is huge going into Worlds,” Michaud said. “I am really proud of what this medal represents. I am very excited to keep pushing on for us.”
2024 U.S. Champions Danny O’Shea and Ellie Kam fell twice during their “Stand By Me” routine and tumbled from silver medal position to fourth with 196.94 points.
“We knew we wanted to come here and grow from our performance at Nationals,” O’Shea said. “It’s definitely not the long program that we are capable of – that we put out throughout the season. Every competition is another condensed learning experience.”
The 2024 Four Continents bronze medalists teamed up in 2022. O’Shea previously won a gold in 2018 and a silver in 2014 at Four Continents with Tarah Kayne.
“This season has been a growing season for us,” Kam said. “As we have competed, our scores have gotten better. In the short program, I have never really experienced being in the top three leading into the free skate. Last year, we were always just missing the top three. This is a new experience for me, having to skate well, then skating well again in the free skate. It’s a different type of mental focus that we are learning through as a team. We are definitely learning how to stay focused between the two programs.”
The newly crowned U.S. champions, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, had trouble with their side-by-side jumps in the free skate to finish in fifth place with 192.07 points.
“I am really proud of Alisa, we didn’t give up,” Mitrofanov said. “We were able to collect ourselves immediately and continue the program. It’s nice to know there is room for improvement. That is always something that helps us strive.”
Mitrofanov won Four Continents in 2022 with his former partner, Audrey Lu. Placing sixth were Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia, and Japan’s Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi were seventh.
