TOKYO – Japanese athletes who participated in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics held a parade on Saturday to thank fans for their support, with figure skating pairs gold medalists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara among those marching in Tokyo.
It marked the first parade in Japan for Winter Games participants, with organizers saying around 50,000 spectators lined the route in the Nihombashi area.
Miura, 24, and Kihara, 33, affectionately dubbed “Riku-Ryu,” showed some of their lifts during the parade, drawing loud applause. The pair moved up from fifth place in the short program, with a world record score in the free skate securing Japan’s first pairs Winter Games medal of any color in February.
After announcing their retirement from competitive skating last week, they said following the parade that they will turn professional, with the details to be announced at a press conference on Tuesday.
“As professionals, we want to do various things so that people feel more connected to pairs skating,” Kihara said.
Others participating in the parade included snowboard big air gold medalist Kokomo Murase, 21, speed skater Miho Takagi, 31, who won a total of 10 Olympic medals, and figure skating women’s silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto, 26.
Paralympic sit-skiing alpine skier Momoka Muraoka, 29, who won two silver medals, also took part.