Japan’s Miura, Kihara Announce Withdrawal from Figure Skating World Championships; Future Plans to Be Announced After Season Ends

The Yomiuri Shimbun

19:51 JST, February 27, 2026

The world championships will be held in Prague from March 24-29. As last year’s winners, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara would have been aiming for consecutive titles.

Through the federation, the pair explained their reasons for not participating, saying “We judged it would be challenging for our physical and mental condition to return pre-Olympic levels in time for the world championships.”

Regarding their future plans, they said, “We will make an announcement ourselves after the season ends.”