2026 Olympic Figure Skating Team Event | Pairs’ Free Skate

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara placed first in the Pairs’ Free Skate in the 2026 Olympic Figure Skating Team event, edging Team Japan closer to the top of the podium. Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava placed second, adding nine points for Team Georgia, while Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii contributed eight points to Team Italy after placing third.

Only five of 10 qualifying countries advanced to the final round. After the Pairs’ Free Skate, the standings were as follows: USA (51), Japan (49), Italy (45), Georgia (41), and Canada (41). The full standings are reflected at the bottom of the article with the Women and Men’s Free Skate left to go.

Team Japan

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara turned in a commanding, cinematic performance to Gladiator and Gladiator II, taking first place with a new personal best score of 155.55. Only one mistake came when Miura slightly underrotated the last jump in the side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, while Kihara fought for the landing on his. The current World champions otherwise landed solid triple Salchows, throw triple Lutz and throw triple loop along with three level four lifts. All elements, except for the first jumping pass, earned high grades of execution (GOE), particularly on the Group 5 Axel and Reverse lifts.

“The performance was not perfect, and we were trying to aim for about 145 or a little bit higher,” said Miura. “We saw that it was 155, it was just so much joy!”

“This team event was really important to us, and everyone gave 120% of their effort,” said Kihara. “We also shared the mindset that this was a big simulation for the individual event, and rather than treating it like a disconnected training week, we spent it together with that shared understanding. Because of that, I think we have been able to train properly.”

Team Georgia

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava attacked all their elements in their lyrical-yet-driven free skate to “Le discours d’Arthur” and “Keeping Me Alive.” The only error came at the end when Metelkina slipped on the choreographic sequence at the end which received a one-point deduction. The opening triple twist was excellent, and the three-time European medalists landed a side-by-side triple Salchow-double Axel-double Axel sequence and triple toes. The throw triple flip and throw triple loop were solid, and the team picked up a level four on all three lifts, scoring positive GOEs throughout. They placed second with 139.70 points, chipping in nine points for Team Georgia.

“I was a bit tired at the end, but everything is fine,” said Berulava. “To be honest, we were really worried for our team, but we are in the final and I wish all our team the best of luck. Failures might happen, there are ups and downs. We are here like Barcelona or Madrid; if something doesn’t work out for one, it doesn’t work out for all of us. We have to stick together and together we’ll be successful. Therefore, we’re trying to do everything possible to clinch each chance that we can get.”

“We really gave it all emotionally in the practices between the Short Program and the Free,” Metelkina added. “We had to fight with some little injuries, but we’ll heal them in that rest period before the individual competition. In this moment they were affecting us a bit, and it was hard mentally. We needed to spend more energy on calming ourselves down and to focus. Considering that, today’s performance was really good because we didn’t feel at our best. I am confident that Luka will go out for the individual event and everything will be excellent.”

Team Italy

Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii showed lots of expression on home ice their free skate to “Caruso” and “Occhi Verdi,” placing third (136.61). The two-time World bronze medalists struggled a bit on the side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, but the triple Salchows were solid. They also produced a clean throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow as well as three level-four lifts. They also earned many positive GOEs throughout and contributed eight points to Team Italy’s standing.

“We can do the jump combination better and everything a bit better,” said Conti. “We are also pretty tired, but we are happy because we have one more week of practice. We want to say this was a good practice, like an official practice, like a warm-up. I’m pretty happy, and definitely happy about our work, about the fact that we worked together. We never felt so close to each other, so close to the crowd. It was amazing!”

“Of course, this performance was about ten points less than our personal best, but we are going to remember this competition for the rest of our lives,” added Macii.

Team USA

Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea delivered one of the best free skates of their career, placing fourth with a new personal best of 135.36. Their routine to “Sweet Dreams” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” included a level-four triple twist and three level-four lifts. Kam turned out her landing on the side-by-side triple toes, but the triple Salchow-double Axel sequence was clean. While Kam hung onto the landing of the throw triple Lutz, the throw triple loop was solid. The 2024 Four Continents bronze medalists also earned positive GOEs in their routine, especially on the twist and lifts.

With Team Japan on USA’s heels, the pressure was on and Kam and O’Shea delivered.

“It felt like a performance of a lifetime,” said Kam. “It’s certainly our personal best, and to put it out on a stage like this as a team. It feels amazing. We’re still improving, and there’s still a lot of opportunity to improve even from what we did tonight, but I think we couldn’t be more proud.”

“Honestly, to be able to perform under what we felt was so much energy, it didn’t feel like too much pressure,” O’Shea added. “There weren’t too many nerves, but we definitely wanted to perform well for ourselves and for our team. So that definitely added to the moment. When we skated one of our best performances internationally and were able to put together a solid performance like that, all of that added in one package feels very satisfying to have such a good outcome.”

Team Canada

Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud took a new personal best of 134.42 with their strong performance to music from the Gladiator soundtrack. Their routine was highlighted by strong triple Salchows, a throw triple flip and level four lifts. A step out on a throw triple loop was the only noticeable error, and the 2025 Four Continents bronze medalists placed fifth to chuck in six points to their team’s coffers.

“We are very proud and very happy that we were able to put out a skate like that,” said Pereira. “I know the Americans laid out a really great performance ahead of us. We feel that Olympic spirit in the building. It was very motivating for us, and I think that can kind of go either way for an athlete. I’m really glad that for us. We took that as motivation, and it really helped fuel our performance today. And we laid it down as well, so we’re very proud of that.”

The Olympic Figure Skating Team event continued on Sunday with the Women’s and Men’s Free Skate.

Related info:

• Official Results
• Olympic Qualification System for Figure Skating
• Competition Threads
• Replay Lounge
• More Olympic Figure Skating news

The post Miura and Kihara edge Japan closer to the top in Olympic Team event appeared first on Golden Skate.