Olympic Pair Skating Experience

Every season, we face some kind of big obstacle,

but we already know that overcoming it makes us stronger.

This season, we had a lot of obstacles,

but we didn't get depressed during that time.

We were able to turn it into something positive.

We really enjoyed this season overall,

so much so that it didn't feel like

an Olympic season while we were in Toronto.

Riku-chan often told me that I always seemed to be in a good mood.

That's true.

It was hard to believe we were in the middle of the season,

because we didn't feel any pressure.

Because we were able to get in good training,

we had a lot of confidence and peace of mind.

Since we had built up a solid foundation,

I think we had the greatest mental leeway of any season so far.

What could it be?

I suppose it's our bond and trust.

If one of us were slacking off,

the other might think, "Well, then I'll slack off too."

That might happen, but...

we always influence each other.

When Riku-chan is working hard,

I feel like I can't...

...for example, slack off on my diet here.

I feel like I have to be more stoic and work harder.

That's how I can take action,

and seeing me take action,

Riku-chan will work hard with me in turn.

Both of us had very strong feelings

as we ran toward a single goal,

and that really became our driving force.

I think this is the result of what we've constantly built up.

Through this Olympics, many people

got to know about pairs skating,

which makes us incredibly happy.

But we don't want it to end here.

From now on, we want to

increase the pairs skating population ourselves,

and we want to do our best by trying various ways.

Just like the younger generation of single skaters

started skating

after watching past single skaters,

we hope they will look at Rikuryu in the same way.

Having children who start skating

and do singles because they want to do pairs next

start to emerge—

I think that is our next goal.

Since we are skating and enjoying it 100%,

I hope everyone can see our expressions

and how we enjoy skating

from the bottom of our hearts.

We didn't have many opportunities

to perform in Japan this season.

That's true.

We didn't skate our free program.

Since we couldn't go to Nationals,

so being able to perform our free program

at Stars on Ice in front of the Japanese audience

makes me really happy.

Can we move on to the next?

Please don't raise the handle.

Please lower it.