Bruno Marcotte on Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara: “What really sets them apart is the lightning that happens when they skate together”

We’re talking to Bruno Marcotte literally 15 minutes after his students, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, had been crowned Grand Prix Final champions in Olympic Palavela in Torino, Italy.

Little after their relieved reaction in the Kiss and Cry seeing their scores and realizing that they won, little after Bruno’s emotional tears watching them skate, watching them win, and then, students and coach, head to head, sharing an embrace and a small talk in the semi-shadow of the arena.

And, for a moment, we wish we were a butterfly on Riku’s shoulder, to share with them that tiny moment that felt so precious.

***

With the students in the next room, already answering their first questions as Grand Prix Final champions, coach Bruno Marcotte does an assessment of his own – and we also travel into the journey of this very special partnership, right from the start.

And the start is not in August 2019, as you would expect.

The start is when Riku was 12 years old and she was skating as a single skater at one of Bruno’s seminars in Japan – and then becoming a pair skater, alongside Shoya Ichihashi, and travelling to Canada, for two weeks, for three weeks at a time, to be trained by Bruno.

And the start is also in Ryuichi Kihara, a former single skater learning to be a pair skater alongside 2012 World bronze medalist Narumi Tahakashi, then skating with Miu Suzaki for a couple of seasons – until trying out with Riku, more like a fortunate stroke of serendipity, at Bruno’s request, in May 2019.

“They skated an hour, and I was like: Oh, My God!”

And Bruno is the first to recognize the importance of those previous layers of experience, of the skaters’ determination to carry on, to keep on dreaming – and we acknowledge it with joy: without so many moments of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara’s separate careers, without their efforts and their journeys, there wouldn’t be now the Riku & Ryuichi as we know it, and their “amazing chemistry”, the coach says, and the level of performing “always ON”, as the skaters themselves describe it.

***

One thing you’ll notice for yourselves: this interview with Bruno Marcotte feels so raw, so genuine – and it’s exactly that.

No wonder: the coach has barely had the time to gather his thoughts, his emotions in one place – what follows are his immediate reactions to his students’ success in Torino and their historical Grand Prix Final gold for Japanese pairs skating.

And you will hear many “we” in this recount of a career – they are indeed a team: “We’re here, how can we get there?”, “We lost levels in the short program yesterday”, “We’re gonna go home and we’re gonna fix a few things” – but also a lot of “they” and “them”, and utter amazement at Riku and Ryuichi’s ability to create magic.

“They take us into their own little world. That there’s nothing else around, there’s no judges, there’s nobody – but it’s just their little magical moment”.

***

Unexpectedly, this conversation with Bruno Marcotte, right at the end of the pairs’ final in Torino, touches some of the other finalists as well: Niccolò, Filippo, Rebecca, Maxime, Deanna. Some have connections with Bruno’s pair seminars in the past, some have not, but all have a thing in common, just like Riku and Ryuichi: they never stopped believing and dreaming.

***

But first and foremost, this interview is about Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the Japanese pair that, only in their fourth international season, has been really making waves – emotional waves – in the skating world at the moment.

Hearing him talk, you’ll understand: Bruno Marcotte is in awe with his team.

We all are.

Riku and Ryuichi, triumphant in Torino. Photo © International Skating Union

Interview by Florentina Tone / Torino

***

Bruno, you must be a very proud coach right now, with Riku and Ryuichi winning the Grand Prix Final title here in Torino – we’re literally just minutes away from the victory ceremony. And, if you allow me, and if our collective ears can hear it too, what did you tell your students at the end of the ceremony?

[Bruno is smiling]: First of all, they need to understand that they don’t have to be perfect to be good.

Because they’re the kind of team that trains quite well. They’re the kind of team that usually does at competition what they do in practice. We say: You practice like you compete – you compete like you practice. You know? You wanna do the same.

And they’re two people with amazing chemistry, and very strong mentally – but when Riku came out of the ice at Worlds in France last year, she said to me: I’m not angry about the mistake, I’m angry about my mindset. After the mistake, I did not think good – I was thinking about the mistake, instead of just forget and carry on. This is why we say: Short term memory – you have to forget and be in the moment.

And so, minutes ago, I told her: Today you showed such strong mental strength. After her mistake here, in Torino, she showed she’s learned from Worlds – and I was extremely proud of her.

And I also told Ryuichi: Don’t be so hard on yourself! And I said: Please, enjoy this moment, because you worked so hard for it.

Because Ryuichi is usually hard on himself?

Always. They both are hard on themselves.

Not in a bad way – but I told them: Please, enjoy this moment because you worked hard and you deserve it. And then, after that, we will chat and we’ll go over and make adjustments for next time.

But for now: You deserve this, please enjoy it.

Pouring emotions realizing that they won – December 2022, Grand Prix Final, Torino. Photo © International Skating Union

Riku did say in the press conference here, in Torino, after the short program, that she was very nervous right before the performance – and she might have carried that nervousness for the free skate as well… And maybe they were both nervous under these new circumstances, entering the free skate as favorites to win the Grand Prix Final gold…

She was more or less the same, but he was definitely more serious than he usually is.

I mean, he usually makes a few jokes before… – today, not much jokes.

And, as a coach, when that happens, you analyze it and, sometimes you step in, sometimes you don’t… I mean, even for me as a coach, every competition I learn about them – and so one thing is for sure: the next time I will see him a little bit less chatty, I will definitely make him chat [laughing].

“THEY TAKE US INTO THEIR OWN LITTLE WORLD”

Because you talked about the chemistry they have, I have to ask you that: what do you feel when you watch them skate? Because to us, watching them is always an emotional experience – but how is it for you? Is it a combination of stress, the coach’s stress, and utter joy… how is it?

Yeah, stress, for sure, because I want so much the best for them – they deserve it and they’re such great people.

But if I let go of and just focus on them – which I was able to do yesterday, in the short, a little bit; today, not so much [smiling] – they take us into their own little world. That there’s nothing else around, there’s no judges, there’s nobody – but it’s just their little magical moment.

[and Bruno almost whispers the answer, as if he didn’t want to disturb the magic of the moment that he recreated in his mind].

But how do they do that? How are they able to create that? Because they’re such a young team compared to so many others teams out there, they’re only in their fourth season together…

They’re a young team, yes – but I think it’s just that: chemistry.

It’s like: you match.

It’s like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones… Like: I don’t think Mick Jagger is the best singer, Keith Richards is maybe not the best guitar, they’re great, no doubt – but together they make it the best.

And sometimes, as a pair coach, you put together an amazing girl with an amazing boy, and they just don’t match.

With them, with Riku and Ryuichi, their personalities – they match.

They have the same commitment, the same goals, but also the same philosophy on how to get there.

And they also buy into my philosophy on how to do things, and what kind of mindset I expect, you know?

I think to be able to create magic in competition we need to be able to create that same magic at home also.

So we do work on that. And I demand – I mean, I don’t demand the magic [smiling], but I demand this connection that they need to try to constantly work on.

Because everybody’s got something special, you know? Eric and Meagan had the throw quad and the triple Lutz side by side. With some other team, it’s their lines…

With Riku and Ryuichi, it’s their passion.

Technically, they’re extremely fast, and there’s so many things they have – but what really sets them apart is the lightning that happens when they skate together.

“THEY SKATED AN HOUR, AND I WAS LIKE: OH, MY GOD!”

But how did this partnership start? Let’s have a journey into memories – no better time like the present!

Wow! [Bruno starts laughing – he seems a bit overwhelmed with the question, and the mission to summarize it all]

Not the longest version, but still… You started working with them in August 2019, right?

Yeah, but waaay, way before that, way back in the days, I used to work with Mervin and Narumi.

So that’s when I was lucky enough to start having a relationship with the Japanese Skating Federation.

Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, the bronze medalists at Worlds in France in 2012…