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Japan's Olympic figure skating heroes to wed / Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA - AFP/File
Japan's Olympic figure skating heroes to wed
Japan's Olympic figure skating pairs champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara announced their engagement on Sunday.
Two-time world champions Miura, 24, and Kihara, 34, became media darlings after they won Japan's first Olympic pairs gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Games in Italy in February.
They retired from competition in April.
"We're engaged," the pair said in a statement.
"Through both the happy times and the difficult ones, we've shared so many moments together, supporting each other every step of the way," they said.
"Over time, we became irreplaceable parts of each other's lives."
In February's Olympics, Miura and Kihara, popularly known in Japan as "Rikuryu", went into the decisive free skate in fifth place after errors in their short programme.
They then stunned the world by topping the podium with personal-best scores, making them national heros in Japan.
P.Graham--SMC
