Once the weak link in Japanese figure skating, its pairs team has the biggest chance to win an Olympic gold medal when world champions Ryuichi Kihara and Riku Miura take to the rink at Milano Ice Skating Arena.Having finished last among the 16 pairs during the discipline's debut at the 1972 Sapporo Games, it took another 20 years before a Japan pair returned to the Olympics. And things did not initially get any better, even with its inclusion in the team event from 2014.Making his Olympic debut in the pairs in Sochi that year, Kihara recalls being called "a baby" by an overseas rival as Jap…READ FULL ARTICLE
