Volkswacht Bodensee - Miura and Kihara snatch Olympic pairs gold for Japan

The Japanese had been trailing after errors in their short programme but sealed gold with a rousing performance to the "Gladiator" soundtrack to give their country not only a first Olympic gold medal in the pairs event, but a first medal of any colour.

They knelt on the ice and wept after their fast-moving and dynamic skate brought the crowd to their feet in the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Their routine earned the Japanese personal best scores in both the free skate (158.13 points) and overall, with 231.24 points.

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava took silver nearly ten points behind with 221.75 as overnight leaders Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany took bronze with 219.09.

Miura, 24, and 33-year-old Kihara had helped Japan win team silver for the second consecutive Olympics earlier in the Games.

But the two-time world champions thought they had let gold slip through their fingers on Sunday night as they trailed 6.9 points behind Hase and Volodin.

The Germans, silver medallists behind the Japanese at last year's world championships, paid for mistakes in their free skate to music by Max Richter, achieving just fourth best in the free skate.

Metelkina and Berulava, who teamed up in 2023, moved up from third to second having won the European title in January.

Defending Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China finished fifth with 208.64 in their skate to "A Tapestry of a Legendary Land" after struggling with their jumps.

The Chinese pair only returned to competition this season after retiring following their Olympic triumph in Beijing four years ago.

P.Keller--VB