The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics has now kicked off in South Korea. The games also got anime fans talking, as the Japanese pair of Ryuichi Kihara and Miu Suzaki went complete Yuri!! on Ice during the figure skating competition.
Their short program featured the anime’s insert theme song… well, Yuri on Ice. And as expected, Japanese social media exploded. Several people involved with the anime itself also noticed, and they also chimed in. For example, seiyuu Junichi Suwabe, who voices Viktor Nikiforov, showed his support for the pair.
開幕した平昌五輪！現在、フィギュアスケートの団体 男子・ペア ショートが行われておりTV中継もされていますが、木原龍一選手・須崎海羽選手の日本代表ペアがショートで使用する楽曲は「Yuri on ICE」。あの楽曲が五輪の舞台で流れると思うと胸熱です。応援せねば！！
— 諏訪部順一 Junichi Suwabe (@MY_MURMUR) February 9, 2018
Series co-creator Mitsurou Kubo also tweeted about them, and thanked them for bringing the song to the Olympics.
振付をされた佐藤有香さんが須﨑・木原ペアのSPにYuri on Iceの曲を勧めたと記事で読みましたが、有香さんは何をキッカケでこの曲を知ったのかがすごく気になります…そしてこの曲を五輪に連れてって下さって本当にありがとうございます…！！
— 久保ミツロウ (@kubomitsurou) February 9, 2018
Ironically, the Japanese pair is tied for third place with Russia of all countries. As YOI fans all know, Russia has plenty of ties with the anime, and it’s not just with the characters and locations. However, the pair did win the tiebreaker, and took third, with Canada taking Gold, and the United States taking Silver. Congratulations you two!
Source: Japan Times
