Isabeau Levito (USA) wins gold in the Junior Ladies Free Skating of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn © ISU
Isabeau Levito (USA) beat Jia Shin of Korea by a slim margin to win the gold medal in what was an exciting Junior Women’s final in Tallinn. Lindsay Thorngren (USA) pulled up from fourth place to earn the bronze. Levito and Shin had their debut at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships while Thorngren had competed in Tallinn at the 2020 ISU World Junior Championships.
Skating to Petr Tchaikovski’s “Russian Dance”, Levito nailed a triple toe, triple loop, two double Axels, triple flip-triple loop, triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow as well as level-four spins. All three combinations were in the second half of the program. The 15-year-old scored 134.05 points and totaled 206.55 points to become the first American since Rachel Flatt in 2008 to win the Junior Women’s world title.
“Honestly, we put all the work in our training and when we are coming to competition we are just collecting our scores and medals,” Levito said. “A medal is just the reflection of our training and how well we did with our moves. I was very in the moment (in my program) and I just focused on one element at a time until the music ended.”
Jia Shin (Korea) takes the silver in the Junior Ladies Free Skating in Tallinn, Estonia © ISU
Shin’s performance to “Love Me If You Dare” was highlighted by a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, five more triples and difficult spins and footwork. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Baltic Cup bronze medalist achieved a personal best of 136.63 points and won the Free Skating segment. Overall, the 14-year-old, who is the youngest skater in the event (together with Olesya Ray, GER) remained in second place at 206.01 points.
“My medal at Junior Worlds makes me so happy. It’s my first Junior Worlds and very special and I was very nervous competing,” Shin said. Her silver medal is the first ISU Junior World medal for Korea since 2006 when Yuna Kim had won gold.
“My free program is about love,” Shin said. “At first I am shy and don’t know how to express my love, but then in the step sequence I let the person I love go, but he remains in my heart.”
Lindsay Thorngren (USA) wins bronze in the Junior Ladies Free Skating in Tallinn © ISU
Thorngren delivered another excellent performance to “The Queen’s Gambit” which featured seven triple jumps including two triple-triple combinations. The 16-year-old set a personal best with 133.28 points and accumulated 199.42 points.
“I’m really proud of myself for coming back and skating a clean program after the last Junior Worlds,” the ISU Junior Grand Prix Courchevel Champion said. She came a disappointing 26th place back in 2020. “Now I have a good experience and don’t have to think about what happened two years ago.”
Ahsun Yun (KOR) gave a strong performance, landing seven triple jumps, but nevertheless slipped from third to fourth place at 195.87 points. Seoyeong Wi (KOR) in fifth completed a strong showing of the Korean women (186.72 points). Clare Seo (USA) moved up from 10th place to sixth at 182.81 points.
* Following the IOC recommendation, in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q) i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in international ice skating Competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events (Full Statement to be read on ISU website).
