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A total of 36 young Skaters/Couples from ten ISU members earned their spots in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and are getting ready to compete in Torino (ITA) December 8-11. The Final features the top six Skaters/Couples per discipline from the six events of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The event returns to Torino after 2019 and is at the same time the first ISU Grand Prix Final since 2019 as the Finals in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Skaters from Japan, the USA and Korea dominated the ISU Junior circuit this season. There are a lot of new faces to discover in the junior ranks and it will be exciting to see which of the successful junior will then leave their mark in the senior ranks.

Junior Women: The new Mao

Mao Shimada (JGP) competes during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2022 in Gdansk (POL) @ISU

The “new Mao” (Shimada,JPN) came, saw and conquered. The up and coming Japanese, who was named in honor of super star Mao Asada (JPN), has a triple Axel and a quad toe in her arsenal and dominated in her two JGP events in Ostrava, Czech Republic and Gdansk, Poland. Japanese and Korean skaters reigned supreme on the circuit. Shimada, who also won the National Junior title in November, will be up against her teammates Hana Yoshida and Ami Nakai. Both have performed the triple Axe as well. Yoshida is the champion from Courchevel, France and Egna, Italy while Nakai won in Gdansk 2 and took bronze in Riga, Latvia. The Japanese girls will meet three strong Koreans: 2022 World Junior silver medalist Jia Shin came first and second in her events in Latvia and Poland, Chaeyeon Kim got a silver and bronze as did Minsol Kwon.

Overall 177 Junior Women took part in the ISU Junior Grand Prix events.

Junior Men: Top seed Broussard (USA) to face stiff competition

 

 Lucas Broussard (USA) competes during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2022 in Egna (ITA) @ISU

The top qualifier and only Junior man to have won his two events is Lucas Broussard (USA) following his success at the events in Poland and Italy, but he will face stiff competition. Nikolaj Memola (ITA) qualified with a gold and silver medal and will be a strong contender on home ice. He also has some senior-level experience under his belt. Three young Japanese men qualified with one victory each: Shunsuke Nakamura (one first and one second place), Takeru Amine Kataise (one first and one third place) and Nozomu Yoshioka (one first and one fifth place). Yoshioka narrowly edged Kataise at the recent Japanese Junior Nationals for the title, but both made errors. The final qualifier is Robert Yampolsky (USA), who placed second and fourth in his events.

A total of 111 Junior Men competed on the circuit.

Junior Pairs: Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) come in as top contenders

Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (AUT) compete during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2022 in Gdansk (POL) @ISU

The six Pairs in the Junior Final come from Australia, the USA, Ukraine and Canada. Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) top the list with their two victories from the two events in Poland. The 2022 World Junior silver medalists had the highest scores as well as got some senior-level exposure and are the team to beat in Torino. Cayla Smith/Andy Deng (USA) come to Italy with a gold and silver medal while their teammates Sophia Baram/Daniel Tioumentsev (USA) made it with a gold and a bronze. The only Ukrainian Skaters in the Final are Violetta Sierova/Ivan Khobta (UKR) that collected two silver medals in their events. The last spot went to Chloe Panetta/Kieran Thrasher (CAN) with a bronze medal and a fourth place. Haruna Murakami/Sumitada Moriguchi (JPN) replaced Ava Rae Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) who have withdrawn due to injury. Murakami/Moriguchi placed third and fourth in their Junior Grand Prix events.

Twenty Junior Pairs participated in the series.

Junior Ice Dance: Six Couples from six countries

Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont (CAN) competes during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2022 in Gdansk (POL) @ISU

The Ice Dance Junior Final features teams from six different countries, which is probably a first. Katerina Mrazkova/Daniel Mrazek (CZE) and ISU World Junior bronze medalists Nadiia Bashynska/Peter Beaumont (CAN) came out on top in the Ice Dance standings as they won their two events. The Czech brother-and-sister team came basically out of nowhere to win in Ostrava on home ice and in Italy and are the first Skaters to represent their country in the Final in the Ice Dance discipline. Bashynska/Beaumont are the reigning World Junior bronze medalists and took gold in the two events in Poland. Hannah Lim/Ye Quan are the first Korean ice dancers to win an ISU Junior Grand Prix (in Courchevel) and additionally got a silver medal in Egna to proceed to the Final. Darya Grimm/Michail Savitskiy are the first German dance team to go to the Junior Final since Christina and William Beier back in 2003. They come to Italy with a gold from Riga and a silver medal from Gdansk 2. Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez are the first British Ice Dancers to compete in the Junior Final and picked up two silver medals on their way to Torino. Celina Fradji/Jean Hans Fourneaux (FRA) complete the finalists. They claimed a silver and a bronze medal on the circuit.

Schedule of the event

The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, December 8: Junior Men, Junior Pairs, Junior Women’s Short Programs, Pairs & Men’s Short Programs
Friday, December 9: Junior Rhythm Dance, Junior Women’s & Pairs Free Skating, Rhythm Dance & Women’s Short Program
Saturday, December 10: Men’s, Junior Pairs & Junior Men’s Free Skating, Junior Free Dance, Free Dance, Women’s Free Skating
Sunday, December 11: Exhibition Gala

The ISU Junior Grand Prix started in August with the event in Courchevel (FRA) and continued in September and October in Ostrava (CZE), Riga (LAT), Gdansk (POL) and Egna-Neumarkt (ITA). The event in Yerevan (ARM) had to be cancelled due to safety concerns and the entries were allocated to the three remaining events. Gdansk hosted two events, taking over for Grenoble (FRA) that returned one JGP.

Full entry lists, results, the General Announcement and further information are available on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.

Selection Criteria

A total of 367 young Skaters/Couples from over 50 ISU Members competed in this year’s Series. Each ISU Member is entitled to enter competitors for the Series while the number of their entries depends on the result of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2022.

Following the IOC recommendation and 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. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).

 

Junior Grand Prix Standings

Men                              Women                                     Ice Dance                                 Pair Skating

 

Where to Watch

The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are live streamed on the official ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out where to watch the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.

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ISU Junior Grand Prix Schedule

 

The schedules of each ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:

24 - 27 Aug 2022                      Courchevel/FRA

31 Aug - 3 Sept 2022               Ostrava/CZE

7 - 10 Sept 2022                       Riga/LAT

21 - 24 Sept 2022                     Yerevan/ARM (cancelled)

28 Sept - 1 Oct 2022                Gdansk/POL

5 - 8 Oct 2022                           Gdansk/POL

12 - 15 Oct 2022                       Egna/ITA

 

08 - 11 Dec 2022                       ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Torino (ITA)