Sophia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev (USA) in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU World Junior Championships in Calgary (CAN) © ISU
Sophia Baram/Daniel Tioumentsev (USA) skated to a strong lead in the Pairs Short Program followed by Oxana Vouillamoz/Flavien Giniaux of France and Australia’s Anastasia Golubeva/Hector Giotopoulos Moore.
Skating to “Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha”, Baram/Tioumentsev put out a fun performance that was highlighted by a triple twist, throw triple toeloop and double Axel. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists collected a level four for the reverse lasso lift, the side by side spin and the step sequence, while the death spiral was a level three. The JGP Czech Skate Champions set a new personal best of 66.95 points.
“We're so proud we've accomplished the (throw) triple toe in our program for the first time, especially in competition,” Tioumentsev said. “I was a little nervous in the beginning, but once we got through the first element, I was like 'I just want to have fun at this point'. We're very excited and happy with how we did. We accomplished our goals that we wanted to accomplish.”
Baram added: “We’re just super relieved that the first one is over, which is always more stressful for me. It's like setting the bar where you are in the long program.
“I just want to skate clean and enjoy the moment. It's not like we have a lot of this anymore. We want to enjoy every moment we skate together,” she added, referring to the fact that the couple will not be age-eligible for international junior or senior competitions in the next three seasons. “So far we plan to skate together for these three years,” Baram said.
Vouillamoz/Giniaux completed a triple twist, throw triple flip, double Axel and a level-four lift in their routine to “Inside”. The French couple achieved a personal best score with 60.58 points.
Vouillamoz/Giniaux (FRA) at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Calgary (CAN) © ISU
“This is amazing. We’ve worked hard. We have a great team at Caen, with our coach, Oxana, our staff we worked together, and we enjoy every day even if it was hard sometimes,” Giniaux said.
“We wanted to do our best and give consistent performances. We felt we were well prepared for this competition and we did what we do in training,” Vouillamoz told the post-event press conference.
Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore started well into their program to “Architect of the Mind” with a triple twist, double Axel and throw triple toeloop. However, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions aborted the required backward inside death spiral and received no credit for it. They earned 59.18 points.
Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Calgary (CAN) © ISU
“We're not exactly super happy with our skate, there were a few small mistakes and one big mistake,” Giotopoulos Moore explained. “I feel my heel hit an edge and I slipped off my the edge and couldn't hold it.”
Golubeva added: “We tried to give the maximum, like in practice, but there was a mistake on the death spiral. That can happen to everybody. We will try to do our best in the free skating.”
Violetta Sierova/Ivan Khobta (UKR) remain close to the podium in fourth place at 58.47 points. Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) follow in fifth (55.88 points) while Haruna Murakami/Sumitada Moriguchi (JPN) are currently ranked sixth (55.69 points).
Skaters/Couples need to have obtained a minimum total technical score in Short Program and Free Skating in order to compete at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
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).
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Wednesday, March 1: Junior Pairs & Junior Women’s Short Programs
Thursday, March 2: Junior Men’s Short Program, Junior Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March 3: Junior Rhythm Dance & Junior Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 4: Junior Free Dance & Junior Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, March 5: Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldJFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2023:
The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
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