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MIURA Day 4 

Kao Miura (JPN) wins the Men’s Free Skating in Calgary, Alberta (CAN) © ISU

Kao Miura (JPN) added another title to his resume and smashed the competition to win with more than 40 points to spare, as competition at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships wrapped up in Calgary, AB (CAN) Saturday with the Junior Men’s Free Skating.  

Kao Miura (JPN) digs for gold in Calgary 

Japan’s Kao Miura came to Calgary to mine gold and he dominated the competition, making up for his disappointment a year ago when he had finished 13th in the event. Naoki Rossi of Switzerland skated to the silver medal, the first Junior World medal in 23 years for his country – and the first silver. Nozomu Yoshioka, also from Japan, rose from seventh to earn the bronze in his World Junior debut.

Miura opened his performance to “The Beauty and the Beast” with a triple Axel-Euler-triple Salchow and followed up with a quad toe and quad Salchow. The ISU Four Continents Champion went on to reel off a triple Axel, quad toe-triple toe and triple flip-double Axel sequence. The only glitch came when he stepped out of the triple loop. The ISU Grand Prix Finalist earned a level four for two spins and scored 179.63 points. Overall he totaled 264.74 points. 

Today I was able to get a good performance. I would give myself 70 per cent,“ Miura said. “Especially in the second half, I was able to land the quad-triple (toe) combination and I believe it was more beautiful than the triple-triple in my short program.” 

Miura won two ISU Championships titles this season with the Four Continents and the World Junior Championships. 

“It is difficult to compare the medals, they are all precious to me,” he said. “Last year I was third at Four Continents and came in aiming to win, so it is a satisfying result. 

“As for this World Junior gold medal -  last year I was injured and I was not satisfied with the result. This time I came here to redeem myself, to get revenge. It is a different kind of satisfaction but satisfying all the same,” he explained. 

Rossi’s program to “Born from Ashes” and “True Love’s Last Kiss” featured two triple Axels and five more triples; he only doubled a loop. The Swiss Skater collected a personal best of 141.22 points and was ranked third in the Free Skating, but overall moved up to second at 220.68 points. 

 

Rossi 4

Naoki Rossi (SUI) takes silver in Junior Men’s Free Skating in Calgary, Alberta (CAN) © ISU

 

He is the first skater win a World Junior medal since Sarah Meier took bronze in 2000, and he is the first Swiss man to win a World Junior medal since Richard Furrer had bronze in 1977.

I’m actually speechless. I never expected to be on the podium,“ Rossi admitted. “I’m very glad with my performance today; I could have done a little better, as I popped the loop. But I still focused and never gave up until the end of the program.”

Skating to “Pirates of the Caribbean”, Yoshioka nailed a somewhat shaky quad toe-double toe combination and five triples, but he stepped out of a solo quad toe. 

 

YOSHI

Nozomu Yoshioka of Japan takes bronze in Junior Men’s Free Skating © ISU

The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist came second in the Free Skating segment, with a score of 141.35 and accumulated 217.79 points overall. 

I didn’t feel many nerves, my body was moving well, and I am a bit disappointed, as the mistakes could have been avoided,” he said. 

“I am happy that I didn’t give up until the end and fought through, that’s what I really improved on this season,“ Yoshioka continued. “Next year I will move up to seniors, but it was great experience to compete with the best juniors here.”

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champion Nikolaj Memola (ITA) moved up from sixth to fourth at 216.44 points while Wesley Chiu (CAN) dropped from second to fifth at 213.88 points. Hyungyeom Kim (KOR) placed sixth on 213.56 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.