Reigning ISU World Junior Champion Mao Shimada (JPN) shone on home ice and took the first step towards the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Ice Dancers Leah Neset/Artem Markelov (USA) qualified with their second victory on the circuit, while Francois Pitot (FRA) earned a ticket to the Final by claiming gold in Japan. Osaka was the fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix event of the season.
Mao Shimada (JPN) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan. @ISU
Mao Shimada (JPN) storms to gold
ISU World Junior Champion Mao Shimada of Japan chose her home Junior Grand Prix to start her season and continued where she had left off in the past season when she won gold in each junior competition she entered. The 14-year-old delivered two extraordinary performances and scored a clear victory leading silver medalist Yo Takagi (JPN) by 25 points. Skating to “Americano”, Shimada laid down a perfect Short Program and led by ten points. The ISU World Junior Champion opened her Free Skating set to “Benedictus” by Karl Jenkins with a strong triple Axel.
Mao Shimada (JPN) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan. @ISU
She missed the next jump, a quad toe attempt that was downgraded, but recovered to nail seven triples and incredible spins. “I was able to do quite well thanks to the cheers from the audience although I was a little nervous,” Shimada shared. “Because I was the reigning champion for not only the (Junior) Grand Prix Series, but also Junior Worlds, of course I wanted to win this season as well. But more than that I wanted to make sure I did a good job with my programs.” She will be back competing and be the heavy favorite again in her second Junior Grand Prix assignment in Armenia next month.
Takagi on the other hand now completed her Junior Grand Prix events this season and skated off with the silver medal, a step up from her fourth place finish in Bangkok. The 14-year-old from Funabashi stood in second place in the Short Program, but had reduced her combination to a triple toe-double toe. Her Free Skating featured six clean triples, she only made an error on the solo triple Lutz and achieved new personal best scores (188.15 points). Takagi moved into second place in the ISU Junior Grand Prix standings at the moment and will have to wait if is it enough for her to make the Final.
Gold medalist Mao Shimada (Center) (JPN) poses with silver medalist Yo Takagi (Left) (JPN) and bronze medalist Yu-Feng Tsai (Right) (Chinese Taipei) at the medal ceremony during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan. @ISU
Bronze medalist Yu-Feng Tsai made Chinese Taipei proud by winning the first ISU Junior Grand Prix medal for her country in 23 years. Carina Chen had won a bronze in 2000. The 14-year-old Tsai ranked fourth in the Short Program and moved up one spot with a solid Free Skating to earn the medal after coming ninth in Bangkok (178.82 points).
Francois Pitot (FRA) jumps into the Junior Final
France’s Francois Pitot skated off with his first ISU Junior Grand Prix gold medal and has most probably secured a spot in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final after his silver in Bangkok. The 18-year-old from Orléans came third with a solid Short Program to “Stranger Things” without major mistakes. Performing to “Cry Me a River”, the Frenchman produced two triple Axels and five more triples to jump on to the top of the podium with a personal best of 219.86 points.
Francois Pitot (FRA) reacts after performing at the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan. @ISU
“I didn’t feel pressure after my success in Bangkok, I was just happy with the silver medal,” Pitot said. “I was like ‘go for it’ for the second (Junior) Grand Prix and take all I have and do well in this competition. Now I have the (Junior) Final and I’m going to work for this event. My goal for the season is to work on quadruple jumps, to go to the (Junior) Grand Prix Final and Junior Worlds and do two beautiful programs. I hope to include a quadruple jump into my program and to qualify for Europeans,” he continued.
Juheon Lim is another up and coming Skater from Korea and took silver in the first ISU Junior Grand Prix event of his career. Lim won the Short Program but slipped to second after a few wobbles on jumps (217.95).
Juheon Lim (KOR) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan. @ISU
Daniel Martynov (USA), who is coached by his father, former Ukrainian Skater Yevgeni Martynov, claimed the bronze, his first medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series, on 207.98 points.
Neset/Markelov (USA) dance into the Junior Grand Prix Final
Leah Neset/Artem Markelov of the USA continued their rise this season in Osaka by clearly winning their second ISU Junior Grand Prix event and qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final for the first time.
Leah Neset and Artem Markelov (USA) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan.@ISU
The couple placed first in the Rhythm Dance to “Still Loving You” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You” with a level four for the twizzles and the straight line lift. However, the second part of the Rocker Foxtrot Pattern Dance was rated a level one. The U.S. Junior Champions defended their lead in their romantic Free Dance set to “Anywhere, Anytime” and “Cry”, picking up a level four for three elements. The Americans slightly surpassed their previous personal best in the Free Dance and totaled 167.51 points. “Now our goal is to win Junior Worlds and the Junior Grand Prix Final,” Neset revealed. “Until the Final, we’re working on improving our programs, getting more power and polish everything,” she continued. “We’ll work on our technical elements, too, to achieve level three and four for everything,” Markelov added.
Leah Neset and Artem Markelov (USA) react after performing during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan. @ISU
Israel’s Elizabeth Tkachenko/Alexei Kiliakov came out strong to secure their first medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit and trailed the winners by just a little over a point. The couple picked up mostly level threes and fours for their elements and set new personal best scores in their fast-paced “Yello” Rhythm Dance and the Free Dance to Latin American music (166.16 points).
Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov (ISR) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan.@ISU
Their silver medal is the first Ice Dance medal for Israel on the ISU Junior Grand Prix in 19 years. Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky had won multiple medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, the last one in 2004.
Celina Fradji/Jean-Hans Fourneaux of France followed up on their silver medal from Bangkok and took the bronze this time with their rocky Rhythm Dance and Tango Free Dance (151.13 points).
Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux (FRA) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan.@ISU
The three gold medals went to three different ISU members: Japan, France and USA. Seven ISU Members took home medal from the event: Japan, France and the USA earned two each while Chinese Taipei, Korea and Israel got one each.
A total of 84 Skaters/Couples representing 33 ISU Members competed in Osaka.
The ISU Junior Grand Prix Series continues next week with the fifth event, the ISU JGP in Budapest/HUN. The ISU Junior Grand Prix features each year about 300 talented young Skaters aged 13 to 19 (21 for the male Ice Dance and Pair Skating partners) from Europe, North and South America, Asia, Oceania as well as Africa. Skaters/Couples earn points according to the results in each event and the top six in each discipline will advance to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, which will take place in Beijing (CHN) on December 7-10.
Full entry lists, results, the General Announcement and further information are available on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.
The 2023/24 season marks the 26th edition of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating which was introduced in 1997. The Series was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020/21 season.
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Junior Grand Prix Standings
Men Women Ice Dance Pair Skating
The International Skating Union (ISU) has supported the Skating Federation of Ukraine since the start of the war, implementing ISU Communication 2469, and also granting financial support to assist Ukrainian Skaters. The ISU reiterates its sympathy for and solidarity to all affected by the War in Ukraine. The ISU maintains its condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. The ISU Council met on June 9-11, 2023 and discussed the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recommendations of March 28, 2023 for International Federations on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarussian passport in international competitions.The ISU Council decided to explore the feasibility issues with regard to potential pathways to implement the IOC recommendations within ISU Sports. The Council will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the ISU activity as well as the decisions and their implementation within the Olympic Movement. In the meantime, ISU Communication 2469 remains in force.
Where to Watch
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed on the official ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries.
Subscribe to the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #JGPFigure.
ISU Junior Grand Prix Schedule
The schedules of each ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:
23 - 26 Aug 2023 Bangkok/THA
30 Aug - 2 Sept 2023 Linz/AUT
6 - 9 Sept 2023 Istanbul/TUR
13 - 16 Sept 2023 Osaka/JPN
20- 23 Sept 2023 Budapest/HUN
27 - 30 Sep 2023 Gdansk/POL
04 - 07 Oct 2023 Yerevan (ARM)
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