Figure Skaters from Korea, Japan, Germany, Canada and Ukraine qualified for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final during the penultimate ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event in Gdansk (POL). Juheon Lim (KOR), Rena Uezono (JPN), Pair Skaters Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) and Ice Dancers Darya Grimm/Michail Savitskiy (GER) took home the gold medals. Gdansk hosted the sixth ISU Junior Grand Prix event of the season.
Lim (KOR) takes the throne in Gdansk
Juheon Lim of Korea remained victorious in the “Game of Thrones” in Gdansk and scored a runaway victory with 21 points to spare over Beck Strommer (USA) and Japan’s Daiya Ebihara.
Juheon Lim (KOR) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland. @ISU
Moreover, the Korean qualified for the Final in his first ISU Junior Grand Prix season after not being able to compete last year because of an injury. Lim won the Short Program with his performance to “Your Song” from “Moulin Rouge”, in spite of a small under-rotation on the triple Axel. Performing to “Game of Thrones” in the Free Skating, the 18-year-old extended his lead with an excellent performance that included eight triple jumps and level-four spins. The Korean set new personal best scores in both segments and totaled 221.55 points.
Juheon Lim (KOR) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland. @ISU
“Following my injury year, I had to put all that feeling inside my heart. Watching other people win (I thought) ‘that could be me, but I can’t (compete)’, Lim shared. “When I won my gold medal, all these feelings came up and I was celebrating. I was feeling so happy and excited.” The Korean Skater surpassed his own expectations by making the Final. “When I got surgery, I was thinking, if I come back, I want to go to the Junior Grand Prix Final. But I didn’t think it was going to happen because I trained only for five, six months.”
Strommer looked a bit shaky in the Short Program and stood in third place. Although the American fell on his triple flip-double Axel sequence, he climbed to second overall on 200.22 points.
Beck Strommer (USA) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland. @ISU
Ebihara came from seventh after a faulty Short Program to claim his second ISU Junior Grand Prix bronze medal this season (184.73 points), but it will not be enough to get to the Final. Strommer has as slim chance to make it depending on the results of the last event in Armenia next week.
Edward Appleby (GBR) ranked second in the Short Program, but slipped to fourth overall (178.97 points).
Uezono (JPN) skates to first JGP gold
Japan’s Rena Uezono skated to her first gold medal in her debut season on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit and she did so easily with an advantage of ten points. The 13-year-old from Nagoya ranked second following the Short Program set to “New Moon” and “F For You” after slightly under-rotating her triple flip-triple toe combination. Skating to “Pray” and “Mechanisms”, Uezono produced five clean triples and excellent spins. She only struggled with a triple flip-triple toe combination and achieved a new personal best of 192.31 points. With her silver from Osaka and gold from Gdansk, the Japanese youngster made the Final.
Rena Uezono (JPN) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland. @ISU
“I am very happy because I was able to show the audience what I had practiced and got my levels for my spins and steps,” Uezono said. “I will do my best to perform even better in the Final,” she added.
Gold medal winner Rena Uezono (JPN) poses with medal during medal ceremony after the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland.@ ISU
Minsol Kwon of Korea has a little more experience as she competed in the Junior Final and ISU World Junior Championships in the past season. The 14-year-old placed third in the Short Program with a solid skate and moved up one spot in the Free Skating to take the silver medal with a new personal best score of 183.52 points. Kwon will return to the Final for the second consecutive year now.
Minsol Kwon (KOR) performs during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland.@ ISU
Kwon’s teammate Seojin Youn led following a flawless Short Program but apparently nerves got into her way and she made some errors that dropped her to third. Nevertheless, Youn earned her first Junior Grand Prix medal (176.31 points). However, as she ranked fifth in her first event in Istanbul, it will not be enough to qualify for the Final.
Kemp/Elizarov (CAN) shoot to the top
Following their fourth-place finish in Budapest, last week, Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov of Canada knew they had to fight if they want to have a chance to get into the Final. In the Short Program to “Monde Inverse” from Cirque du Soleil, the team from Winnipeg was not quite there yet. They ranked third after a performance without major errors, but the difference in points to the teams in first and second place was small. Kemp/Elizarov then put out a strong James-Bond themed Free Skating that was highlighted by a side by side triple Salchow, throw triple Salchow and a level-four reverse lasso lift. The Canadians achieved a new personal best and rose to the top at 159.91 points.
“I felt a lot better than I did last week (in Budapest),” Kemp noted. “Last week I think was a bit of a changing point for us. We used it this week as a kind of motivation”. The couple now is planning for the Junior Final. “We want to keep adding the difficult elements and the levels and making our skating nicer,” Kemp pointed out.
Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland.@ ISU
Ukraine’s Violetta Sierova/Ivan Khobta picked up the silver medal like a week ago in Hungary. The team that trains in Chemnitz, Germany, turned in two solid performances (151.53 points).
Violetta Sierova and Ivan Khobta (UKR) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland.@ ISU
Jazmine Desrochers/Kieran Thrasher, also from Canada, led in the Short Program, but slipped to third after an error-ridden Free Skating (136.95 points).
However, all three medalists qualified for the Junior Final. The event in Gdansk was the last one to include Pair Skating and the six finalists have been determined.
Grimm/Savitskiy (GER) clinch second season gold
Favorites Darya Grimm/Michail Savitskiy of Germany took home their second gold medal this season and got their ticket not to the moon as their Rhythm Dance suggests, but to the ISU Junior Final. Silver medalists Mariia Pinchuk/Mykyta Pogorielov of Ukraine will join the German couple in Beijing. Japan’s Sara Kishimoto/Atsuhiko Tamura earned the bronze medal.
Grimm/Savitskiy had to overcome a setback when he cut his left hand in a practice accident and needed stitches just days before leaving for Gdansk. But the couple was determined to compete and danced to a three-points lead with their sophisticated Rhythm Dance “Ticket to the Moon” that included level-four twizzles and a level-four lift as well as a level-three Rocker Foxtrot pattern dance. The German Junior Champions started well into their modern “Carmen” Free Dance, picking up a level four for the dance spin, the twizzles and the rotational lift, but they struggled a bit with their straight line lift and a stumble by Grimm counted as a fall. The JGP Linz Champions ranked third in the Free Dance but overall held on to first place with a seasons best of 155.88 points.
Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy (GER) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland.@ ISU
“I feel relieved,” Grimm offered. “Of course, we wanted to win, we always wanted to win. It’s the goal. But after the skate I wasn’t so sure anymore because it was not the best yet and I’m really happy that we still managed to win.” Savitskiy spoke about their Free Dance: “We try to put in as much interesting things as possible, we are trying to do very interesting transitions and I think we’ve done that. It just needs more polish.”
Pinchuk/Pogorielov were second with their Rhythm Dance to “Unchain My Heart” and “You Give Love a Bad Name”, but lost a point for an extended lift. The JGP Istanbul Champions then put out a solid Free Dance to music by Queen. Only their final element, the dance spin, was somewhat wobbly. The Ukrainians won the Free Dance segment and remained in second place at 154.43 points.
Kishimoto/Tamura, who train in Montréal, Canada, made the podium for the first time in an ISU JGP event with a personal best score of 150.85 points. However, as they were fourth in their first event in Osaka, they will not make it to the Final.
Sara Kishimoto and Atsuhiko Tamura (JPN) perform during the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland.@ ISU
The four gold medals in Gdansk went to four ISU members: Japan, Korea, Canada and Germany. Korea and Japan were the most successful nations with three medals each while Canada and the Ukraine got two medals and Germany and the USA one.
A total of 121 Skaters/Couples representing 34 ISU Members competed in Gdansk.
The ISU Junior Grand Prix Series continues next week with the seventh and last event, the ISU JGP in Yerevan (ARM) .
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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