Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya danced right into Figure Skating history when they claimed the first ISU Junior Grand Prix Final title for Georgia in Torino (ITA) Saturday. Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik (USA) were edged out of the gold by just 0.16 points. Russia’s Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy earned the bronze.
Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya of Georgia 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Kazakova/Reviya put out a captivating performance to “In the End” by Tommee Profitt that was highlighted by difficult twizzles and a spectacular combination lift. The JGP Zagreb Champions picked up a level four for the twizzles, the combination spin and the straight line-rotational lift to notch 106.14 points. Overall, the Georgians accumulated 174.90 points.
“We came out knowing that there was nothing to lose, that we worked not to be afraid of something. People came to watch us and we must show everything we worked on in practice. Of course, we have a lot of emotions now and it’s hard to realize that we won,” Reviya noted. “The next competition is European Championships which will be tough because it’s seniors and after we’ll come back to create new elements.” he continued.
Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik of USA 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Nguyen/Kolesnik’s elegant dance to Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was highlighted by smooth steps, a stationary lift and a rotational lift. The JGP Lake Placid Champions earned 106.02 points and totaled 174.74 points.
“We’re a little disappointed right now but we’ll continue to keep on working. All our competitors were really strong. We were only a fourth of a point behind and we felt we could push and get to the next level but it didn’t work out,” Nguyen said.
Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy of Russia 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Dancing to “River” by Bishop Briggs, Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy completed a level-four combination lift and combination spin while the twizzles merited a level three and four. The JGP Courchevel Champions were awarded 98.01 points for a total of 164.22 points. They took the bronze in their debut at the Junior Final.
“We didn’t feel the Olympic atmosphere of the arena straight away, but then you see the rings and our coach told us all about it and you start to feel it has its own atmosphere,” Shanaeva commented. “It was really fun to skate for such a big audience, I couldn’t imagine skating for this many people and even in the warm up we felt their support and it helped us through,” she added.
Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov (RUS) were less than a point behind in fourth place on 163.03 points. Loicia Demougeout/Theo Le Mercier (FRA) came fifth on 156.26 points followed by Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin (RUS) with 152.21 points.
Schedule of the event
Sunday, December 8: Exhibition Gala
Where to watch and follow the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019?
Viewers will be able to watch the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final on ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube Channel or for viewers in Japan on TV Asahi and viewers in Korean on SBS.
English commentary will be included on the live stream.
Subscribe to the ISU Newsletter to receive the latest information and you can also subscribe to the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel l to receive notifications when live streams start or new videos are published.
Highlights, clips, interviews, behind the scenes:
YouTube: ISU Junior Grand Prix
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Twitter: @ISU_Figure
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ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019
Courchevel, France - August 22 to 24
Lake Placid, USA - August 29 to August 31
Riga, Latvia – September 5 to 7
Chelyabinsk, Russia - September 12 to 14
Gdansk, Poland - September 19 to 21
Zagreb, Croatia – September 26 to 28
ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – Torino, Italy - December 5 to 8
