A total of 36 young Skaters/Couples from 10 ISU Members earned their spots in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and are preparing to compete in Beijing (CHN), December 7-10. The Final features the top six Skaters/Couples per discipline from the seven events of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. China hosts the event for the second time, having first staged it in 2010. Skaters from Japan, the USA and Korea have dominated the ISU Junior circuit this season. Some top Junior competitors return to the Final alongside many newcomers for fans to discover.
Junior Women: Mao Shimada (JPN) leads the way
Japan’s young star Mao Shimada is back! The ISU World Junior Champion continued her dominance this season and won both her Junior Grand Prix events, in Osaka (JPN) and Yerevan (ARM), to qualify for her second consecutive Junior Final. Shimada, who also won the National Junior title last month, will face competition from ISU World Junior silver medalist Jia Shin (KOR) and ISU World Junior bronze medalist Ami Nakai (JPN), who each claimed gold in their two Junior Grand Prix events too.
Mao Shimada (JPN) performs at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Yerevan, Armenia, where she won gold © ISU
Rena Uezono (JPN), who took a gold and a silver on the circuit, will compete in her first Junior Final, as will Yuseong Kim (KOR), who comes to Beijing with two silver medals. Minsol Kwon (KOR) completes the lineup, and returns to the Final with a silver and a bronze medal.
Overall, 173 Junior Women took part in the ISU Junior Grand Prix events.
Junior Men: An open game
The Junior Men’s event looks wide open with all qualifiers having won one Junior Grand Prix event and being rather close in the scores. All six competitors will debut in the Junior Final.
Rio Nakata (JPN) won in Thailand and was second in Turkey. Juheon Lim (KOR) has a silver from Japan and a gold from Poland. Francois Pitot (FRA) comes with a gold from Japan and a silver from Thailand, while Hyungyeom Kim (KOR) qualified with the silver from Austria and the gold from Hungary.
Francois Pitot (FRA) on his way to taking gold at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka, Japan © ISU
The USA’s Daniel Martynov won in Armenia and ranked third in Japan. Adam Hagara, the first Slovak Figure Skater to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, took gold in Austria and came fourth in Hungary.
A total of 114 Junior Men competed on the circuit.
Junior Pairs: Newcomers Metelkina/Berulava (GEO) lead the field
Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO) are the top contenders in the Junior Pairs event. Competing in their first season as a team, they both have experience not only as juniors but at the senior level too – and it showed. Metelkina/Berulava won their two ISU Junior Grand Prix events in Istanbul (TUR) and Budapest (HUN) with big margins in the scores.
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (GEO) after their win at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Istanbul, Turkey © ISU
The Georgian team is joined by another newly formed pair, Martina Ariano Kent/Charly Laliberte Laurent (CAN), who won in Austria and came third in Hungary.
The only couple returning to the Junior Final are the 2023 ISU World Junior bronze medalists Violetta Sierova/Ivan Khobta (UKR), who qualified with two silver medals. Olivia Flores/Luke Wang (USA) come with two silver medals as well. Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) qualified last year but had to withdraw due to injury before the Final and now will debut in this event after winning in Poland and placing fourth in Hungary.
The last spot went to Jazmine Desrochers/Kieran Thrasher (CAN) who earned two bronze medals. Thrasher competed in the Junior Final a year ago with his previous partner.
Twenty-seven Junior Pairs participated in the series.
Junior Ice Dance: New kids on the block
The Ice Dance Junior Final features four newcomers and two returning teams. Top seeds Leah Neset/Artem Markelov (USA) and Darya Grimm/Michail Savitskiy (GER) qualified with two victories on the circuit. Elizabeth Tkachenko/Alexei Kiliakov (ISR) and Mariia Pinchuk/Mykyta Pogorielov (UKR) advanced to the Final with a gold and silver medal from their two events. Yahli Pedersen/Jeffrey Chen (USA) come with two silver medals, while Celina Fradji/Jean-Hans Fourneaux (FRA) got a silver and a bronze. Grimm/Savitskiy and Fradji/Fourneaux competed in last year’s Final.
Leah Neset and Artem Markelov (USA) celebrate their victory at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Bangkok, Thailand © ISU
Overall, 62 Junior Ice Dance couples participated in the ISU Junior Grand Prix.
Prize Money
The global prize money made available by the ISU for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final is
US$ 105,000.00.
Men and Women Pair Skating & Ice Dance (per Couple)
1st place US$ 6,000.00 1st place US$ 9,000,00
2nd place US$ 5,000.00 2nd place US$ 7.500,00
3rd place US$ 4,000.00 3rd place US$ 6,000.00
4th place US$ 3,000.00 4th place US$ 4,500.00
5th place US$ 2,000.00 5th place US$ 3,000.00
6th place US$ 1,000.00 6th place US$ 1,500.00
A Skater/Couple will receive an extra bonus of US$ 2,500.00 for participating in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.
Schedule of the event
The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, December 7: Junior Men, Junior Women’s, Pairs Short Programs, Men’s & Junior Pairs Short Programs
Friday, December 8: Junior Rhythm Dance, Pairs Free Skating, Junior Women’s Free Skating, Women’s Short Program & Rhythm Dance
Saturday, December 9: Junior Free Dance, Junior Pairs & Junior Men’s Free Skating, Free Dance, Women’s & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, December 10: Exhibition Gala
The ISU Junior Grand Prix started in August with the event in Bangkok (THA) and continued in September and October in Linz (AUT), Istanbul (TUR), Osaka (JPN), Budapest (HUN), Gdansk (POL) and Yerevan (ARM).
Full entry lists, results, the General Announcement and further information are available on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.
Selection Criteria
Each ISU Member is entitled to enter competitors for the Series while the number of their entries depended on the result of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2023.
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).
Junior Grand Prix Standings
Men Women Ice Dance Pair Skating
Where to Watch
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events were live streamed on the official ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out where to watch the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.
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