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Ruslan Zakharov (RUS)

While the senior Speed Skating season is well underway after the Heerenveen and Stavanger World Cups, the Juniors will start their quest for international glory in Inzell, Germany, on 25 November. New prodigies will challenge the ones who came up in previous seasons, while former champions have moved up to the senior ranks, where some already celebrated World Cup success.

In the men’s Junior World Cup, Ruslan Zakharov (RUS) and Seonghyeon Park (KOR) are the ones to look out for and in de ladies’ tournament Nan Sun (CHN), Jutta Leerdam, Joy Beune, Elise Dul (NED) and Viola Feichtner (AUT) already posted good international results in the past seasons.

Room for new generation in men’s World Cup
Chinese Tao Yang and Xuefeng Sun, who ended up first and second in last year’s 500m World Cup classification, have outgrown the junior ranks. Zakharov and Park are likely to take advantage, after coming third and fourth last season.

In the longer distances all medal winners have moved onto the neo-senior or senior ranks to make way for a new generation. Japan’s Riki Hayashi, who came fifth in last year’s 1500m and seventh in the 3000m will still compete with the juniors this season.

Experienced junior ladies ready to take the stage
Last season’s World Cup winner in the ladies’ 500m and 1000m, Daria Kachanova (RUS), has moved up to the neo-senior ranks. She leaves a competitive field of junior ladies behind. Nan Sun and Jutta Leerdam came second and third in both the 500m and the 1000m. The Chinese and the Dutch skater will continue their rivalry in the junior ranks this season.

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Nan Sun (CHN)

Elise Dul, Joy Beune, and Viola Feichtner (AUT) also still compete in the junior ranks after having been on the World Cup podium in the 1500m and 3000m last season.

Past champions success in senior ranks
Although winning a medal in the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating by no means guarantees future success, since the inaugural Junior World Cup in the 2008/09 season some of the junior medalists also grabbed silverware in the senior ranks.

Ayano Sato (JPN) is the most recent example. The 2016 Junior World Cup winner in de Mass Start, who will turn 21 on 10 December, took her maiden senior World Cup victory in this season’s first Mass Start Race in Heerenveen on 11 November.

Other successful junior champions include last year’s European and World Sprint Champion Kai Verbij (NED), who won the Junior World Cup Mass Start in the 2011/12 season and the Junior World Cup 1000m in the 2012/13 season.

About the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating

The ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating features three tournaments this winter. After Inzell (25-26 November), Innsbruck, Austria, will host the second leg on 27-28 January, while the final will be held in Salt Lake City, USA, on 2-4 March.The format is comparable to the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, but only junior skaters are allowed to enter. Last season a neo-senior competition was added, which will be held again this season.

The first edition of the Junior World Cup was held in 2008/09, with competitions in five distances for both Men and Ladies. Although the 500m, 1000m, 1500m and Team Pursuit were participated by both genders, the Ladies had a 3000m race, while the Men had a combined 3000m and 5000m as a distance.

During the 2011/12 season Mass Start (12 laps for Men, 8 laps for Ladies) was added and in 2013/14 the Team Sprint event (3 laps) was held for the first time. The results for the Team Sprint and Team Pursuit events are combined in the final rankings. Since the 2014/15 season the Mass Start is held over 10 laps for both Men and Ladies.

Eligibility
Participation in the Juniors division is open to Junior A and Junior B Skaters. This means Skaters born in the period 1 July 1998 – 30 June 2002, and also to Junior C Skaters (born between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003) who have reached the qualifying times required to be entered for the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2018. Participation in the Neo-seniors division is open to Skaters born in the period 1 July 1994 – 30 June 1998.

To access Documents and Standings from the previous seasons, please visit our archives page.