The World Junior Figure Skating Championships are fast approaching – taking place from 27th February to 5th March 2023 in Calgary, Canada. Lots of well-known names will be competing including recent Four Continents winner, Kao Miura (JPN), and the on-form Kimmy Repond (SUI).
Where to watch?
Women’s Short Program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLNkDbaAOrM
Men’s Short Program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWp4JzSGaYI
Pairs Short Program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjiHeqLca0s
Ice Dance Rhythm Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obpzahIbUdk
Here’s who to look out for among the many talented skaters due to make an appearance:
Who To Watch Out For At Junior Worlds
In the Women’s skating category, the skaters with Ultra C elements include:
Mao Shimada – Japan – Triple Axel, Quad Toeloop
Inga Gurgenidze – Georgia – Inga has landed the Triple Axel in combo at the Junior Dragon Trophy 2023 in Slovenia.
Ami Nakai – Japan – 3 Axel (Has landed in combination)
Yujae Kim – has successfully landed a Triple Axel at S. Korean Nationals and has landed a Quad Toeloop multiple times in training, but she has not attempted it in competition so far.
Others notable skaters to keep an eye out for:
Niina Petrokina, of Estonia, has been strong on the Senior circuit and looks set to do well at this event.
Jia Shin & Minsol Kwon, of S. Korea, are strong performers with great musicality and consistent, high quality technical elements. They have both been on, or close, to the podium, in almost all of their events.
For Xiangyi An (Nini), of China, this will be her first major international championships. Nini is known for her incredible spins, flexibility and also takes part in rhythmic gymnastics.
Kimmy Repond, from Switzerland, has been on a great run of form recently.
She burst onto the senior scene this season taking bronze at the European Championships in Espoo, Finland.
Soho Lee of the USA has been one of this season’s strongest junior US women. She placed 2nd at the Junior Grand Prix in Latvia where she earned new personal best scores in the Short Program, Free Skate and total score. Soho goes into this event with a new coaching team.
One final note of interest relating to US figure skaters…
It’s a pity that the USFS opted not to send Mia Kalin (USA). She is a well-rounded skater with lots of potential and is one of the few junior skaters from the US to have quads. It’s puzzling that the USFS decided not to send her and we hope they select her in the future.
Next, lets look at some of the Men’s figure skating competitors taking part at the Junior World Championships…
Men’s Skaters
Japanese figure skater, Kao Miura, clocked up an impressive win at Four Continents recently. His Beauty and the Beast program was particularly entertaining. We tip him to be on the podium once again here at Junior Worlds!
Nozomu Yoshioka (pictured below), has been on form recently and has been placing highly at all of this Junior events. He’s definitely one to watch!
Italian skater, Nikolaj Memola (pictured below), has been a regular on the circuit this year and has taken part in lots of events. He has managed a podium place at all of them, so hopefully he can continue this run of form.
Lucas Broussard, of the USA, is another promising junior skater. He has won every event he’s participated in apart from one where he finished 2nd.
Hyungyeom Kim, of South Korea, did not compete on the Junior Grand Prix, he’s mostly competed as a senior this season. It would be great to see him earn South Korea more spots for next season.
Other skaters to note are:
- Andreas Nordebäck (Sweden)
- Raffaele Francesco Zich (Italy)
- Daniel Martynov (USA)
- Robert Yampolsky (USA)
- *Update: 27th Feb. 2023 – It seems Robert Yampolsky has withdrawn due to medical reasons & will be replaced by Michael Xie. Ref: As reported by @fsonline on Twitter, https://twitter.com/fsonline/status/1629888241133297666
- Yudong Chen (China)
Keep a look out for skaters from Kazakhstan and Estonia, both countries have been rapidly improving and fielding strong competitors recently.
The ISU (International Skating Union) are streaming the Junior World Figure Skating Championships 2023 live on their Youtube channel.
Here’s the link for the ISU Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SkatingISU
And don’t forget, the Senior World Figure Skating Championships follows later in March. So lots to look forwards too this month!