Jacob Sanchez didn’t enter the 2024/25 season with any specific goals for his events. “[I] just wanted to have fun at every event and try my best to be the best version of myself that I could be.”
The American skater spent most of the season competing at junior events, starting by earning a silver medal in early August at Cranberry Cup, before heading to his Junior Grand Prix assignment in Türkiye, where he won his first Junior Grand Prix medal — a gold medal at that, winning by fifteen points.
The week after his win, he was assigned to compete at the sixth stop on the JGP circuit in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he skated two improved programs technically and increased his season’s best score by nine points. Sanchez said he focused more on the experience of the events rather than the results, and his approach paid off as his win in Slovenia meant qualification for the Junior Grand Prix Final in France.
However, before the Final, he made his Challenger Series debut at Tallinn Trophy in Estonia. “Going into my first senior international event, I had no expectations and no worries because I was just excited to be able to have the opportunity to compete,” Sanchez reflected.
When I found out I won, I was in shock and couldn’t believe it! This event definitely gave me an even greater confidence boost going into the Grand Prix Final.
Both programs from the 24/25 season, the short to “Music” by John Miles, a piano piece with bursts of orchestra and pop-sounding instrumentals and the free, a classical choice of “lo Ci Saro” performed by Andrea Bocelli, showcased Sanchez’s lines, extension and speed, as well as his wonderful showmanship.
To help with his performance, off the ice, he takes stretching, dance, and sometimes ballet classes.
Entering the Final as the only junior men’s skater to win both assignments, Sanchez described it as “a little nerve-racking because that slated me to be one of the favorites to win. I tried not to let that sit in my head, so instead I went back to my initial thoughts on enjoying the experience and having fun as it was my first Grand Prix Final.” Despite placing second in both segments, his consistency remained strong, and he won the event overall.
His final event of the international season was Junior Worlds in Hungary. Skating third to last in the free skate thanks to an almost clean short program, the free skate started off better than others earlier this season, until he popped the opening jump from his big triple lutz-double axel-double axel sequence. which ended as a single lutz-double axel sequence, still getting credit for the effort but not near the usual fifteen points the sequence is worth.
Reflecting on the competition and season overall, Sanchez said, “Now that the season is over, I’m very glad with my performances at Junior Worlds. Even with the big mistake in the free, there was still so much to be proud of and so much progress comparing last year to this year. I’m definitely motivated going forward with the start of this season to be the best skater I can be.”
I think it was an amazing season full of opportunity, excitement, and success. This past season was my best international season so far. I think the highlight of my season was Junior Worlds because it showed how much of a different skater I was and how much I worked during the season to get where I was then compared to my performances last season.
As for what he’s learned the most: “To be confident. I learned how to trust my training, my team, and most of all myself. I worked so hard in the offseason to build my confidence and still am to this day. Just to see it finally pay off in multiple competitions was such a rewarding feeling.”
Looking forward to the 2025/26 season, Sanchez will be making his Grand Prix debut at Cup of China in October. “I’m so excited to make my senior Grand Prix debut! It has been a dream of mine to compete at a Grand Prix. I’m most excited to compete with Mikhail Shaidorov, Junhwan Cha, Shun Sato, Daniel Grassl, Sota Yamamoto, Deniss Vasiljevs, and Camden Pulkinen.”
He once again worked with Adam Blake for his new short program “Les parapules de Cherbourg“ and collaborated with Rohene Ward for his free skate to “Dune: Part Two (soundtrack)” [music sourced from ISU bio – ed]. “This year’s short program is a completely different style than what I’ve done for the past 5 years in terms of music style and theme. The free skate for this year is also very different than last year. I really love both of my programs this year and I hope everyone will enjoy them as much as I do.”
With the 2026 Olympics coming up in a matter of months, Sanchez’s name is one of many with a question mark over whether he could qualify for the event. “Just being able to be in the mix of skaters on their journey to qualifying for the Olympics is something so special. This year, I want to enjoy the experience of every event, as this is such a big and exciting season. I want to put my name out there this year so people can remember me for the 2030 Olympics [but] I also want to give my best shot at making the Olympic team this year.”
On and off the ice, Sanchez is an ambassador of Diversify Ice, a foundation founded by Joel Savary to inspire and create opportunities for people of colour in the sport.
I got involved because I felt that being a Latino skater at a high level would help others of similar backgrounds feel inspired to skate or inspired towards any of their goals in life. I hope I can inspire others to be the best version of themselves, no matter what anyone says.
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