The 25th year of the Junior Grand Prix series kicked off once again in Courchevel, France, where skaters from twenty-nine countries competed during the three-day event.
Courchevel is a ski resort in the French Alps, meaning it’s at high altitude and the air is thinner. This can negatively affect a skater’s stamina throughout the programs and make it harder to recover from falls.
Results
Women
🥇 Hana Yoshida (Japan)
🥈 Ayumi Shibayama (Japan)
🥉 Yujae Kim (South Korea)
Men
🥇 Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan)
🥈 Younghyun Cha (South Korea)
🥉 Ryoga Morimoto (Japan)
Ice Dance
🥇 Hannah Lim / Ye Quan (South Korea)
🥈 Celina Fradji / Jean-Hans Fourneaux (France)
🥉 Vanessa Pham / Jonathan Rogers (USA)
Japan dominated the competition, earning two medals in both the men’s and women’s event.
Hana Yoshida, Ayumi Shibayama, Shunsuke Nakamura and Ryoga Morimoto all made their Junior Grand Prix debuts this past week and set up great chances to qualify for the Finals in December. Yoshida, who ratified her triple axel last season, attempted it in the free program but had to step out on the landing. Nakamura was the only man to attempt a quad in the event but ended up falling.
South Korea also made a big impression to start of the season by earning a medal in each discipline. A year after becoming the first dance team from South Korea to win a Junior Grand Prix medal, Hannah Lim / Ye Quan cement themselves in history by becoming the first team to win gold.
“We would like to make it to the [Junior] Grand Prix Final, so we would have to do pretty well at our next Grand Prix but I think within a month and a half we’ll be able to show an even better performance and at Worlds we’d like to reach the podium.”
Hannah Lim
In the men’s event the solo entry of Younghyun Cha finally landed on the podium in second place, after competing at Junior Grand Prix events since 2017. Yujae Kim and Seojin Youn finished third and ninth respectively, both making their debuts on the circuit. Kim also attempted a triple axel but it was marked with a Q in review.
Elsewhere in the competition, Noah Bodenstein (Switzerland) made his return to the JGP circuit with two personal best performances to finish five points shy of third place. Nella Pelkonen (Finland) finished in fourth after the short program in prime position to climb up, but two falls and a popped jump in the her free skate meant she finished ninth in the free and seventh overall. Both of these skaters impressed us, and so many fans, with their musicality and make them a skater to watch out for at future competitions.
France had the maximum amount of skaters at the competition (3 in each discipline) and medaled in the ice dance event. Celina Fradji / Jean-Hans Fourneaux are seasoned skaters in the JGP circuit and after finishing in fifth place at last year’s Courchevel event, won the silver medal this year.
Sibling dance team Laura Hegarty / Kevin Hegarty (Ireland) also made some history by becoming their country’s first ice dancers to compete at a Junior Grand Prix event.
Our Highlights
Nella Pelkonen (Finland): Short Program Lo vas A Olvidar by Billie Eilish with Rosalia
Maria Eliise Kaljuvere (Estonia): Free Skate Shadow Line by Wojciech Kilar – The Studio Orchestra Jiri Hudec
Hana Yoshida (Japan): Short Program Dog Days Are Over by Florence and The Machine
Babeth Hansson-Ostergaard (Denmark): Short Program Lost Soul by Bliss
Yujae Kim (South Korea): Free Skate AIDA (soundtrack) by Elton John
Noah Bodenstein (Switzerland): Free Skate Raining by Kai Engel, Storm by Worakls, Rusanda Panfili & Guardians at The Gate by Audiomachine, Kevin Rix
Adam Hagara (Slovakia): Free Skate Dream On by Aerosmith
Michael Xie (USA): Short Program Never Enough by Loren Allred – Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
Hannah Lim / Ye Quan (South Korea): Rhythm Dance Milonga: Primavera Portena
Milla O’Brien / Laurin Wiederkehr (Switzerland): Rhythm Dance Alice’s Tango (You Will be Mine) by Chi-Chi Flamenco by Didulia
Layla Veillon / Alex Brandys (Canada): Free Dance You Will Be Found (from Dear Evan Hansen)
Lou Koch / Ivan Melnyk (France): Free Dance Swan Lake (remix)
Best Tweets
Links
| Rewatch Playlist | Results Page |
*Note: Sophia Bushell/ Alex Lapsky’s free dance has been cut out of the full free dance stream and not been uploaded individually due to Bushell having a costume malfunction.
