The 2024-2025 Junior Grand Prix Series (JGP) kicked off with Riga Cup in Riga, Latvia Aug. 29-31. Riga is the first of seven events for the Junior Grand Prix Series. The series will culminate with the Junior Grand Prix Final, which will be held in conjunction with the Senior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France in December.
Here’s a recap of Riga Cup:
Women
Two-time World Junior Champion Mao Shimada, who is still too young to move to the senior ranks, kicked off her third Junior Grand Prix Series by winning her fifth JGP gold medal. In the six Junior Grand Prix events she has competed in, the 15-year-old from Japan has only won gold. After her “Defying Gravity” from the broadway musical Wicked short program, Shimada had a five-point lead over teammate Ikura Kushida. In her “Mado Kara Mieru” free skate, Mao stepped out of her triple Axel and fell on her quadruple toe, but then delivered seven clean triples, including two triple-triple combinations. She earned a free skate score of 133.19 and a total score of 204.86 to win the event by 22 points. She will now compete at the Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk, Poland.
Estonia’s Elina Goidina was competing in her first Junior Grand Prix event. She was 11th at last year’s Junior World Championships. The 14-year-old was in fourth place after her The Fifth Element soundtrack short program. In her “Angels and Demon” free skate, her only mistake was stepping out of her triple loop. She delivered the second best free skate of the event (120.18) to move up to claim the silver medal with a total score of 182.23. With the silver, Elina became the first Estonian woman to medal at the Junior Grand Prix since 2007.
Korea’s Nayeon Ko, who was in third after her Invasion soundtrack short program, held onto third place despite finishing fourth in the free skate (112.82). In her “Je me Souviens de nous” and “Ludivine Amado” by Maxime Rodriguez free skate, her triple toe was called underrotated and her triple loop was called on the quarter. She also had an edge call on her triple flip. She won the bronze medal with a total score of 176.86. Riga was Nayeon’s second JGP event of her career.
Canada’s Lulu Lin, who was 10th at the World Junior Championships last season, just missed the podium, finishing in fourth place.
Kushida, who was in second after the short program, had a difficult free skate. She was unable to medal and finished fifth overall.
Anna Gerke, of Germany, rounded out the top sixth. This was her first international competition.
Switzerland’s Anastasia Brandenburg, who was sixth at the 2024 Junior World Championships, had a rough short program, leaving her in 17th place heading in the free skate. However, she delivered the third best free skate to move up 10 spots and finish in seventh overall.
Team USA’s Annika Chao finished in 8th place.
Men
Fourteen-year-old Sena Takahashi of Japan was competing in his first Junior Grand Prix event. He was the leader after his “This is Me” from the Greatest Showman short program performance. In his “Four Seasons” free skate, Sena landed eight clean triples to earn a free skate score of 148.61 and a total score of 229.66 to win the gold medal.
Korea’s Jaekeun Kim, who was 6th at the 2024 World Junior Championships, sat in third place after his “Movement” by A. Hozier-Byrne short program. In his “Archangel by Two Step From Hell” by Thomas Bergersen free skate, he received an edge call on his triple flip. He earned a free skate score of 146.48 to finish second in the segment, and move up to win the silver medal with an overall score of 220.26. This was the 16-year-old’s best finish on the Junior Grand Prix.
Japan’s Shunsuke Nakamura, who finished fourth at both the Junior Grand Prix Final and the Junior World Championships last season, sat in fifth place after some mistakes in his Backstreet Boys short program. In his “Lamentations of the Heart” by Philip Wesley and “lo Ci Saro” by Andrea Bocelli, Vivere, Lang Lang, David Foster and Walter Afanasieff free skate, he stepped out of his opening quadruple toe, but earned a free skate score of 144.34, which was third in the free skate. He finished with an overall score of 212.73 to move up to third place and win the bronze medal, his fourth Junior Grand Prix medal. The 19-year-old will compete at the Junior Grand Prix in Turkey Sept. 18-21.
Slovakia’s Lukas Vaclavik finished in fourth place. This was his best finish of his sixth Junior Grand Prix events of his career.
Israel’s Nikita Sheiko, who was in second after the short program, dropped to fifth overall. Germany’s Genrikh Gartung, who was in 10th after the short program, had the fourth best free skate to move up to finish in sixth place.
Team USA’s Aleksandr Fegan finished in seventh place and Canada’s Anthony Paradis finished in eighth,
Pairs
Riga marked the first international competition for China’s Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang. The team was third after their “Dive” by Ed Sheeran short program. In their “All For One” by Hael free skate, Huang fell on the side-by-side triple salchows, which was also called on the quarter. The team also had some under rotations in their side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double toe sequence. They earned a free skate score of 105.55 and a total score of 159.76 to claim the gold medal. They were the first Chinese team to win a Junior Grand Prix since 2013.
Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher of Canada, who had won the bronze at the Junior Grand Prix Final last year, were the leaders after their Amelie soundtrack short program performance. They had some small mistakes in their Led Zeppelin free skate, including a step out on a throw triple loop and their second double Axel in their double Axel-single Axel-double Axel sequence, to finish second in the segment (96.82) and drop to second overall with a score of 152.23. They will compete next at Junior Grand Prix in Turkey.
World Junior silver medalists Olivia Flores and Luke Wang, who were in second after their “Golden Slumbers and “Carry That Weight” by Jennifer Hudson short program performance, had a tough Lion King free skate with three falls. They finished fourth in the free skate with a score of 85.13, which was almost 20 points below their personal best score. They did manage to take home the bronze medal with a score of 139.51. They will also compete at JGP Turkey.
The France teams of Romane Telemaque and Lucas Coulon, and Louise Ehrhard and Matthis Pellegris finished in fourth and fifth respectively. Team USA’s Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy, who are in their first season together, finished in sixth.
Dance
Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara of Italy took home the gold in what was only the team’s second JGP event of their partnership. The sibling team of Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen of the U.S. claimed the silver, their first JGP medal. World junior bronze medalists Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy, of Germany, won the bronze medal.
See photos from the dance event at Ice-Dance.com.
