Photo by Jurij Kodrun – International Skating Union via Getty Images
Looking at the rosters ahead of the second Junior Grand Prix event of the 2024-2025 season – Czech Skate in Ostrava, Czech Republic – many assumed that Japan’s Rena Uezono would be the favorite to win the women’s event, especially since the 15-year-old is the reigning World Junior bronze medalist and reigning Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist. Yet, Rena was unable to secure a medal at her first JGP event of the season. In second after the short program, she fell on her triple Lutz in her “The Bells” (Prelude in C-sharp minor) by Sergei Rachmaninov and “Chronos” by Kirill Richter free skate. The jump was also downgraded. Rena also fell on her triple flip, which was also underrotated. She earned a free skate score of 112.90 and a total score of 177.31, which was fourth overall.
The winner of the women’s event was Kaoruko Wada, who made her international and Junior Grand Prix debut in Ostrava. The 15-year-old was the leader after the short program. She opened her Titanic free skate with a double Axel and triple Lutz-triple toe combination. She did not have clear edges on both of her triple flips and her triple Lutz was called on the quarter, but she skated with lots of speed and flow throughout. She earned a free skate score of 126.93 and a total score of 194.14 to win the gold medal.
“I didn’t expect to win this title,” Kaoruko said after her free skate. “I enjoyed performing in the short program and in the free skating. It was amazing.”
France’s Stefania Gladki of France, whose previous best result on the JGP was a 4th place finish at the Junior Grand Prix in Linz last season, was in second place after the short program. In her Moulin Rouge! free skate, the 14-year-old landed seven clean triples. She earned a personal best free skate score of 121.16 and a total score of 182.61 to win the silver medal. It was the best result on the JGP for a French woman since Gwenaelle Jullien won silver at the Junior Grand Prix in China in 1998.
Yujae Kim, of Korea was in fourth after the short program. In her Swan Lake free skate, 15-year-old opened the program with a triple Axel. She fell on her triple loop and had a wrong edge call on her triple flip as well as the flip and her triple Lutz were called on the quarter. She earned a free skate score of 117.59 and a total score of 178.79 to claim the bronze medal. This was her third JGP event of her career and her third JGP bronze medal.
U.S. silver medalist Josephine Lee finished in fifth place, despite finishing seventh in the short program and eighth in the free skate. This was Josephine’s best finish of her Junior Grand Prix career. Slovakia’s Alica Lengyelova of Slovakia finished in sixth place in her first JGP event.
Men
2024 World Junior bronze medalist Adam Hagara of Slovakia was the leader after the short program, but it was pretty close among the top three, with less than a point separating each other. The 18-year-old, who chose to compete another season on the JGP, had some mistakes his James Bond free skate. He fell on the triple Axel, received a not clear edge call on his triple Lutz and also doubled his Salchow. He finished 5th in the free skate (133.20) and earned a total score of 211.23 to finish third overall to claim the bronze medal. He will compete next in Slovenia.
World Junior Champion Minkyu Seo of Korea was third after the short program. He had some mistakes, including stepping out of his triple loop and a wrong edge call on his triple Lutz to finish second in his “Singing in the Rain” by Gene Kelly free skate with a score of 147.70 and a total score of 224.78 to win the gold medal. This is the second JGP gold medal for the 15-year-old. He will compete next in Poland.
“I was more nervous compared to the World Junior Championships because this is the first competition of the season”, Minkyu commented. “I actually was relieved (to be in third place in the short program). I felt more confident. This season I want to train hard to bring fantastic performances to my fans,” the 15-year-old added.
The skate of the men’s free event belonged to the U.S.’s Patrick Blackwell. Patrick is a newer skater to skating fans as he was injured last season and did not compete at the U.S. Championships. However, Patrick won the U.S. Junior Team Cup in July to secure a JGP spot. In fifth after the short program, the 16-year-old opened his “Smoke and Mirrors” by Gabriel Saban free skate with a quadruple toe and two triple Axels. He crushed his personal best free skate and total scores. He won the free skate with a score of 152.14 and a total score of 221.56 to win the silver medal. He also did a raspberry and back flip in his free skate. Starting this season, back flips are no longer illegal elements.
Tamir Kuperman of Israel finished just off the podium in fourth place and Daiya Ebihara of Japan finished fifth. Taiga Nishino, who was second after the short program, had a tough free skate with three falls. He finished sixth in the free skate and sixth overall.
Pairs
At the Junior Grand Prix Riga Cup last week, it was the Chinese team of Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang, who were the first Chinese team to win a Junior Grand Prix since 2013. Now another Chinese team is a top the podium in the second JGP event this season.
In their international and JGP debut, Xuanqi Zhang and Wenqiang Feng won the event. They were the leaders after the short program, but they finished second in their “Spanish Matador” by Cuifeng Ou and “Playra” by Wei Xue free skate as two jumps were called on the quarter and Xuanqi fall on the throw triple flip. They earned a free skate score of 91.41 and a total score of 145.55 to claim the gold. They are also scheduled to compete next at the Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk, Poland at the end of the month.
“I am very happy and very honored to represent my country and participate in this event,” Feng told the media. “This was a very good beginning of the season for us and this (watching Zhang/Huang winning) gave us a lot confidence coming here,” he added.
Both Chinese teams are coached by Yang Ding, a former pairs skater with Zhongfei Ren who won the JGP Final in 2003 and finished 2nd at Junior Worlds that same year. Xuanqi and Wenqiang are scheduled to
Romane Telemaque and Lucas Coulon of France, who finished 4th last week in Latvia, took the silver medal in Ostrava. They were fourth in the free skate (90.01) and had a total score of 139.84, which were both personal best scores. This was the first JGP pairs medal for the French pair since 1997. They will have to wait and see if they will qualify for the JGP Final.
Canada’s Julia Quattrocchi and Simon Desmarais of Canada, who were fourth after the short program, took the bronze. They actually had the best free skate of the pairs event with a score of 91.94, finishing ahead of the Chinese team in the free skate by 0.53. They had a total score of 137.54 to win their first JGP medal. They are also scheduled to compete next at the Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk, Poland.
Japan’s Sae Shimizu and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda of Japan finished fourth overall. They were seventh after the short program, but were third in the free skate.
Dance
France’s Celina Fradji & Jean-Hans Fourneaux set a new personal best total score en route to securing their first JGP win. They finished first in both segments and by 14 total points overall ahead of the silver medalists.
Team USA’s Katarina Wolfkostin & Dimitry Tsarevski, who are competing on the Junior Grand Prix circuit this season, unfortunately, had some problems with both programs. In the rhythm dance, Dimitry had a mistake on the second twizzle and in the free dance, Katarina had a fall that was not on an element. They were third in the free dance, but finished with the silver medal by 0.12.
Canada’s junior champions, Layla Veillon & Alexander Brandys won their first JGP medal. They had a fall at the end of their program, which resulted in a two point deduction. They set a new personal best in the free dance.
