In 2020, Finland’s Helsinki Fintastic won its first Junior World Synchronized Skating title. The team would win two more titles after that. But in 2024, Helsinki Fintastic took the silver medal, and repeated as silver medalists last season. Now the team is back on top as it skated off with its fourth Junior World title at the 2026 ISU Synchronized Skating Junior World Championships this weekend in Gdansk, Poland.
In first after the short program with a 3-point lead over Team USA’s The Skyliners, the Helsinki Fintastic earned level four for six elements in its “Kill of the Night”, “The Pendant, Evil Tango” and “Concerto to Hell” free skate. The team earned a 137.68, which was a season’s best score and won the event with a total score of 218.21, also a season’s best. The Helsinki Fintastic won the event by 14 points.
“It’s much more than skating to us. It means a lot,” Helsinki Fintastic’s Emilia Markkula said. “This is just a reward for our hard work and we’re so happy to be back on top.”
Helsinki Fintastic was joined on the podium by the second team from Finland, Valley Bay Synchro, which won its first Junior World medal. The team was in 4th after the short program. In its “Dona Nobis Pacem” and “Winter” from The Four Seasons free skate, the team earned positive GOEs on all itheir elements and set a season’s best score of 131.81, and moved up to second place with a total score of 204.86. The team has only competed in three Junior Worlds and was fifth at the last two Junior Worlds.“
“We were in shock, wordless, and it was absolutely amazing, I can’t describe the feeling,” Valley Bay Synchro’s Pihla Gronroose shared. “This means everything. We’re so happy and we did this together. The main thing was that we were together and we enjoyed it really much.”
Last weekend, Team USA’s The Skyliners won their third-straight silver medal at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships. Now in Gdansk, the team out of the Skating Club of New York took home their fourth-consecutive bronze medal. In second after the short program, the team had two falls in their “Carmen” free skate, one in an intersection and one in their artistic line. They earned a free skate score of 122.82, which was fourth in the segment. They dropped from second after the short program with third overall with a score of 200.40.
“We felt really, really determined throughout the whole skate,” The Skyliners’ Stephanie Sze commented. “It was definitely a fight throughout the program, especially with a fall in the middle. We kept the resilience and our momentum and I think that’s really what pulled us through.”
Canada’s Les Supremes missed the podium by less than a point. In third after the short program, their free skate also had a fall in one of the intersections. They earned a free skate score of 125.35, which was third in the segment, but they weren’t able to stay in medal position and finished fourth overall with a score of 199.42. This is their second-straight year finishing fourth after winning the title in 2024.
The defending champions, Teams Elite, who was the first U.S. Synchronized team to win the title, had a difficult weekend at Junior Worlds. In the short program, the team had a fall in the twizzle element that cost them major points. They were fifth, more than seven-points out of first, heading in the free skate. In the free skate, the team wasn’t able to rebound to defend their title or to medal. They had more errors including a fall in their synchronized spins and a fall in an intersection. They finished in sixth place in the free skate with a score of 120.75. They finished fifth overall with a score of 193.12.
Canada’s Nexxice finished sixth overall, meaning that the top six consisted of two Finnish teams, two Canadian teams and two American teams.
