#WorldJFigure

Rio Nakata (JPN) skated off with gold in a nail-biter of a final with the suspense lasting until the very last skater at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2025 in Debrecen (HUN) on Friday. Many Skaters ended the season on a high note with a new personal best score.

Rio Nakata of Japan in the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Debrecen, Hungary © ISU

“Pirate” Rio Nakata (JPN) mines gold 

Japan’s Rio Nakata shone in a Men’s final full of suspense, overtaking defending ISU World Junior Champion Minkyu Seo of the Republic of Korea. Slovakia’s Adam Hagara rose from fifth to repeat as bronze medalist. 

Nakata took the title he was after all season and overcame disappointment to take the gold. Skating to “Pirates of the Caribbean”, the 2024 ISU World Junior silver medalist went for a quad toe as his first jump but missed it. He fought back and landed the next quad toe-triple toe combination as well as six triple including two Axels. 

By the end, the Japanese Junior Champion simply collapsed on the ice. “I was just relieved I finished my program,” he explained.

Nakata set a personal best with 162.95 points in the Free Skating and racked up 248.99 points to pull up to first place.

“I’m happy I can win this competition and be on the podium with Minkyu and Adam,” Nakata said. 

“I was disappointed at the Junior Grand Prix Final (he placed third) but that made me strong and work harder in practice.” 

Now the new ISU World Junior Champion is looking forward to having a long rest – and he will watch Adam Hagara, who is going to compete at the ISU World Championships next month in Boston (USA).

“I can’t wait to see Adam doing a quad and I want to cheer for him at Senior Worlds,” Nakata offered.

 Seo turned in a charming performance to “Singing in the Rain” that was highlighted by seven triple jumps, but missed the second triple Axel and that was a costly mistake. 

Minkyu Seo (KOR) in the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Debrecen, Hungary © ISU

The ISU Junior Grand Prix Finalist picked up a season's best of 154.77 points, but was ranked second in the Free Skating and slipped to second overall at 241.45 points. 

“Today I was very nervous but I focused on my program and I’m happy with what I did,” the 16-year-old commented. 

“This year I had many competitions but this Junior Worlds is the last competition so I’m so happy to get a medal. Next season I’ll try a quad jump because Rio has them and I really need to do a quad.”

Hagara stood in fifth place following the Short Program but he was not far behind. The Slovak Champion once more showed his amazing consistency and delivered a clean performance to a James Bond Medley that was highlighted by eight triple jumps. Hagara posted a personal best of 153.04 points and moved up to third place at 233.93 points.

Adam Hagara (SVK) in the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Debrecen, Hungary © ISU

“This was my last junior competition and I am happy I skated the way I did it and ended on a high note. I have good emotions about it,” Hagara said.

His season is not over yet. 

“I’m going to prepare for senior worlds now. We’ll see what I’ll do. I’ll practice the quad Salchow and quad toe and I hope to qualify for the Olympic Games. I also have the graduation exams for high school coming up in my country, so I’ll need to prepare for that as well.”

Jacob Sanchez (USA) slipped from third to fourth place after popping a Lutz jump (230.41 points). Habin Choi (KOR) came fifth in his debut at the ISU World Junior Championships (227.28 points) while 

Shunsuke Nakamura (JPN) placed sixth (225.69 points).