FIGURE SKATING
Kemp/Elizarov (CAN) first JGP Final qualifiers at ISU JGP Ankara (TUR)
31 Aug 2025
Showtime in Türkiye: The ISU Junior Grand Prix continued with another spectacular competition in Ankara (TUR). The second event of the series saw Mayuko Oka (JPN) winning a triple Axel battle of the Junior Women and Pair Skaters Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) becoming the first Skaters to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final with their second victory in as many weeks. 2024 ISU World Junior Champion Minkyu Seo (KOR) pocketed his third gold on the circuit while Ice Dancers Iryna Pidgaina/Artem Kovalev (UKR) celebrated their second ISU Junior Grand Prix title.
Relive the action and catch the winners’ interviews on the ISU YouTube channel.
Golden debut for Mayuko Oka (JPN)
Mayuko Oka (JPN) performs at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ankara (TUR)
At each ISU Junior Grand Prix a new rising star awaits to be discovered. Meet Mayuko Oka of Japan! The 15-year-old created a magical moment with her Short Program “Moment Magico” to sit in second just 0.14 points behind Sophie Joline von Felten (USA). Performing to songs by Caroline Shaw, Oka delivered a beautiful Free Skating highlighted by seven triple jumps. She went for the triple Axel but missed. Nevertheless, she struck gold with 199.17 points in her very first ISU JGP event. Oka has been assigned to the event in Baku (AZE) next and aims at qualifying for the ISU JGP Final in her home country Japan.
“I was not expecting to win,” Oka said. “So when I saw the score, I was just so surprised. I constantly try to just enjoy and to have fun in the performance. I’m trying to do the best performance I can here.”
The Junior Women delivered a triple Axel battle in this competition: Von Felten landed a clean one in the Short Program in combination and another one in the Free Skating. However, she fell on the second triple Axel attempt in the Free Skating and also made an error on her quad Salchow to slip to third overall on 186.92 points. Korea’s Yujae Kim ranked fifth with a clean Short Program but was not far behind. She produced a spectacular triple Axel in the Free Skating to “Lord of the Rings” to win the segment and earn her first ISU Junior Grand Prix silver medal after three bronzes. Kim collected personal best scores in both programs (196.10 points).
Minkyu Seo (KOR) starts with gold into the season
Minkyu Seo, the first Korean man to win the ISU World Junior title in 2024, has established himself as a top contender in the junior field and started into the season in style. He came a close second to ISU Junior Grand Prix Finalist Sena Takahashi of Japan with his Czardas Short Program but then outskated his competitors in the Free Skating to “Exogenesis Symphony” by Muse, reeling off eight perfect triple jumps. That was a new personal best score in the Free Skating and overall with 243.27 points for Seo. The young Korean star will not stop at this and keeps building.
Minkyu Seo (KOR) performs at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ankara (TUR)
“This season I have had more training and I have tried quadruple jumps. I will try the quad Salchow this season”, he announced. Seo has now the best chances to qualify for his second consecutive ISU Junior Grand Prix Final at his next event in Baku (AZE).
Takahashi looked very strong as well, winning the Short Program and placing second in the Free Skating to “The Mission” soundtrack with seven triple jumps (225.84 points). Lucius Kazanecki (USA) captured the bronze, his first medal on the ISU Junior circuit with a personal best score of 202.67 points.
Kemp/Elizarov (CAN) secure back-to-back gold medals
Coming fresh from their victory at the first ISU Junior Grand Prix in Riga (LAT) a week ago, Canadians Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov secured their second international gold medal this season and are the first Skaters to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
Ava Kemp/Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) perform at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ankara (TUR)
Kemp/Elizarov convinced in both programs. Narrowly edged out in the Short Program by Chinese newcomers Rui Guo/Yiwen Zhang, Kemp/Elizarov delivered an excellent performance to “Clair de Lune” in the Free Skating, highlighted by a triple Salchow-single Axel-single Axel sequence and triple throw jumps. They picked up new personal best in both segments for a total score of 179.43 points.
“We’ve been working really hard obviously this season with the programs”, Kemp said. “We’ve been working hard with our coaches and choreographers just giving us the confidence to be able to do it. I think that’s what has helped us open up, just knowing we can do all the stuff and just put it into a program. We still have a lot of levels (to gain), we want to get our speed up. I think we can do even more with the choreography. There is still room to grow,” she continued.
Elizarov reflected on their growth as a team. “I think when the choreographers chose that music (“Clair de Lune”), they were trying to do something a little softer, something that we can present a little bit more to the audience instead of (being) so element focused.”
Guo/Zhang debuted in international competition and impressed with their speed and huge throws in the Short Program for the lead. The 14- and 18-year-old even pulled off a rarely seen quadruple twist in the Free Skating but errors on the double Axel and throw triple loop dropped them to second place at 166.14 points. The Chinese will be back in action at the JGP in Bangkok, trying to qualify for the Final.
Julia Quattrocchi/Etienne Lacasse of Canada picked up the bronze medal in their first international competition as a team (146.67 points). A year ago, Quattrocchi was a ISU Junior Grand Prix Finalist with her previous partner, now she has a good chance to qualify again with the new man at her side.
Iryna Pidgaina/Artem Koval (UKR) confirm leading role
Ukraine’s Iryna Pidgaina/Artem Kovalev enter the season as top junior contenders in Ice Dance and did not disappoint, taking the title in Ankara with six points to spare. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Finalists danced to the lead with their fun Rhythm Dance to hits of the Backstreet Boys and followed up with their passionate Free Dance to “Moulin Rouge The Musical” (155.14 points). The couple that had to relocate to Austria because of the war in their home country, hasn’t been yet officially assigned to a second event but will take the ice again for sure to secure their spot in the Final.
Iryna Pidgaina/Artem Koval (UKR) perform at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ankara (TUR)
The Ukrainians don’t want to put too much pressure on themselves coming in as the potential new leaders inJunior Ice Dance this season. “We mostly feel pressure about our skating,” Pidgaina noted. “We now want to be on the top but you really need to push and go through it. It’s really hard because I had a heavy sickness after the Debrecen World (Junior) Championships. So I’m really happy to come back, skate and get this medal.”
“It (the performance) is like seven out of ten because we had some mistakes which of course we didn’t expect,” Koval shared. “We know now on which elements we should work. It was good, but not perfect,” he added.
The new Canadian team of Charlie Anderson/Cayden Dawson skated off with the silver medal in what was their ISU Junior Grand Prix debut, performing to “Leave a Light On” in the Free Dance (149.79 points). Lea Hienne/Louis Varescon from France competed in their first ISU Junior Grand Prix event as well and took home the bronze medal on 143.02 points.
A total of 119 young athletes from 37 countries competed in Ankara.
What will happen next week?
The ISU Junior Grand Prix continues next week in Varese (ITA) and promises to be another exciting competition:
- 2024 JGP Final silver medalist Kaoruko Wada (JPN) enters the circuit and will face 2024 JGP Bangkok Champion Yihan Wang (CHN)
- 2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix Finalist Lukas Vaclavik (SVK) hopes to improve from his sixth place finish in Riga (LAT) and to fight for his albeit slim chance to qualify again
- 2025 JGP Riga bronze medalists Jasmine Robertson/Chase Rohner (USA) are hungry for another medal and have a shot at making it to the JGP Final in their first season as a team
Check out the ISU Junior Grand Prix Standings to find out who is on their way to qualify for the Final:
Men Women Pair Skating Ice Dance
Full entry lists, results and further information are available on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.
Subscribe to the ISU YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #JGPFigure.
The schedules of each ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:
- 20 - 23 Aug 2025 Riga/LAT*
- 27 - 30 Aug 2025 Ankara/TUR*
- 03 - 06 Sep 2025 Varese/ITA
- 09 - 13 Sep 2025 Bangkok/THA*
- 23- 26 Sep 2025 Baku/AZE
- 01 - 04 Oct 2025 Gdansk/POL*
- 08 - 11 Oct 2025 Abu Dhabi/UAE
*The events in Riga, Ankara, Bangkok and Gdansk include Pair Skating.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final:
- 04 - 07 Dec 2025 Nagoya/JPN
