Korea’s Minkyu Seo finished in first place in what was a high-class Junior Men’s Free Skating on Friday at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. 

Elegant Minkyu Seo (KOR) takes first Junior Grand Prix Final crown

ISU World Junior silver medalist Minkyu Seo (KOR) secured his first Junior Grand Prix Final title, overtaking overnight leader Rio Nakata of Japan. Lucius Kazanecki (USA) moved up from fourth place to take the bronze in his debut in the ISU Junior Grand Prix.

Skating to “Exogenesis Symphony”, Seo turned in an amazing performance, hitting a quad Salchow and eight perfect triple jumps. The 2024 ISU World Junior Champion smashed his personal best by ten points, scoring 171.09 points for the Free Skating. Overall, he accumulated 255.91 points, another personal best. 

Minkyu Seo (KOR) finished in first place in the Junior Men's Free Skating at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya © ISU

“The goal has been changed since last season. Last time my goal was to skate two clean programs, this season my goals were achieving a (gold) medal and skating clean,” Seo said. “I am sure that Rio is one of the best skaters. To compete with him I tried to focus on the consistency of spins and steps (beside jumps). Mentally I tried to relax myself.”

Nakata opened his powerful “Gladiator” routine with a quad Salchow and quad toe-triple toe. He followed with three more clean triples but the solo quad toe and a triple loop were wobbly, which cost precious points. The reigning ISU World Junior Champion finished second in the Free Skating on 163.22 points and slipped to second at 249.70 points in total. Nakata now has a complete set of medals from the Junior Final: gold in 2023, bronze in 2024 and now silver in 2025. 

Rio Nakata (JPN) took second place in the Junior Men's Free Skating at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya © ISU

“It's a disappointing result,” Nakata admitted. “I attempted three quadruple jumps, but I realized that if the others don't work, then it's no good. I was happy to see the support of the audience. In my first year in the Grand Prix series, my free skate was good and I came from behind to win. In my second year, just like this time, I was in first place in the short program, but I made a series of mistakes and couldn't win, so I wanted to get revenge this year, but it didn't work out.

“My next competition is the World Junior Championships, and after that I might move up to the Senior, where I'll do my best to get revenge on the skaters who beat me this time.”

Kazanecki put out a personal best performance to “Adios Nonino” that was highlighted by two quad toes and triple Axel. The 17-year-old earned 153.72 points for the Free Skating and totaled 225.85 points to pull up from fourth place. 

Third-placed Lucius Kazanecki (USA) in the Junior Men's Free Skating at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya © ISU

“Maybe I could have done a little bit more but I think I'm pretty glad with that,” Kazanecki said. “I do as best as I could. I got the best placement I could. I knew there was a possibility (to win a medal), but I obviously was not putting that as my goal. Obviously, my goal was to skate clean because there's so many skaters here that are so good.” 

Denis Krouglov (BEL) came fourth with a clean program on 225.60 points, Taiga Nishino (JPN) finished fifth on 202.80 points, and Habin Choi (KOR) was sixth (200.70 points).

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final schedule:

Thursday, December 4: Junior Pairs, Junior Men’s & Junior Women’s Short Programs
 Friday, December 5: Junior Rhythm Dance, Junior Men’s & Women’s Free Skating
 Saturday, December 6: Junior Pairs Free Skating, Junior Free Dance
 Sunday, December 7: Exhibition Gala

Where to Watch

All the Junior events will be live-streamed on the  Skating ISU YouTube channel.

ISU Junior Grand Prix Standings

Check out the road to the ISU Junior Grand Prix 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.