Noemi Tali/Noah Lafornara (ITA) lead Junior Dance at ISU Grand Prix Final

FIGURE SKATING

Noemi Tali/Noah Lafornara (ITA) lead Junior Dance at ISU Grand Prix Final

06 Dec 2024

Italy’s Noemi Maria Tali/Noah Lafornara continued their success this season and top the Rhythm Dance ahead of Katarina Wolfkostin/Dimitry Tsarevski (USA) and Darya Grimm/Michail Savitskiy of Germany.

Tali/Lafornara were the top qualifiers and they did not disappoint, showing their class again in their Rhythm Dance set to “How Deep Is Your Love” and “You Should Be Dancing”. The JPG Riga and Bangkok Champions collected a level four for the first part of the Paso Doble Pattern Dance, the twizzles and the rotational lift for a score of 68.66 points, just a little lower than their personal best.

“There was a bit of pressure but in these months we were trying to focus on the physical skating part but also on how to prepare mentally for the competition,” Tali said. “We’re satisfied with our performance because we skated from the first step today. We just went for it when before we were a bit more hesitant, so we’re proud of what we did today.”

Lafornara agreed, saying: “We did a lot of work on focusing on just ourselves and every single thing that we’re doing with every step and not letting our brains drift anywhere else. (For the Free Dance) it’s maintaining the routine of thinking about ourselves. The competition is not over yet so we don’t want to celebrate anything until we get there.”

Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara (ITA) lived up to the hype in the Junior Dance at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble © ISU

Dancing to “Car Wash” and “Disco Inferno”, Wolfkostin/Tsarevski completed level-three and four elements, just her part of the midline step sequence was rated a level two. The JGP Gdansk Champions earned 65.57 points.

“It was definitely a fight but I think we did good and continuing throughout,” Wolfkostin said.

The couple are excited about competing in their first Final. Wolfkostin added: “It’s really fun. The other Junior Grand Prix Final that we qualified for with other partners was cancelled because of the pandemic, so it’s really great to have this second chance and an opportunity to be here. I always enjoy competing, it’s always fun to be on the ice and perform for people and make them smile.”

Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski (USA) lived up to the hype in the Junior Dance at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble © ISU

Grimm/Savitskiy came with a brand-new Rhythm Dance to the Junior Final, choosing a Gloria Gaynor medley. The debut performance went well and the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists got a level four for the twizzles and rotational lift. However, the midline steps were rated a level one and two only. Nevertheless, the 2024 ISU World Junior bronze medalists achieved a season’s best of 64.84 points.

“It (the dance before) didn’t score so well and the feedback from the judges was like, ‘It’s OK but it’s not groundbreaking’. So we decided to change it,” Grimm explained. “I think the new dance is more entertaining. Plus, it’s more fun to skate, which makes us entertain more.”

Savitskiy is pleased with their current placement: “I would say that it is a confidence boost because we thought at first that our score was too low, given that in the previous Grand Prix everyone had around 67-68 points, but it seems that this time the scores were given more strictly. It helps a lot that we could hold the placement from the last year and I think that we can go into the free with a good feeling.”

Celina Fradji/Jean-Hans Fourneaux (FRA) came fourth but remain close to the podium on 63.24 points. Iryna Pidgaina/Artem Koval (UKR) follow in fifth place (62.36 points), while Elliana and Ethan Peal (USA) finished sixth (60.19 points).

For full entries, results and further information visit the ISU Grand Prix Final event site.

How did Skaters qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final?

Check out the final ISU Junior Grand Prix Standings:

Men Women Pair Skating Ice Dance

The ISU Junior Grand Prix series consisted of seven events in Riga (LAT), Ostrava (CZE), Bangkok (THA), Ankara (TUR), Gdansk (POL), Ljubljana (SLO) and Wuxi (CHN).

More information about each ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event: