Hana Maria Aboian & Daniil Veselukhin (USA) captured a narrow lead in the Rhythm Dance as the ISU Figure Skating Junior World Championships 2026 continued in Tallinn, Estonia, on Friday. With just one point between the top three teams, anything still can happen in the Free Dance on Saturday. 

Aboian & Veselukhin dance to the lead but rivals are close

It was time to dance in Tallinn: The Junior Ice Dance couples entertained the spectators at the Tondiraba Ice Rink and the online viewers with the Rhythm Dance. The competition turned out to be really close, as Hana Maria Aboian & Daniil Veselukhin (USA) edged Ambre Perrier Gianesini & Samuel Blanc Klaperman (FRA) by just 0.14 points for the lead. Ukraine’s Iryina Pidgaina & Artem Koval are only one point behind in third place, and everything will be decided in the Free Dance. 

Aboian & Veselukhin showed off precise twizzles and a difficult rotational lift to score 66.45 points, close to their personal best. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions put their focus on the performance to “Vogue” by Madonna. 

“It was great, we accomplished everything we wanted to do here and we're happy with our skate,” Aboian said. 

“I think we improved a lot [since the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final] and we've worked really hard on our program,” Veselukhin added. “I think our main goal was not to compete but to perform and to show people what's inside us and the true emotion of the vogue. I think we did great, we really showed how the Vogue should be done, we're really proud of ourselves.”

Aboian got extra inspiration from watching the ‘Vogue’ Rhythm Dance of Olympic Ice Dance Champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron live in the Team Event at the Olympic Winter Games last month in Milan. 

“It was a fun experience,” Aboian shared. “It was just beautiful. It's really inspiring to see world-class athletes be able to do what they want, what they love to do.”

Perrier Gianesini & Blanc Klaperman, who picked ‘Cheerleading’ as their theme, put out an upbeat dance to “Everybody” and “Larger Than Life” that featured smooth footwork and a whirling rotational lift, with the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists posting a new personal best of 66.31 points.

Perrier Gianesini & Blanc Klaperman are narrowly behind the leaders in second place © ISU

“I was really tense just before and then I entered the ice and I was like, ‘OK, well now I just need to dance,’” said Perrier Gianesini, who was over the moon to have received an encouraging message from Olympic Ice Dance Champion and teammate Fournier Beaudry before the competition.

“She wrote a message to me: ‘I hope you're going to really have some fun, you and your partner at the Junior Worlds. Just put it on fire, you can do it.’ Just having a message from her, I almost cried.”

Now the French feel ready for the Free Dance: “We want to go for more, we have nothing to lose, actually. We don't need to stay in the first place, we need to grab the first place,” Perrier Gianesini added.

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists Pidgaina & Koval delivered an energetic dance to a Backstreet Boys medley to earn 65.45 points.

Iryina Pidgaina & Artem Koval are only one point behind in third place © ISU

“We are happy with our performance. Everything was quite good and about what we had prepared,” Pidgaina commented. 

“We’ll approach the Free Dance in the same way,” she continued. “The competition is not over yet and we are ready to show ourselves.”

ISU Junior Grand Prix finalists Layla Veillon & Alexander Brandys (CAN) came fourth on 63.61 points, followed by Arianna Soldati & Nicholas Tagliabue (ITA) on 61.55 points. Dania Mouaden & Theo Bigot (FRA) are currently ranked sixth (60.60 points). 

Thirty Ice Dance couples from 23 ISU Members competed in the Rhythm Dance and the top 20 advanced to the Free Dance on Saturday. 

Where to Watch

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

What and when 

The schedule of the ISU World Junior Championships 2026 is as follows:

Wednesday, March 4: Junior Pairs & Junior Men’s Short Programs
Thursday, March 5: Junior Women’s Short Program & Junior Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March 6: Junior Rhythm Dance, Junior Men’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 7: Junior Free Dance, Junior Women’s Free Skating

Full entry lists, results and further information are available on the ISU Figure Skating Junior World Championships event page and the official event website. 

Find more comments from the top three in the Press Conference Highlights on the ISU event website.

Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldJuniorFigure and #FigureSkating. 

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