Preview: 2023 World Junior Championships
This week, 31 teams representing 23 countries will head to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the 2023 World Junior Championships. The competition will be held at the WinSport Arenas.
About the Event: The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual international competition organized by the International Skating Union (ISU). The competition has been held since 1976, and it serves as a platform for young skaters to showcase their talent and compete at the international level. This is the sixth time Canada has hosted the World Junior Championships, with the most recent being Kitchener, Ontario in 2005.
The Medal Hunt: Canada’s Nadiia Bashynska & Peter Beaumont have won every competition they’ve entered this season, including both Junior Grand Prix events, the Canadian National Championships and the JGP Final. They were the bronze medal finishers at this event a year ago.
Siblngs Katerina Mrazkova & Daniel Mrazek of the Czech Republic have posted the highest international scores for a junior team this season. Mistakes in their performances at the JGP Final resulted in the team collecting the bronze medal instead of contending for gold.
Hannah Lim & Ye Quan have continued to set many firsts for Korean ice dance, including a gold medal on the JGP series and first medal, a bronze, at the JGP Final. A medal in Calgary would continue to solidify their legacy.
Darya Grimm & Michail Savitskiy finished fifth at the World Junior Championships last year. The team from Germany qualified for the JGP Final where they finished fifth.
Two-time U.S. junior champions Leah Neset & Artem Markelov are competing at their first World Junior Championships. Neset & Markelov have made mistakes at both the U.S. Championships and Ice Dance Final, but strong performances could put them on the podium in Calgary.
In their final year of junior eligibility, Phebe Bekker & James Hernandez of Great Britain have had their best season and will look to improve on their 10th place finish at this event last year. They were fourth at this year’s JGP Final, in the first time they qualified.
Event info: Teams have official practices starting on Tuesday, February 27. The rhythm dance kicks off on Friday, March 3 at 12 noon (MST); the free dance occurs on Saturday, March 4 at 12 noon (MST).