2023-24 Junior Pairs

[SubRosa]

Junior pairs age-eligibility:

• women must be born between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2010
• men must be born between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2010

Junior pairs SP requirements for 2023-24:

• group 3 lift
• 2 or 3 throw loop
• sbs 2 lutz or 2 axel jump
• forward inside death spiral

ISU Communication No. 2550. Establishment of an ISU World Standings/Season’s World Ranking for Juniors:

• based on results of the Junior age category only
• the ISU World Standings for Juniors will be used as the basis for the SP draw at Junior Worlds

Juniors will now earn WS/WR points at ISU Junior International Competitions, awarded as follows:

• 1st – 100
• 2nd – 90
• 3rd – 81
• 4th – 73
• 5th – 66

Junior Pairs competitions 2023-24:

• JGP Linz, Austria
• 2023 John Nicks Pairs Challenge
• JGP Bosphorus, Turkey
• JGP Budapest, Hungary
• JGP Baltic Cup, Poland
• Diamond Spin, Poland
• Tayside Trophy, Great Britain
• Trophée Metropole Nice Côte d'Azur, France
• IceChallenge, Austria
• ISU JGP Final, China
• 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, South Korea
• Bavarian Open, Germany
• The Nordics Open, Sweden
• Berlin Open, Germany
• Challenge Cup, Netherlands
• ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Taipei
• Oceania International Figure Skating Competition, Australia
• Hollins Trophy, Australia

 

[lariko]

Nice to see pairs in 4 JGPs.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Did the junior age eligibility change at all? I can't tell by just reading your post @SubRosa. Thanks for starting this thread!

 

[cheerknithanson]

No it didn’t change. It probably should tbh by a year at least since seniors changed.

Also I must say it’s weird to see skaters born in the 2010’s being junior eligible. I’m getting old.

 

[SubRosa]

Did the junior age eligibility change at all?

ISU Communication No. 2570 (ISU Council meeting on June 9-11 in Budapest) mentions discussion of reports and updates from the Age Categories Harmonization, Junior and Below Working Group, but no announcement was made of any changes. Next council meeting is October 6-8 in Lausanne.

 

[SubRosa]

Junior Grand Prix 2023-24:

• 3 entries in 4 events (12 spots) – USA, Australia, Ukraine, Japan
• 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots) – France, Canada, Czechia, China, Germany
• 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots) – all other countries, except:
• unlimited entries for host countries at their home event: Austria, Turkey, Hungary, Poland

2024 World Junior FS Championships:

• 3 entries – USA, Australia
• 2 entries – Ukraine, Japan, France, Canada, Czechia, China, Germany
• Minimum TES – SP 23.00, FS 34.00 (no change from last year)

 

[SubRosa]

In addition to JGP, Junior Worlds and junior international competitions, this year includes the Winter Youth Olympic Games 2024:

• 6 pairs are slotted to compete (compared to 10 pair slots at YOG 2020, 8 of which were filled)
• to be eligible to participate, all athletes must be born between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2009 (four year window, ages ≈ 14-17)
• YOG Quota Places based on the results of the 2023 World Junior FS Championships:
• USA – 2
• Australia – 2
• host South Korea is guaranteed an entry, if they have an age-eligible pair team
• other entries will be based on best ranked countries in the final ranking of the 2023-24 JGP series season

At the previous YOG, in 2020, the age-eligibility rules were as follows:

• Single skaters and women competing in pairs/dance: born between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2005 (3 year window, ages ≈ 15-17)
• men in pairs/dance: born between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2004 (4 year window, ages ≈ 16-19, recognizing that men in pairs/dance tend to be older than their female partners)

The number of junior pair teams in the world where the man is 17 or younger, with a partner who is aged ≈ 14-17, is ridiculously small. Right now I’m counting maybe four? Australia, Canada, Spain, Belgium? I’m not up on the junior-level pairs skating for the USA this season; would any be age-eligible for YOG? One of the new Chinese teams, maybe? Will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

 

[yuki@thelake]

There are only 3 US junior pair teams in the International Selection Pool now and there are so many competitions for junior pairs! Guess USFS is ramping up finding more junior pairs team

 

[SubRosa]

I’ve spent the last couple months compiling a list of junior pairs who could potentially compete this season. The good news is, there is in the neighbourhood of 3 dozen pairs, representing up to 18 nations. Junior pairs is starting to bounce back to pre-covid levels of participation.

This list is not taking into consideration Communication 2575, the fallout of which is not yet known.

United States:

• JGP – 3 entries in 4 events (12 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 3 entries
• YOG – 2 entries
• Naomi WILLIAMS / Lachlan LEWER
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
  • 2A, 3Tw3, 3Li4, 5RLi4
  • strengths: lifts, twist lifts
• Olivia FLORES / Luke WANG
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
  • 3S, 2A, 3FTh, 3LoTh
  • strengths: jumps, throw jumps
• Ashley FLETCHER / Aaron FELBERBAUM (new)
• Jolena GROHNE / Reede LUNT (new)
• Adele ZHENG / Andy DENG (new)
• Audrey PARK / Carter GRIFFIN (new up from novice)
• Saya CARPENTER / Jon MARAVILLA (new; competed intermediate in 21-22)

Unlike last season, team USA should be able to max out their JGP entries. None of the above pairs are YOG age-eligible. (Possibly there are novice/intermediate level pairs that could be sent to compete at YOG?)

Australia:

• JGP – 3 entries in 4 events (12 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 3 entries
• YOG – 2 entries
• Peyton BELLAMY-MARTINS / Kryshtof PRADEAUX (new; YOG age-eligible)

Ukraine:

• JGP – 3 entries in 4 events (12 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Violetta SIEROVA / Ivan KHOBTA
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
  • 3LoTh, 3Tw4, 3Li4, 4Li4, 5Ali4, 5RLi4
  • strengths: lifts, twist lifts

Japan:

• JGP – 3 entries in 4 events (12 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Sae SHIMIZU / Lucas Tsuyoshi HONDA (new)

 

[SubRosa]

France:

• JGP – 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Louise EHRHARD / Matthis PELLEGRIS
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
  • 2A, 3STh, 3Li4, 4Li4, 5RLi4
  • strengths: lifts
• Romane TÉLÉMAQUE / Lucas COULON (new up from novice)

Both teams participated in the ISU Pair Skating Development Training Seminar (Group 1) in Berlin in April.

Canada:

• JGP – 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• *Ava KEMP / Yohnatan ELIZAROV
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
  • 3S+1Eu+2S, 2A, 3Tw3, 5RLi4
  • strengths: jumps, lifts
• *Martina ARIANO KENT / Charly LALIBERTÉ-LAURENT (new)
• Beau CALLAHAN / Christophe ROCH (new)
• *Annika BEHNKE / Kole SAUVE (new up from novice)
  • YOG age eligible?
  • 3S, 2A, 3STh
  • strengths: jumps, throw jumps
• Natalia CUSTODIO / Christopher HAMMER (new up from novice)
• Noémie ROLLAND / Étienne LACASSE (new)
• Julia QUATTROCCHI / Simon DESMARAIS (new)
• *Jazmine DESROCHERS / Kieran THRASHER (new)
• *Lily WILBERFORCE / Joshua DORE (new)

Like team USA, Canada should have no trouble maxing out its JGP entries. The number of partnership changes in Canadian pairs, affecting couples from pre-novice up through senior, has been, well, kinda dizzying. I will not be surprised if there are a dozen entries in each of senior, junior, and novice pairs come Nationals, ditto for pre-novice pairs come Challenge.

There will be considerable competition to earn JGP/JW berths. Pairs marked with an * should be considered the frontrunners, as they will compete at the Next Gen competition, alongside Ashlyn SCHMITZ / Tristan TAYLOR. Taylor has aged out of juniors, but they may be able to snag an extra year of eligibility (see, Communication 2575).

Despite a wealth of junior pairs, maybe only one of the above listed pairs is YOG age-eligible (Kole Sauve is young enough, not sure if Annika Behnke is old enough). If none is eligible, Canada may need to dig down into the novice level to find a pair to send to YOG (assuming Canada qualifies).

 

[el henry]

Thank you for the summaries @SubRosa, very informative!

 

[SubRosa]

Czechia:

• JGP – 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Debora COHEN / Lukas VOCHOZKA (new)
• Alžběta KVÍDEROVÁ / Jindřich KLEMENT (new; YOG age-eligible)

Source: Instagram

While these are fairly new partnerships, I would expect to see at least one if not both teams on the JGP, if the necessary skills are there, as JGP results determine the qualifiers for YOG. Czechia has a reasonable chance at qualifying for the YOG Team Event (already guaranteed a dance team, possible that a Czech woman could also qualify for YOG).

Czechia also sent a young team to the Berlin Pair Skating Seminar (Group 3), they look to be novice level skaters.

China:

• JGP – 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Yixi YANG / Shunyang DENG
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
  • 3Tw3, 4Li4, 5RLi4
  • strengths: twists, lifts
• Yunjie WANG / Helin LIU (new to juniors; skated at senior nationals in 22-23)
• Wenning SHI / Zhiyu WANG (new)

Germany:

• JGP – 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Sonja LOEWENHERZ / Robert LOEWENHERZ
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
• Josephine LOSSIUS / Artem ROTAR
  • SP tech minimum for 2024 Jr Worlds
• Anastasia STEBLYANKA / Lukas GNEIDIG

The German junior pairs squad (as of June 22) consists of Ackermann / Harms, Salatzki / Roeseler (in these two teams, the man has aged out of juniors, but both teams may benefit from Communication 2575), Loor (no Krause), the Loewenherz sibs, and Lossius / Rotar.

Paarlauf Fanclub confirms that Krause / Loor are no more, citing Loor’s serious shoulder injury, and also states that Lossius / Rotar are no longer together. Harms was also rumored to be trying out with Hyejin Cho.

Don’t know what to make of this conflicting information.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Germany:

• JGP – 2 entries in 4 events (8 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 2 entries
• Sonja LOEWENHERZ / Robert LOEWENHERZ
  • tech minimums for 2024 Jr Worlds
• Josephine LOSSIUS / Artem ROTAR
  • SP tech minimum for 2024 Jr Worlds

The German junior pairs squad (as of June 22) consists of Ackermann / Harms, Salatzki / Roeseler (in these two teams, the man has aged out of juniors, but both teams may benefit from Communication 2575), Loor (no Krause), the Loewenherz sibs, and Lossius / Rotar.

Paarlauf Fanclub confirms that Krause / Loor are no more, citing Loor’s serious shoulder injury, and also states that Lossius / Rotar are no longer together. Harms was also rumored to be trying out with Hyejin Cho.

Don’t know what to make of this conflicting information.

There's also Anastasia Steblyanka/Lukas Gneidig (would be their last season of junior eligibility) who seem to still be skating together but have not competed since they paired up, and the new team of Ornella Crivolap/Linus Mager (first foray into pairs for both of them). A lot of novice pairs of the past seasons who are now junior eligible have unfortunately split up long ago (Akiane Adler/Lazar Kurbalija and Clara Sophie Lampe/Ilia Trofymov, for example), and not a lot of new teams have formed.

Side tangent, but why Loor is on the national team when his injury is keeping him from skating pairs with any partner at all, while Krause is no longer on the national team is baffling to me, but I guess neither of them would be getting funding anyways.

Hopefully, things will likely clear up very soon, as the first JGP selection monitoring meeting starts in two days (21st to 23rd of July).

 

[SubRosa]

Thank you for the info, @Jumping_Bean. I wasn't sure of the status of these pairs (they all have short bios on Paarlauf Fanclub), so didn't include them, but I look forward to hearing the outcome of JGP selection monitoring. It would be great if Germany could max out their JGP spots (last year they used 5/8), but $$$ is an ongoing concern for German figure skating.

Germany may have a dearth of junior pairs at the moment, because of injuries / age rules / not finding the right partner / taking time off. That's where Canada was last year, and this year, the deluge! Germany appears to have a strong development program for young pairs, so hopefully things pick up. This is a country with a strong history and tradition of pairs skating, and plenty of experienced pairs coaches and facilities for training, but the $$$ could be the bottleneck.

 

[SubRosa]

Uzbekistan:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Anastasiya SAZONOVA / Jamshid TASHMUKHAMEDOV
  • competed last two seasons on the JGP
  • current status?

Spain:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Ines MOUDDEN / Alejandro Lazaro GARCIA
• Linda DE NARDIN / Patrizio Romano ROSSI
  • FS tech minimum for 2024 Jr Worlds
• Carolina Shan CAMPILLO / Pau VILELLA (new)
  • YOG age eligible

Moudden / Garcia and Campillo / Vilella participated in the Berlin Pair Skating Seminar (Group 2). This would be a new partnership for Campillo, who competed with Miguel Martos (currently on IPS) last season. Campillo / Vilella would be young enough to compete at YOG.

De Nardin / Rossi rotate in opposite directions, she CCW and he CW, something rarely seen in pairs these days! They formed too late last year to compete on the JGP, but have half their JW minimums already. Hope to see them make their JGP debut this season.

Great Britain:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Lucy HAY / Kyle MCLEOD
• Neamh DAVISON / Shailesh CALLER
• Jessica HENNESSEY / Joel KIRBY – moving up to junior?
• Charlotte HODGKINSON / ???

Hay / McLeod participated in a pairs camp in Dundee in May, training with Alexander König. British advanced novice champions Hennessey / Kirby took part in the Berlin Pair Skating Seminar (Group 3); will they move up to junior?

 

[TeamGubanova]

How many are eligible to compete YOG? Like 3-4. They really need to expand the age range if they don't want to cancel the event

 

[SubRosa]

It's a tough needle to thread for pairs, for sure. We'll know more when JGP entries (and birthdates!) come out.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Thank you for the info, @Jumping_Bean. I wasn't sure of the status of these pairs (they all have short bios on Paarlauf Fanclub), so didn't include them, but I look forward to hearing the outcome of JGP selection monitoring. It would be great if Germany could max out their JGP spots (last year they used 5/8), but $$$ is an ongoing concern for German figure skating.

Germany may have a dearth of junior pairs at the moment, because of injuries / age rules / not finding the right partner / taking time off. That's where Canada was last year, and this year, the deluge! Germany appears to have a strong development program for young pairs, so hopefully things pick up. This is a country with a strong history and tradition of pairs skating, and plenty of experienced pairs coaches and facilities for training, but the $$$ could be the bottleneck.

Update:
The first photos from the DEU monitoring have been uploaded, and Löwenherz/Löwenherz and Steblyanka/Gneidig are there. No other pairs so far, but they might attend the second monitoring in August for the later JGP assignments.
Last season none of the pairs attended the first monitoring, but they were still assigned to all JGPs with pairs despite the entry deadlines being before the second monitoring. Salatzki/Röseler were even assigned without being at either monitoring.

Side note, it seems like Löwenherz/Löwenherz are keeping their Short.

 

[SubRosa]

Finally, countries that competed in neither JGP events nor Junior Worlds last season.

Belgium?

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Nora COPPENS / Beau COPPENS? (YOG age eligible)

This young pair of sibs took part in the Berlin Pair Skating Seminar (Group 3). They competed pairs once pre-Covid, and have been competing singles in Sweden since. Their dad is Belgian, their mom is a Dutch skating coach who competed for the Netherlands back in the 1990s. Not sure if they are junior level, as they are very close in age and size, and may not have the required junior pair skills. On the other hand, there is video of them working on a throw triple salchow. Their big plus is that they are YOG age-eligible.

Georgia:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Anastasiia METELKINA / Luka BERULAVA (new)

Hard to believe they are still junior age-eligible, as both have been competing senior for the past few seasons with their former partners. As a new partnership, they received no invites to Grand Prix events, so are opting to skate JGP during the fall, where they will be challenging for medals.

Israel:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Sophia ENKINA / Nikita KOVALENKO (new)

She skated in local Russian pairs competitions in 2020-21, and has some serious pairs skating skills. He skated singles on the JGP last year. They are coached by Evgeny Krasnapolski. If they gel as a pair, they will be competitive with the top juniors. They are my dark horse junior pair this season.

Italy:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Irina NAPOLITANO / Edoardo COMI
• Polina POLMAN / Gabriel RENOLDI (new)

Both teams participated in the Berlin Pair Skating Seminar (Group 2). Both train at IceLab.

Slovakia:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• Nikola SITKOVÁ / Oliver KUBACÁK

Participated in the Berlin Pair Skating Seminar (Group 1), with novice team Heckova / Valky (Group 2).

South Korea:

• JGP – 1 entry in 3 events (3 spots)
• Junior Worlds – 1 entry
• YOG – 1 entry guaranteed as host nation

Hyejin CHO still has two years of junior age eligibility, if she were to find a junior age-eligible partner. (ETA: Cho is pairing with Harley Windsor, so skating senior this year)

Sad that none of Austria, Turkey, Hungary or Poland has pairs to send to their home events. Austria does have a young team in development, as does Finland, so there may be a few new countries at junior pair events over the next few years.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Sad that none of Austria, Turkey, Hungary or Poland has pairs to send to their home events. Austria does have a young team in development, as does Finland, so there may be a few new countries at junior pair events over the next few years.

Ghedini/Maierhofer (AUT) might be eligible depending on how the ISU chooses to apply the rule exception (Maierhofer just aged out of juniors, but Ghedini is already senior-eligible, so they are not technically a team that would need an exception, so they might not get one either).