2024 Junor Worlds: Thoughts?

[gsk8]

Minkyu Seo cinches Men's title at Junior Worlds

2024 Junior Worlds: Men Minkyu Seo of the Republic of Korea cinched the Men’s title at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships on Mar 2, 2024. In doing so, he […]

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Neset and Markelov secure Junior World gold in Taipei

2024 Junior Worlds: Ice Dance USA’s Leah Neset and Artem Markelov secured the gold medal in their second appearance at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships on March 2, 2024, in […]

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Mao Shimada defends Junior World title

2024 Junior Worlds: Women Japan’s Mao Shimada moved up from second place to defend her Junior World title on March 1, 2024, in Taipei. Jia Shin of the Republic of Korea took […]

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Metelkina and Berulava seize Junior World Pairs' title

2024 Junior Worlds: Pairs Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia seized the Pairs’ title in Taipei on February 29, 2024, taking the gold with nearly 13 points to spare. […]

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Which medalists surprised you the most at this event?

Did you have any favorite programs? If so, please share them and why!

The articles contain comments regarding whether some will stay junior or move up to the senior level. Who do you think should move up?

 

[Olly96]

Huge congratulations to Mao, Jia and Rena, as well as Minkyu, Rio and Adam on their well-deserved medals!

The men's event was very exciting in its unpredictability, without a clear favourite like Ilia or Kao in the previous two years, it could have gone whatever way! Because it wasn't a quad fest (not that I have something against quad fests ) this time, you could really see quality getting rewarded despite mistakes.

Kudos to Minkyu and Rio for keeping it together despite some initial mistakes on their big elements and putting out solid performances. Special mention goes to Adam, who, especially as a skater from a small European fed, has had a stellar season! He gained medals at all three most important junior competitions of the season (JGPF, YOG, JWC) and finished 11th at the Euros. Best of luck to him at the upcoming Senior Worlds!

The women's event was a joy to watch with almost all skaters doing so well.

Mao showed nerves of steel and a gorgeous 4T, she did well to defend her title! I enjoyed her programs this season and I am really excited to see what the future has in store for her! Jia has an amazing consistency and ethereal quality to her skating. I hope she continues to develop with her sights set on the Olympics! Rena is such a rising star with great consistency and unique performing qualities. All the best to her as well!

Special mention to our girls Elina and Maria Eliise for doing so well and finishing in 11th and 13th places respectively. It was so impressive of Elina to finish in the 5th place after the short and skate the free in the last group at her JWC debut. Wishing all the best and great success to her in the future!

 

[CoyoteChris]

Huge congratulations to Mao, Jia and Rena, as well as Minkyu, Rio and Adam on their well-deserved medals!

The men's event was very exciting in its unpredictability, without a clear favourite like Ilia or Kao in the previous two years, it could have gone whatever way! Because it wasn't a quad fest (not that I have something against quad fests ) this time, you could really see quality getting rewarded despite mistakes.

Kudos to Minkyu and Rio for keeping it together despite some initial mistakes on their big elements and putting out solid performances. Special mention goes to Adam, who, especially as a skater from a small European fed, has had a stellar season! He gained medals at all three most important junior competitions of the season (JGPF, YOG, JWC) and finished 11th at the Euros. Best of luck to him at the upcoming Senior Worlds!

The women's event was a joy to watch with almost all skaters doing so well.

Mao showed nerves of steel and a gorgeous 4T, she did well to defend her title! I enjoyed her programs this season and I am really excited to see what the future has in store for her! Jia has an amazing consistency and ethereal quality to her skating. I hope she continues to develop with her sights set on the Olympics! Rena is such a rising star with great consistency and unique performing qualities. All the best to her as well!

Special mention to our girls Elina and Maria Eliise for doing so well and finishing in 11th and 13th places respectively. It was so impressive of Elina to finish in the 5th place after the short and skate the free in the last group at her JWC debut. Wishing all the best and great success to her in the future!

Ditto.

 

[CoyoteChris]

I flew under that radar for most of the event, watching at night and staying off the social media news to avoid spoilers so I missed out on all your wonderful comments (except Ted not knowing who Marin was LOL!!!)
I saw the comments at times of folk making in real time to the right of the ISU stream....everyone was having trouble with the music. MFarone and I were too.
I have a couple of pieces of paper that say I am an electronic system specialist. And that I am licensed to run a broadcast station and that I maintained the Emergency Broadcast Network in two states for 30 years, the Tsunami warning for the entire west coast, yada yada yada. Ted's voice level was fine, although a bit lower than the blaring youtube commercials. The music level during the FD, for instance, was 18 db below Ted's voice level, which is a bunch. I spent the competition raising the audio level of my surround sound system 18 db until Ted Talked, then lowering the audio level 18 db. The last FD group was a bit better....I had to have my finger on the audio system mute button so I wouldnt be blown off the couch when a youtube ad appeared. Normally, setting up an audio system to catch the K and C, Music, and Announcer(s) is childs play, using audio mixer boxes with sliders and VU meters.....I would say the cameral work was professional....at least...Did anyone figure out the issue? A big arena sound system is complex...not concert hall complex....but speakers have to be phased and balanced. All ISU needed for their youtube feed was one of the many outputs from the arena system console/amp to feed to their mixer box, and someone to work the sliders and read the VU meters, as well as a person to monitor the youtube channel.....what the heck went wrong? The camera work was fine....Anyone hear any rumors?

 

[JeanA]

Sadly, I found Mao's skate to be passionless. She is stuck in juniors for several more years and she looks like it. It's very sad to hold back this skater who likely could win senior worlds, but I suppose the ISU has to 'protect' her from herself, or something. She's throwing quads and triple axels anyway, so why not let her compete against the world's best? Jia is delightful, but she's lacking an authority and command of the ice, IMHO. Good for her to do well. I get all the Japanese and Korean skaters confused, there's always seemingly a different skater in these slots. Hopefully these skaters will define themselves much better in the future.

 

[zebobes]

I flew under that radar for most of the event, watching at night and staying off the social media news to avoid spoilers so I missed out on all your wonderful comments (except Ted not knowing who Marin was LOL!!!)
I saw the comments at times of folk making in real time to the right of the ISU stream....everyone was having trouble with the music. MFarone and I were too.
I have a couple of pieces of paper that say I am an electronic system specialist. And that I am licensed to run a broadcast station and that I maintained the Emergency Broadcast Network in two states for 30 years, the Tsunami warning for the entire west coast, yada yada yada. Ted's voice level was fine, although a bit lower than the blaring youtube commercials. The music level during the FD, for instance, was 18 db below Ted's voice level, which is a bunch. I spent the competition raising the audio level of my surround sound system 18 db until Ted Talked, then lowering the audio level 18 db. The last FD group was a bit better....I had to have my finger on the audio system mute button so I wouldnt be blown off the couch when a youtube ad appeared. Normally, setting up an audio system to catch the K and C, Music, and Announcer(s) is childs play, using audio mixer boxes with sliders and VU meters.....I would say the cameral work was professional....at least...Did anyone figure out the issue? A big arena sound system is complex...not concert hall complex....but speakers have to be phased and balanced. All ISU needed for their youtube feed was one of the many outputs from the arena system console/amp to feed to their mixer box, and someone to work the sliders and read the VU meters, as well as a person to monitor the youtube channel.....what the heck went wrong? The camera work was fine....Anyone hear any rumors?

For your questions, the sound was great in general in the arena, especially compared to previous competitions in Taiwan, as the arena has upgraded with new speakers and lighting systems, but it is never easy to understand announcements, especially when you are listening to an accent you are unaccustomed to, which was the problem when Misha Ge emceed the gala performances. The Taiwanese broadcast also had great sound, but for some reason, when the sound was sent to the ISU livestream, there were a lot of problems. I don't know if it was the problem of the local committee, or if it was on the side of the livestream, and I didn't go find any staff to ask to fix the problem.

I'm wondering if I should record a copy of the Taiwanese broadcast and upload it so people can see the performances with sound that is more representative of the event, but that would be a lot of work.

I also wonder why the ISU is only uploading the top six performances separately, as the jgpf channel uploads every single individual performance.

 

[el henry]

....

I also wonder why the ISU is only uploading the top six performances separately, as the jgpf channel uploads every single individual performance.

I loved hearing the "in arena" reports from you and others, thank you.

I also wonder about the top six performances.
For example, for me, Anthony Paradis. I don't care what jumps he did, or where he finished, his wonderful style continuing to win new fans whenever he skates.

Where is his clip, ISU?

 

[saine]

I also wonder why the ISU is only uploading the top six performances separately, as the jgpf channel uploads every single individual performance.

Top 6 individual performances seems like the current ISU standard for getting a separate upload on their channel for all their competitions, regardless of how many competitors there are. I told them in one of their surveys that I wish they'd upload some of the performances that are outside that. It'd be good to have those clips easy to share. I like how the JGP channel does it.

For example, for me, Anthony Paradis. I don't care what jumps he did, or where he finished, his wonderful style continuing to win new fans whenever he skates.

Where is his clip, ISU?

Figure Skating Archive on Twitter uploaded his free skate here and his short here. He's getting the most views of the programs they've uploaded from Junior Worlds. The ISU is really missing out with not having those programs available on Youtube.

 

[zebobes]

Top 6 individual performances seems like the current ISU standard for getting a separate upload on their channel for all their competitions, regardless of how many competitors there are. I told them in one of their surveys that I wish they'd upload some of the performances that are outside that. It'd be good to have those clips easy to share. I like how the JGP channel does it.

I suppose so, but it's clear that the intern who is doing it isn't really thinking about how to do it the best way possible. For example, they are posting the top six final ranking, but wouldn't the top six free skate ranking, make more sense? For example, Francois Pitot's free program was very messy, and Arlet Levandi's sixth place performance was much stronger. Watching it live, his grasp of space and stillness was mesmerizing, something that none of the other performers were able to do.

 

[CoyoteChris]

For your questions, the sound was great in general in the arena, especially compared to previous competitions in Taiwan, as the arena has upgraded with new speakers and lighting systems, but it is never easy to understand announcements, especially when you are listening to an accent you are unaccustomed to, which was the problem when Misha Ge emceed the gala performances. The Taiwanese broadcast also had great sound, but for some reason, when the sound was sent to the ISU livestream, there were a lot of problems. I don't know if it was the problem of the local committee, or if it was on the side of the livestream, and I didn't go find any staff to ask to fix the problem.

I'm wondering if I should record a copy of the Taiwanese broadcast and upload it so people can see the performances with sound that is more representative of the event, but that would be a lot of work.

I also wonder why the ISU is only uploading the top six performances separately, as the jgpf channel uploads every single individual performance.

Would love to see the Taiwanese broadcast but it would be lots of work....you have already done well.....I think the ISU issues with audio will remain one of those life's mysteries....since I have 30 years in the business, I and a talented 7th grader with two way radios could have fixed it in 10 minutes. If nothing else, in five minutes we could have installed an attenuator between Ted's head set and the mixer box.....dialed it into 18 db and told Ted to watch the VU meter and push the slider on occasion.

 

[TallyT]

Yeah, the quality of the stream was a bit crap. But Minkyu and Rio were stellar, it really could have gone either way. Being unabashedly partisan, I was cheering Anthony and Yunhao (his climb in the free! boy has great potential, he could be the next Javi as in a big champion from a small fed)

 

[brakes]

Jia and Rena, Rena and Jia - for a short time when I watch those two, my heart stops weeping after Eunsoo and Marin...

Artistically, amongst best female skaters already (Jia is almost fully polished gem, Rena has raw talent to polish but she's the youngest).

 

[icewhite]

Sadly, I found Mao's skate to be passionless. She is stuck in juniors for several more years and she looks like it. It's very sad to hold back this skater who likely could win senior worlds, but I suppose the ISU has to 'protect' her from herself, or something. She's throwing quads and triple axels anyway, so why not let her compete against the world's best? Jia is delightful, but she's lacking an authority and command of the ice, IMHO. Good for her to do well. I get all the Japanese and Korean skaters confused, there's always seemingly a different skater in these slots. Hopefully these skaters will define themselves much better in the future.

She's 15. Should she lack motivation (which I don't think she does) because she's stuck in juniors and has to compete against Jia, well, what can I say.
If the junior competitions are not motivating her enough she can concentrate on school, other hobbies, friends, find other interests, get a small job... there are things that teenagers can do, you know...

 

[TallyT]

Sadly, I found Mao's skate to be passionless. She is stuck in juniors for several more years and she looks like it. It's very sad to hold back this skater who likely could win senior worlds, but I suppose the ISU has to 'protect' her from herself, or something. She's throwing quads and triple axels anyway, so why not let her compete against the world's best?

Not that I really want to defend officialdom (and feel slightly icky when I do ), but they do have good reason to up the age all round for seniors, and they really can't make exceptions for specific skaters, not "everyone has to follow the rules! except you, and you and oh you but everyone else has to follow the rules!"

(Okay, so we suspect there's a fair bit of that behind the scenes but still...)

(And okay, so the USFS are apparently also trying to fudge it for pairs but still still...)

 

[icewhite]

Neset and Markelov are so senior ready.
But all the medallists in the dance event were great. I'm cheering for Grimm/Savitsky and hope they will continue and stay together for quite some time.

The junior men are not breathtaking from a technical perspective, but there are several ones with very enjoyable programs and nice qualities. I suspect though that we will see few of them as top seniors. Yanhao looks the most promising to me in that regard, but who knows. Not me.

Jia stands out to me among the juniors, although I am not a fan of her programs and packaging at all. I wish they would give a skater with such qualities intriguing programs that bring out much more personality. This does not look exciting to me at all, simply extremely talented and accomplished for that age.
I think Rena is my favourite among the girls.
Elina Goidina was the breakout star for me, I didn't know her at all, and she looks very mature and accomplished in her skating. I just hope they pace her well, so she can grow continually. Not a fan of her Schindler's program at all, there are several things about it that really ick me.

 

[TallyT]

I suspect though that we will see few of them as top seniors. Yanhao looks the most promising to me in that regard, but who knows. Not me.

I wouldn't be too sure: of the recent big stars yes, Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno were pretty clearly heading for the top from juniors (of course, not all juniors that are clearly headed... well, get there) but from what I have read in the archives and online, Javier would have been few people's guess for 2WC when he was that age or a little older. It will depend on their development, their coaches... and of course luck.

 

[Olly96]

Jia stands out to me among the juniors, although I am not a fan of her programs and packaging at all. I wish they would give a skater with such qualities intriguing programs that bring out much more personality.

I agree with this.
While I like her elegance, it would be so interesting to see her try different genres - something more upbeat/fun/energetic or dramatic to bring out her performer qualities. She does do that in exhibitions, so I hope we will see it in her competitive programs, too.

 

[4everchan]

The junior men are not breathtaking from a technical perspective, but there are several ones with very enjoyable programs and nice qualities. I suspect though that we will see few of them as top seniors. Yanhao looks the most promising to me in that regard, but who knows. Not me.

I am not so sure about him. He is great but will get there there technically ? Some of the guys already have quads and triple axels, yet, of course, they are a bit older but Rio and Minkyu seem the most promising to me.

Jia stands out to me among the juniors, although I am not a fan of her programs and packaging at all. I wish they would give a skater with such qualities intriguing programs that bring out much more personality.

Agree

Pairs : looking forward to next year. Many talented teams and well, it will be the time for my fave baby pairs from Canada to shine Too much pressure too soon this year for them.

Dance : My favourite from the top teams were the Germans. I also like Veillon/Brandys. They are different. There are a few teams I hope will move up.. they have been on the junior circuit long enough

Funny how I really like seeing the single skaters stay in juniors and develop there.. but then, for dance teams, I get bored when they stick to junior for too long I don't know. There is something refreshing with the younger teams that I appreciate.

 

[elbkup]

Shout outs to N/M .. their FD especially even with the “ahem” fall (more like a hand down). Artem said in the post skate interview they had changed that last element into a full lift rather than a knee slide but it worked against them. The Italian dance team was mesmerizing until the very very end with the double fall and a difficult call, decision being to count as two falls.. (What..?!!). T/K FD was haunting, mystical gave me shivers; the Germans brought new life to an old favorite with smooth as silk elements.. Bravo all!!
I agree there were standout performances in both men and women other than the winners TMM, Appleby, Yanhao, Paradis and Arlet in Men, Women Anastasia, Rena, Ikura, Stefania, Kaiya, Noelle. Pairs Olivia and Luke held my attention the most and K/L of Canada were lovely and ones to watch in future.
Really enjoyed this event a lot .. onward to Senior Worlds hoping it will have as many wonderful moments.

EDT. HOW could I forget to mention Baby Brit dancers Atl and Ashlie.. wet noodle lashes to me. They were awesome and I want to see them on a podium somewhere soon!

 

[Weathergal]

Shout outs to N/M .. their FD especially even with the “ahem” fall (more like a hand down). Artem said in the post skate interview they had changed that last element into a full lift rather than a knee slide but it worked against them. The Italian dance team was mesmerizing until the very very end with the double fall and a difficult call, decision being to count as two falls.. (What..?!!). T/K FD was haunting, mystical gave me shivers; the Germans brought new life to an old favorite with smooth as silk elements.. Bravo all!!
I agree there were standout performances in both men and women other than the winners TMM, Appleby, Yanhao, Paradis and Arlet in Men, Women Anastasia, Rena, Ikura, Stefania, Kaiya, Noelle. Pairs Olivia and Luke held my attention the most and K/L of Canada were lovely and ones to watch in future.
Really enjoyed this event a lot .. onward to Senior Worlds hoping it will have as many wonderful moments.

EDT. HOW could I forget to mention Baby Brit dancers Atl and Ashlie.. wet noodle lashes to me. They were awesome and I want to see them on a podium somewhere soon!

sorry for the dumb question, but what do you mean by TMM?