2025 World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance
Italy’s Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara maintained their overnight lead to win the World Junior title, becoming the first Italian team to do so. They set a record total score, finishing 10 points ahead of USA’s Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski and Germany’s Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara
Tali and Lafornara entertained the crowd with their rhythm dance to music by the Bee Gees, displaying good skating skills throughout. Their outstanding routine featured fast twizzles that were graded a level four as well as level four rotational lift. The team met seven out of eight of their key points in the pattern steps earned many positive grades of execution (GOE) on all elements. The 2024-25 Junior Grand Prix Final champions finished first with a new personal best of 70.92 points.
“We are really happy with our performance today,” said Tali. “It felt very smooth and very good. This is exactly what I was aiming for because today we showed the final product of this rhythm dance, the last version we worked on all year. I really hope that people can see our progress from the last two months since the Final. We worked a lot to improve.”
“There were a few nerves ahead of this competition,” added Lafornara. “But I told myself not to care about results or points; just to go out there and do our very best, and that’s exactly what we did.”
The two-time national junior champions delivered a passionate free dance to music from Love Story earning high GOEs on all elements. The smooth twizzles were graded a level four, as did the dance spin and curve-rotational combination lift. The one-foot and diagonal steps were strong, and they also showed a clever choreographic slide near their climatic finish. The team scored a new personal best of 106.58 for this segment, and with a record total score of 177.50, took the title with 10 points to spare.
Tali said being the new World Junior champions has not sunk in yet.
“I’m still full of adrenaline, but it felt great!” she said. “I feel a little bit nostalgic to let this program, or both of our programs, go because these programs led us to where we are right now. They were very successful for us. Our journey to get to Junior World Champions hasn’t been easy. It’s been a tough season, but we really want to thank our coaches, our team, our family, and everyone who supported us to be here right now.”
Lafornara tore a muscle two months ago that forced him off the ice for four weeks.
“So we basically just had two weeks to fully prepare for this event,” he revealed. “That wasn’t ideal and not the preparation that we had wished for, also going into this event as kind of the favorites. Still, this performance felt like it was the best of this free dance this season. Just a little faux pas happened.”
“Yes, I tore my skirt during today’s performance, but maybe I guess that’s okay,” said Tali. “Goodbye program and goodbye dress now. It felt like a really good performance today. We felt very confident, and it felt very good throughout. So yeah, we are very happy with what we showed.”
The team will be moving up to the senior ranks next season.
“I think we kind of had the idea we’d be moving up next year,” said Lafornara. “It hasn’t really clicked in my head that I’m going to be senior next year. It still doesn’t feel real yet that I’m going to be senior. I mean it’s such a different atmosphere. There’s such a different aura to be like a senior couple.”
Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski
Skating to “Car Wash” and “Disco Inferno,” Wolfkostin and Tsarevski produced level-four twizzles and a rotational lift. The lively pattern steps were both graded a level three while meeting six of the eight key points. All elements received positive GOEs, and the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists placed second with 65.71 points.
“It felt good today,” said Wolfkostin. “We’re pleased with our skate. This program is one that has grown on me over the season, and I was happy to perform it one final time here.”
Tsarevski added that they were looking forward to the 2025-26 season as they will be competing as seniors.
“We feel ready for it,” he said.
The 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance silver medalists gave an impressive free dance which featured level-four synchronized twizzles and a fast rotational lift. Their routine to music from Moulin Rouge also included a level four straight line lift and dance spin. The team received many GOEs, particularly on the level-two one-foot and diagonal steps. The earned a new season’s best for both the free dance and total score, placing second in this segment and overall (101.80/167.51).
“It feels very great and fulfilling to end our junior careers with a skate like that,” said Wolfkostin. “I feel ecstatic right now and super happy!”
“Yeah, it felt great,” agreed Tsarevski. “Today was really one of the better skates, and yeah, we’re very happy. I think we did everything that we could have possibly done. We worked really hard for it and enjoyed it, had a lot of fun skating for everybody, ourselves, the audience, and the judges.”
Wolfkostin is looking forward to some rest with “lots of sleep” while Tsarevski will visit family in Colorado.
“But the very next days, we will be cheering on our Team USA teammates, and we are looking forward to that!” said Wolfkostin.
The team is also excited about putting their entire focus on being seniors next season.
Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy
Grimm and Savitskiy put out a spirited and playful rhythm dance to music by Gloria Gaynor for a close third place (65.42). The twizzles and rotational lift were both graded a level four, and the team met four out of eight of their key points.
Savitskiy shared that preparation for this event was difficult as he had “problems” with three discs at the beginning of February.
“One of them was pressing on a nerve, so I couldn’t train at all for two weeks,” he explained. “We also trained in Berlin then for three weeks so that I could be under medical supervision. We are very grateful to Stefano Caruso’s team, who took us in very spontaneously and gave us the opportunity to train there.”
“Given the circumstances, we are just super happy with how it went today,” said Grimm. “It felt good to perform here, and we’re just happy that it turned out this way.”
While they are currently training under Matteo Zanni’s team, they will take time out to decide if they will stay with the group moving forward.
The 2024 Junior World bronze medalists delivered an outstanding free dance which was highlighted by a level-four stationary-rotational combination lift, earning +3.02 GOEs. Their intense routine to “Adagio” also included a level four dance spin and strong twizzles. They finished third in this segment and overall (98.84/164.26) for their second consecutive bronze at this event.
“It actually feels so good after this difficult season to end with a performance like this,” said Savitskiy. “We really gave our all. Today, we showed the best that we can do, and it just feels incredible.”
Grimm agreed, adding: “It’s just very emotional after a difficult season to end on a high note like this.”
Savitskiy said the best way to describe how he feels is “relief.”
“We’re definitely super happy with how the season ended, with how we delivered the final product,” he said. “Especially considering our not-so-good preparation. And, you know, just standing in that ending pose was just so many feelings, and most of them were positive feelings, joyful, happy. We’re glad the season’s over and we’re glad we could end the season on a high note.”
The team, who will also compete as seniors next season, will take a small break before they perform their obligatory duties in April with the Bundeswehr (German military).
Iryna Pidgaina and Artem Koval
Ukraine’s Iryna Pidgaina and Artem Koval skated an enthusiastic rhythm dance to music by James Brown to finish fifth with 62.54 points. Their strong performance featured seamless transitions into and out of elements, but the twizzles were graded a level three and four. The rotational lift was a level four and the team from Odessa met four of their key points.
“We really came in here with nothing to lose and just wanted to have fun,” said Koval, who wanted to thank the audience for their support.
“Actually, I was really sick,” Pidgaina revealed. “I was in bed with a 39-degree fever until recently. We really couldn’t skate together. I was basically in bed all the time. I tried to practice, but I felt very dizzy. But today, I’m actually feeling very good, so I got healthy at just the right time.”
The two-time Junior Grand Prix medalists showed a unique level-four rotational lift in their stirring free dance to “SOS d’un terrien en detresse.” The straight-line lift and dance spin also received a level four, while the twizzles were graded a level four and three. They placed fourth in this segment and moved up one spot to fourth place overall (96.39/158.93).
“That feels so good right now,” said Koval. “It’s the perfect finish to end this long and hard season with a clean performance like this. Once again, thank you so much to our teammates for cheering us on and making this time so much easier for us. Thank you so much!”
“Yeah, it was a long and hard season,” agreed Pidgaina. “Today’s skate was goodbye to this free dance. We really want to thank our coach and everyone who supported us. Right now, I feel a little bit empty because it’s done, the season is over, but it won’t be long before we start planning for next season already.”
They will take a break for four days before the start preparing for next season.
Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux
Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux of France placed fourth in the rhythm dance with 62.87 points. Their energetic rhythm dance with music by the Village People featured strong level-four twizzles and rotational lift, and they met six of their key points. The only mistake came when Fradji had a bobble during the midline steps, which were graded a level one and two.
“This was our last performance in juniors at our fourth Junior Worlds, so we really wanted to enjoy it one more time,” said Fradji. “And we really did. I had a little mistake in the midline steps which made us lose some points, and I’m a bit frustrated about that.”
“We really enjoyed today, and that was our main focus,” said Fourneaux. “We do want to fight in the free program to make the podium.”
The 2024-25 Junior Grand Prix finalists placed fifth in the free dance which was highlighted by a creative level-four stationary lift. Their routine to Muse’s “Exogenesis” also included a level-four curve lift and dance spin. The twizzles were a bit out of synch, earning a level four and three, and they finished fifth in the free dance and overall (94.84/157.71).
“Today was difficult,” said Fradji. “Jean-Hans has problems with his back. Actually, we put in the stationary-lift last summer, and it caused some issues. But today, he did the best that he could.”
“We’re ready for a break now,” she added. “Although, we won’t have a direct break because we will have a ballet performance in one month. We’ll have to prepare for that, but it will be different. It will be more relaxed and something new, which is good for giving our minds a break and focusing on something different.”
USA’s Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen placed sixth overall with 153.76 points, just over half a point ahead of teammates Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin (153.21). Canada’s Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren finished eighth (150.74) followed by teammates Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang (146.27).
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