Past Junior World champions and medallists

[Loves_Shizuka]

With junior worlds being on this week, I took a look at the past results. I found it quite interesting to see so many names I did know, yet also so many I didn't. Going through the dance and pairs results, there are LOADS I don't recognise. The list would be really long if I included them lol. One interesting result I spotted: Galina Manichenko winning the pairs bronze with Evgeni Gigurski in 94 Didn't know she was a pairs skater. Incidentally, that was the year Maria Petrova and Anton Sikharulidze won.

Anyway, obviously I know and have seen some of these skaters, but I wondered what became of them?

Vincent Restencourt (2nd in 99, 00, 3rd in 01 behind Evan and Johnny)
Jordan Brauninger (3rd in 04)
Sergei Dobrin (3rd in 05)
Elena Ivanova (WJC in 96, 2nd in 95, 3rd in 97, 2nd in 98) 4 time WJ medallist yet I know nothing about her!
Elena Pingacheva (2nd in 96)
Nadejda Kanaeva (3rd in 96)
Sydne Vogel (WJC in 97)
Daria Timoshenko (WJC in 99)
Deanna Stellato (2nd in 00)
Kristina Oblasova (WJC in 01)

[nirti]

For their competitive history after 2000 :

Vincent Restencourt
Jordan Brauninger
Sergei Dobrin
Sydne Vogel
Daria Timoshenko
Deanna Stellato
Kristina Oblasova

For many of them the story is the same : too strong senior field in their country, some difficulties at the begin of their senior career, with sometimes injuries...

[CaptCrunch]

One of the worst judging decisions I've ever seen took place at 96 jr worlds in the LP. For Ivanova to win the LP over Pingacheva was just a joke. Pingacheva skated the perfect program for a girl at Jr worlds that day landing 5 different triples and yet the judges put her behind Ivanova who had several mistakes and muscled ugly jumps.

Was Pingacheva 5th in the SP to Ivanova's 1st? I can't remember right now.

Considering Elena Ivanova won 4 medals at Jr worlds she was a really ugly skater. Sure she could do 3f/3t combos but her skating was not pleasant to watch at all. Not surprising she disappeared upon entering the Sr ranks.

[barbk]

Under 6.0 I think that there were some different things valued in junior skating vs. senior skating. Guys who could land a 3 axel at the junior level were pretty rare, and that alone would push someone way up. Juniors who could rotate the jumps but who barely got off the ice (Jenny Kirk, imo) or who were quite slow still did very well in Juniors as long as they landed the jumps, under 6.0's definition of landing with no doublefooting. The generally smaller juniors spun pretty well, and growth often caused their spins to really decline in quality.

I think that COP is aligned a lot better for comparisons from junior to senior, and the skaters who've come up from JW with high scores under COP seem to do pretty well in seniors.

I don't think that there are

[nylynnr]

One of the worst judging decisions I've ever seen took place at 96 jr worlds in the LP.

Don't forget your all-time fave, Petrenko over Galindo in the free skate in '86. That was 6.0 judging at its finest.

[Sylvia]

Deanna Stellato has found fulfillment off the ice (Feb. 4, 2010)

Nadia Kanaeva has been coaching in Lake Arrowhead, CA for many years now -- link to her coaching profile: http://www.icecastle.us/coaching.html

Nadia was a Russian National Team member for six consecutive years at both the Novice and Junior levels. She has apprenticed as a coach under the tutelage of Elena Vodorezova and is currently assistant coach to Rafael Arutyunyan. Under such guidance Nadia has developed a wide repertory of coaching skills involving jumps, spins, footwork and choreography. Her students have included two-time Japanese National Champion and 2008 World Champion Mao Asada, and her sister, Mai Asada.

Last I heard, Vincent Restencourt was coaching at IceWorks in Aston, PA (same rink as Linichuk and Karponosov).

Jordan Brauninger quit competitive skating after 2005 Nationals (11th in Senior Men) and began his professional career as one of the leads in Disney's High School Musical tour in 2007. I assume he is still skating in professional shows these days?

Sydne Vogel posted an update about herself here in December 2005.

[skatak]

We saw Vincent Restencourt at French Nationals a few years ago, he was there with some of his students. US girls finished low, but it was nice to see him again.

[Marco]

One of the worst judging decisions I've ever seen took place at 96 jr worlds in the LP. For Ivanova to win the LP over Pingacheva was just a joke. Pingacheva skated the perfect program for a girl at Jr worlds that day landing 5 different triples and yet the judges put her behind Ivanova who had several mistakes and muscled ugly jumps.

Was Pingacheva 5th in the SP to Ivanova's 1st? I can't remember right now.

Considering Elena Ivanova won 4 medals at Jr worlds she was a really ugly skater. Sure she could do 3f/3t combos but her skating was not pleasant to watch at all. Not surprising she disappeared upon entering the Sr ranks.

Yes. I don't get that at all. Pingacheva was all quality.

Something similar happened with Kirk beating Stellato in 2000.

[Jayar]

Sydne Vogel posted an update about herself here in December 2005.

Syd is married now, and she is either finishing up or finished with medical school.

[Moka-Ananas]

Dobrin retired from amateur skating and is now travelling through Russia and giving master classes to little kids.
Later on he plans to become a real coach in his own rink etc.

[MacMadame]

Jordan Brauninger quit competitive skating after 2005 Nationals (11th in Senior Men) and began his professional career as one of the leads in Disney's High School Musical tour in 2007. I assume he is still skating in professional shows these days?

He was in the last Disney on Ice show I saw... It was High School Musical. I believe that was in 2008 but, as far as I've been able to determine, he's still with them.

[ioana]

Every time I see Restencourt and Brauninger's names together, I remember the fluff piece from Junior Worlds where Jordan was asked to talk about his competitors. "Vincent skates like a duck, but he has a quad". I tried finding it on youtube, but haven't had any luck.

Daria Timoshenko country hopped to AZE after 2000 and started a fine tradition of other skaters doing the same I think she was also married to Igor Lukanin for a while, but they got divorced a few years ago. Is she still coaching in NJ?

[gkelly]

Every time I see Restencourt and Brauninger's names together, I remember the fluff piece from Junior Worlds where Jordan was asked to talk about his competitors. "Vincent skates like a duck, but he has a quad". I tried finding it on youtube, but haven't had any luck.

Wasn't it Preaubert he said that about?

Daria Timoshenko country hopped to AZE after 2000 and started a fine tradition of other skaters doing the same

Oh, I think Yulia Vorobieva got there first, followed by Igor Pashkevich.

[briancoogaert]

Wasn't it Preaubert he said that about?

I think you are right, because Brauninger never competed against Vincent Restencourt, IIRC.
But Preaubert doesn't have a quad, or at least didn't have a quad back then (2004).

[Loves_Shizuka]

Thanks for all the info so far guys.

Any word on what happened to Oblasova? I remember watching her at Euros (I think) and NOT being impressed, so I guess she just got surpassed?

Russia seemed to have quite a depth in the junior ranks in the mid 90's - how come it was only Slutskaya and Bute who "made it"? (And to a much lesser extent, Soldatova and Volchkova) Any ideas?

Oh, I think Yulia Vorobieva got there first, followed by Igor Pashkevich.

Regardless, I loved Vorobieva and her scratch spin.

[ioana]

Wasn't it Preaubert he said that about?

I think you and brian are right about this. They both had posture issues and programs with all jumps at that time --I must have them confused.

Oh, I think Yulia Vorobieva got there first, followed by Igor Pashkevich.

Did Vorobieva actually skate for Russia and then switch or did she just 'pick' Azerbaijan once the Soviet Union/EUN split? I thought it was the latter, so I'm more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. At least she realized she'd have a better chance to go to Worlds on a regular basis that way. I forgot about Pashkevich, though and there might have been a few pairs/ice dancers who country hopped before her, too. She was still one of the early skaters to do this. I remember people asking 'why AZE' (not tongue-in-cheek) when she showed up competing for AZE...

[jlai]

Russia seemed to have quite a depth in the junior ranks in the mid 90's - how come it was only Slutskaya and Bute who "made it"? (And to a much lesser extent, Soldatova and Volchkova) Any ideas?

I think any country with enormous depth in juniors all has the problem of having at most 3 championships spots. So once all these juniors moved up to seniors, some would not make those spots and they moved on. JSF had that problem too with the ladies, though they retained their talented juniors somewhat better--even Yukina Ota won a 4cc before she retired.

[Loves_Shizuka]

Did Vorobieva actually skate for Russia and then switch or did she just 'pick' Azerbaijan once the Soviet Union/EUN split? I thought it was the latter, so I'm more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. At least she realized she'd have a better chance to go to Worlds on a regular basis that way. I forgot about Pashkevich, though and there might have been a few pairs/ice dancers who country hopped before her, too. She was still one of the early skaters to do this. I remember people asking 'why AZE' (not tongue-in-cheek) when she showed up competing for AZE...

You know, I'm sure you're right. I'm convinced I've seen a fluff/interview/article/something along the lines that Yulia chose to compete for AZE straight away simply out of choice. And this would have been the early 90's, when Russia wasn't exactly stacked when it came to senior ladies talent. I'm fairly sure Yulia was a very willing representative of AZE, rather than desperate.

[judgejudy27]

One of the worst judging decisions I've ever seen took place at 96 jr worlds in the LP. For Ivanova to win the LP over Pingacheva was just a joke. Pingacheva skated the perfect program for a girl at Jr worlds that day landing 5 different triples and yet the judges put her behind Ivanova who had several mistakes and muscled ugly jumps.

Was Pingacheva 5th in the SP to Ivanova's 1st? I can't remember right now.

Considering Elena Ivanova won 4 medals at Jr worlds she was a really ugly skater. Sure she could do 3f/3t combos but her skating was not pleasant to watch at all. Not surprising she disappeared upon entering the Sr ranks.

I remember those World Juniors. Ivanova had a triple lutz-triple toe which was excellently performed. I think that is why she won the long program. I still agree Pingacheva should have. It was a 5-4 split in the long. It wouldnt have made a difference to which one won though. Pingacheva was 4th in the short program, and Ivanova was 1st.

[SwingDancer]

Whatever did happen to Jennifer Kirk, I know that she retired, she used to do media work like commentary, columns, and a twitter stream, but I have seen any of her work recently.