Junior Grand Prix 2025/26

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Andrea82

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The ISU Council approved the calendar of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series Season 2025/26 as follows:

August 20 – 23, 2025 Riga / LAT (including Pair Skating)
August 27 – 30, 2025 Ankara / TUR (including Pair Skating)
September 3 – 6, 2025 Varese / ITA
September 9 – 13, 2025 Bangkok / THA (including Pair Skating)
September 24 – 27, 2025 Baku / AZE
October 1 – 4, 2025 Gdansk / POL (including Pair Skating)
October 8 – 11, 2025 Abu Dhabi / UAE

 
her grace said:
Nothing in the Americas again. :(
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It’s definitely disappointing. The US has gotten fewer spots in recent years - only 6 total for men this season - in singles. One way to remedy this would be to host and thus get 3 entries per discipline.

I understand it costs money and maybe no city is volunteering to host, but previous places like Lake Placid and Colorado Springs where athletes can (I think) stay at the OTC would seem a bit more economical.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
The last time in Canada was a subsitution in Richmond (Vancouver area) with Ted Barton's help, because China cancelled. It wasn't originally going to be in Canada.
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There was meant to be a JGP in Canada for the 2020-21 season, though, before the whole JGP series was cancelled that year.
 
Canada (I believe Calgary) was also supposed to host the second JGP in 2021-22, but it was cancelled due to Canada’s continued Covid restrictions. Courchevel stepped in to host back to back events.
 
Stephanie said:
It’s definitely disappointing. The US has gotten fewer spots in recent years - only 6 total for men this season - in singles. One way to remedy this would be to host and thus get 3 entries per discipline.

I understand it costs money and maybe no city is volunteering to host, but previous places like Lake Placid and Colorado Springs where athletes can (I think) stay at the OTC would seem a bit more economical.
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Another JGP in Lake Placid would make me very happy, but the financial difficulties of USFS do not give me optimism for one anytime soon.
I think Lake Placid at best would be only "a bit" more economical, as you said.
For 2019 JGP Lake Placid, there was an official hotel (commercial hotel) for skaters, coaches, etc. (Event officials had a different hotel.) I think it's possible that some Team USA skaters stayed at OPTC, but my guess would be that it was a different story for skaters from other federations?
Hosting in Lake Placid also could mean relatively high ground transportation costs for USFS, I think? Albany International Airport is at least two hours away, and one or more charter buses would be necessary for multiple rounds of airport pick-ups and drop-offs.
 
ice coverage said:
Another JGP in Lake Placid would make me very happy, but the financial difficulties of USFS do not give me optimism for one anytime soon.
I think Lake Placid at best would be only "a bit" more economical, as you said.
For 2019 JGP Lake Placid, there was an official hotel (commercial hotel) for skaters, coaches, etc. (Event officials had a different hotel.) I think it's possible that some Team USA skaters stayed at OPTC, but my guess would be that it was a different story for skaters from other federations?
Hosting in Lake Placid also could mean relatively high ground transportation costs for USFS, I think? Albany International Airport is at least two hours away, and one or more charter buses would be necessary for multiple rounds of airport pick-ups and drop-offs.
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What about the Skating Club of Boston that hosted 2022 Skate America?
 
ice coverage said:
Another JGP in Lake Placid would make me very happy, but the financial difficulties of USFS do not give me optimism for one anytime soon.
I think Lake Placid at best would be only "a bit" more economical, as you said.
For 2019 JGP Lake Placid, there was an official hotel (commercial hotel) for skaters, coaches, etc. (Event officials had a different hotel.) I think it's possible that some Team USA skaters stayed at OPTC, but my guess would be that it was a different story for skaters from other federations?
Hosting in Lake Placid also could mean relatively high ground transportation costs for USFS, I think? Albany International Airport is at least two hours away, and one or more charter buses would be necessary for multiple rounds of airport pick-ups and drop-offs.
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I agree that host locations for JGP events should be relatively easy to get to (near an international airport as a minimum requirement) and lots of options for hotels so all budgets can be met. Also relatively straightforward to get a visa with minimal wait times.

I am less worried about the GP series - fewer skaters per event and usually the country federation is able to spend more money on its elite seniors than on juniors.
 
Yyzskater said:
Is the Bangkok date a typo or will it be a 5 day event next year?
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Sharp eye! Since there's only 1 rink at the IWIS International Ice Skating Training Center and pairs will be held there for the first time, next year's JGP has 1 more day added. Usually it's one day of official practice and 3 days of competition.
 
Sylvia said:
Sharp eye! Since there's only 1 rink at the IWIS International Ice Skating Training Center and pairs will be held there for the first time, next year's JGP has 1 more day added. Usually it's one day of official practice and 3 days of competition
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If that's the case, I wonder why they didn't give pairs elsewhere with two rinks?
 
Yyzskater said:
If that's the case, I wonder why they didn't give pairs elsewhere with two rinks?
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There may not have been another bid with 2 rinks available. Bangkok and FSAT will be hosting their 3rd GP in a row and I have to say this year was much smoother than their first year. The other three JGPs with Pairs next season are the other 3 who hosted this year. My bet is the ISU Dev Commission feels like it's better to put pairs in Bangkok with their experience organizing JGPs already than at one of the other venues.
 
My club hosted a JGP in 2004, Skate Long Beach. I was Chairman. It was to be hosted by another LOC who bowed out with only 6 months to go. It was a lot of work and money. Thanks to members of our club as well as other local SoCal clubs, it happened and went well.

USFS pretty much covered the tab, around $50K. We did have some good ticket sales due to some local.interest but that pretty much covered the food costs. We did not make a profit but it was an education and good time.

With today's inflation, I can see why a club or federation in the Americas would shy away from trying to get JGP. A lot of work.and money spent with little return.
 
2025-26 JGP Announcement is up -


Designated events for BLR & RUS should the ban be lifted before the entry deadlines -

JGP #2 TUR - 1 in each discipline for both countries
JGP #4 THA - 1 each in pairs for both countries
JGP #6 POL - 1 each in pairs for both countries
JGP #7 UAE - 1 each in men, women & ice dance for both countries

Men -
2 entries in each JGP - JPN, KOR, SVK
1 entry in each JGP - USA, GER, EST
1 entry in 6 JGPs - event allocation as follows:
NZL - all but #7 UAE
ISR - all but #2 TUR
SWE - all but #7 UAE
CHN - all but #1 LAT

1 entry in 5 JGPs - event allocation as follows:
CAN - all but #2 TUR & #5 AZE
HKG - all but #1 LAT & #5 AZE
FRA - all but #2 TUR & #6 POL
ITA - all but #4 THA & #5 AZE
BEL - all but #1 LAT & #6 POL
SUI - all but #4 THA & #7 UAE

Women -
2 entries in each JGP - JPN, KOR, USA
1 entry in each JGP - FRA, GEO, EST

1 entry in 6 JGPs - event allocation as follows:
SUI - all but #7 UAE
AUS - all but #3 ITA
FIN - all but #2 TUR
CHN - all but #1 LAT

1 entry in 5 JGPs - event allocation as follows:
ITA - all but #4 THA & #5 AZE
AZE - all but #1 LAT & #7 UAE
ISR - all but #2 TUR & #6 POL
NED - all but #1 LAT & #4 THA
ARM - all but #2 TUR & #5 AZE
HUN - all but #4 THA & #7 UAE
CYP - all but #2 TUR & #5 AZE
LAT - all but #3 ITA & #6 POL
CAN - all but #2 TUR & #5 AZE

Pairs -
3 entries in all 4 JGPs - GEO, UKR, CAN, SUI
2 entries in all 4 JGPs - CHN, USA, FRA, JPN, ITA, SVK, ESP
1 entry in all 4 JGPs - CZE, GBR, HUN

Ice Dance -
2 entries in each JGP - ITA, USA, GER
1 entry in each JGP - UKR, FRA, CAN

1 entry in 6 JGPs - event allocation as follows:
BEL - all but #6 POL
SUI - all but #7 UAE
SVK - all but #7 UAE
JPN - all but #5 AZE

1 entry in 5 JGPs - event allocation as follows:
AUT - all but #2 TUR & #7 UAE
TUR - all but #1 LAT & #7 UAE
CZE - all but #1 LAT & #4 THA
GBR - all but #4 THA & #5 AZE
 
As I was looking at the allocated lists for the JGP, it occurred to me that the way the spots are allocated on the basis of Junior Worlds is a little silly. Just because one country has a very strong skater doesn't mean that they need 14 spots, and the way to earn the highest level of spots on the JGP should be based on the strength of the overall team.

How would I adjust the rules? I would draw inspiration from the rules for Olympic spots, prioritizing countries that have qualified multiple skaters to the FS. Whether it would make more sense to add the top two together, or to just go in order of top placement, either way could be argued.

For Junior men, it comes down to the difference between Slovakia and the US, with Adam Hagara in third and Jacob Sanchez in fourth. Since Slovakia also qualified two men to the FS, it shows that Slovakia has depth, and so perhaps they do in fact deserve the 14 spots next year. On the other hand, the US's top two men's placements are 4+13 compared to Slovakia's 3+19. Either way, it would not make a big difference.

I would say the discipline this year that has the most problems is probably pairs. Georgia, Ukraine, and Switzerland definitely do not need that many spots, whereas the US, Italy, and France all qualified two teams into the FS. Now, I am well aware that these countries may also not have that many pair teams to fill in the twelve spots, but at least this kind of plan would encourage the development of overall depth.

Edit: Examining the lists of entries, one thing that would need to be decided is how a country like Canada would be handled, that qualified two men in the FS, but in 16th and 17th place. Would that bump them up to having seven entries? I would argue that it make sense, that you prioritize all the countries with multiple skaters in the FS, and then you move on to the countries with only one entry.
 
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One of my first big skating memories was the 1998-1999 Junior Grand Prix Final at Detroit Skating Club when I was 5. I loved seeing so many future Olympians in that group and it really solidified my obsession with skating.
I worry the US thinks too big and does not apply to host because of cost. Hosting at a smaller venue is not a bad thing at all and I hope they are able to make it happen again soon!
 
First bit of JGP news coming at us from Switzerland - here is their JGP Selection Document - https://www.swissiceskating.ch/1_kunstlauf/4_leistungssport/3_dokumente/2025-26-jgp-assignments.pdf

Pre-assigned based upon past results:

Leandra Tzimpoukakis - JGP #2 Ankara, JGP #6 Gdansk
Anastasia Brandenburg - JGP #3 Varese
Chiara Michaela Pazienza & Maxim Knorr - JGP #1 Riga

Several skaters/teams are provisionally assigned to other JGPs, however that is contingent upon participating in the Swiss Test Skate Aug 8-10 in Dubendorf.

Of note, the Swiss fed says the following regarding their pairs spots:

Swiss Ice Skating has been awarded 12 spots in Pair Skating 2025–26 JGP Series based on results at the 2025 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where Switzerland ranked 4th in the ISU Members classification, earning three spots across the four JGP events including Pairs. Swiss Ice Skating returned 9 spots.
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The JGP Announcement doesn't mention redistribution of Unused Pairs JGP spots, but, theoretically, if these spots the Swiss fed has "returned" are reallocated, they would be distributed as follows:

JGP #1 Riga - 2 unused spots - CHN & USA
JGP #2 Ankara - 3 unused spots - next in line are FRA, JPN, ITA, SVK & ESP - maybe FRA, ITA & ESP could use a 3rd spot at a JGP, but highly unlikely; best guess, CHN & USA both pick up a 3rd spot again
JGP #4 Bangkok - 3 unused spots - CHN, USA & FRA
JGP #6 Gdansk - 1 unused spot - next in line are JPN, ITA, SVK & ESP - again, quite possible that CHN picks up a 3rd spot again

I'd be highly surprised if Georgia has any pairs teams on the JGP next season, same with Ukraine, so we'll see what the ISU decides to do with all those unused pairs spots. I know that if I was the CFSA & USFS, I'd be lobbying hard for those spots to be reallocated.
 
Stephanie said:
Per the Skate Canada JGP selection document, Canada has picked up 2 extra dance spots: in Ankara and Bangkok

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Okay, then... Canada was 3rd in line behind Ukraine & France to pick up additional spots.

USA has more than 7 junior ice dance teams (AboVes, Deych/Hu, Epps/Gilman, Ilin/Cain, Kouevi/Homawoo, Stapert/Korotcov are all on the ISP, plus Fischer/Fischer and Fugate/Fugate were sent to Egna Dance Trophy in Advanced Novice this winter, and Feige/Middlekauf are also junior age-eligible).

Italy has 6 teams that are still junior age-eligible who competed at Italian Jr Nationals and their top Intermediate Novice team is junior age-eligible - even if there is a split or two, chances are high that new partnerships will be formed and Italy will give all of those teams a chance with at least 1 JGP assignment. (Technically, Tali/Lafornara are still junior age-eligible, but we know they're moving up to seniors this year, lol).

Germany is going to certainly relinquish spots - they have 4 junior age-eligible teams on their Federal and Junior national squads for 2025-26 (Kruk/Eisenhaber, Kobor/Kobor, Hemcke/Sladkov and Salenbauch/Salenbauch). They do have some other dance teams that are junior age-eligible who may warrant JGP assignments. The German fed can be pretty cheap when it comes to using all of their JGP spots, but they have 1 men's spot at every single JGP, so they may bite the bullet and use all their JGP dance spots.

Ukraine - clearly not accepting additional spots during the reallocation process, otherwise they'd have picked up the Ankara assignment before Canada. They have Pidgaina/Koval, Rekunova/Fediankin & Tkachenko/Pesca who were on the JGP this past season & are still junior age-eligible. I'm not sure if they have any teams coming up from Adv Novice. They have 3 guaranteed pairs spots in Bangkok, but no men or women assigned to that JGP, so my bet is they relinquished their 1 dance spot there and kept the other 6 spots for their 3 junior teams.

France - They'll gladly take additional spots, just like Canada.

Canada - picked up 1 additional spot in Ankara & Bangkok.

Belgium - 1 spot in 6 events - they only have 2 junior age-eligible dance teams, so they'll give up 2 spots, for sure. Their women's spots are in Ankara & Baku; their men's spots are Ankara, Varese, Bangkok, Baku, and Abu Dhabi but they only have 1 junior age-eligible man; they don't have any pairs teams - they're assigned 1 spot in Riga & Gdansk, neither of which will be used; their dance spots are Riga, Ankara, Varese, Bangkok, Baku & Abu Dhabi. Seems clear they relinquished the Riga & Bangkok dance spots, which would have then been reallocated.

Switzerland - we know they plan on utilizing all 6 of their JGP spots per their own 2025-26 JGP Selection doc linked above.

Slovakia - well, they only have 1 junior team left since Vaclavikova/Morozov split and I'm not sure if they're even age-eligible. They (Stefanovova/Boeris) don't have an ISU bio. Presumably, they're relinquishing most of their JGP spots (Riga, Ankara, Varese, Bangkok, Baku & Gdansk), but they may have kept them if they have some teams forming or coming up from the novice level. They have 2 men at every JGP, 2 pairs teams at all 4 of the pairs JGPs (Riga, Ankara, Bangkok & Gdansk), and their women's spots are Varese, Baku & Gdansk; so it's hard to guess which, if any, of their dance spots they may have relinquished.

Japan - They do have 3 teams who scored 130+ at Japanese Jr Nats, so, theoretically, they could decide to use all 6 of their spots. Yoshida/Ogahara and Yamashita/Nagata had JGP assignments this past season and it looks like the 3rd team (Shibayama/Kimura) haven't competed internationally yet. Their JGP dance spots are Riga, Ankara, Varese, Bangkok, Gdansk & Abu Dhabi.

Soooooo...
JGP Riga - France - picked up 1 ice dance spot (Belgium)
JGP Ankara - Canada - known that they picked up 1 ice dance spot (Slovakia?), possibly 1 additional spot available for reallocation which would have gone to France
JGP Varese - no spots relinquished
JGP Bangkok - Canada - known that they picked up 1 ice dance spot (Belgium), possibly 1 additional spot available for reallocation to France (Ukraine or Slovakia?), any other additional spots would have not been reallocated
JGP Baku - no spots relinquished
JGP Gdansk - no spots relinquished
JGP Abu Dhabi - no spots relinquished

At best, knowing WHERE Canada picked up their additional dance spots, it seems pretty clear that France has also picked up 2 additional spots, possibly 3, but we won't know for sure until we see the individual JGP Announcements as the ISU starts publishing them.
 
Brazil has named its JGP Ankara entrants -

www.instagram.com

CBDG on Instagram: "JUNIOR GRAND PRIX ⛸️ Os atletas Lucaz Filipe Trindade Candria e Louise Finardi dos Santos foram selecionados para representar o Brasil no Junior Grand Prix de patinação artística na temporada 2025/2026. Os patinadores foram escol

212 likes, 18 comments - icebrasil on June 18, 2025: "JUNIOR GRAND PRIX ⛸️ Os atletas Lucaz Filipe Trindade Candria e Louise Finardi dos Santos foram selecionados para representar o Brasil no Junior Grand Prix de patinação artística na temporada 2025/2026. Os patinadores foram escolhidos...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

Men - Lucaz Filipe Trindade Candria
Women - Louise Finardi dos Santos
 
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