2026-27 Junior Grand Prix - General Discussion

[Sylvia]

Minkyu Seo had a gold and a 5th place in 2023 and ended up as the 2nd alternate to the Final: https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2023/jgpsmen.htm
There were 7 different gold men's medalists that year!

 

[her grace]

I liked when there were fields of 8 skaters/couples.

 

[kalamalka]

I liked when there were fields of 8 skaters/couples.

Me too. The junior skaters at GPF are one of the main reasons for me to go, and with the junior fields being so large and less "sorted", one extra event, the lower consistency of juniors, and the very different rules for qualification for events by country (I would also like to see some midpoint for JGP slots between the current 2 per event for JW top 3 and 1 per event as the next group), it's not surprising if skaters who could medal don't qualify.

 

[Alilou]

As Mark says: "Not entirely sure the world was ready for this collaboration"

Mark and Ted rapping! AI production. Hilarious.

Mark Hanretty on Instagram: "Not entirely sure the world was ready for this collaboration… 🎤 Courtesy of some friends who have too much time and a little too much AI. My kids think this might be the pinnacle of my broadcasting career. 😂 Ted & Mark:

markhanretty on October 3, 2026: "Not entirely sure the world was ready for this collaboration… 🎤 Courtesy of some friends who have too much time and a little too much AI. My kids think this might be the pinnacle of my broadcasting career. 😂 Ted & Mark: the album nobody asked for. #AI...

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the heads up @Stephanie that it appears Nemirovsky now will be traveling from Ljubljana to Gdansk:

Emilia is listed on the ISU page in the JGP standings now.

https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpswomen.htm

ETA - look how many women have scored 160+ - Gdansk should be exciting!

10	Sumika KANAZAWA	JPN			13				X	13	2	202.79	1	132.41	132.41	70.38	37
11	Sophia SHIFRIN	ISR					13		X	13	2	196.29	1	129.62	129.62	66.67	35
14	Lia CHO	CAN			11				X	11	3	192.75	1	126.03	126.03	66.72	37
18	Elisabeth DIBBERN	SUI				9			X	9	4	174.39	1	116.07	116.07	58.32	39
22	Yun Xi FAN	CHN			7				X	7	5	183.90	1	118.63	118.63	65.27	37
23	Emilia NEMIROVSKY	USA						7	X	7	5	171.15	1	113.32	113.32	57.83	35
29	Oliviia BAZLOVA	CYP						4	X	4	7	163.84	1	109.51	109.51	54.33	35
36	Angel DELEVAQUE	NED				2			X	2	9	160.46	1	102.11	102.11	58.35	39
40	Venla SINISALO	FIN			1				X	1	10	161.73	1	105.19	105.19	56.54	37
41	Nayeon KO	KOR				1			X	1	10	159.52	1	89.31	89.31	70.21	39
45	Mia Zixuan ZENG	AUS					0		X	0	11	161.46	1	102.45	102.45	59.01	35
47	Elina GOIDINA	EST					0		X	0	12	161.07	1	106.18	106.18	54.89	35
54	Diana Alexandra ZIESECKE	GER					0		X	0	13	160.42	1	110.47	110.47	49.95	35

 

[Sylvia]

Sept. 10:

Changes to JGP Ankara #4 entries since release:
Junior Pairs
Irina Napolitano/Edoardo Comi (ITA) withdrawn [assignment moved to JGP #7 in Poland]
Laura Heckova/Alex Valky (SVK) withdrawn [assignment moved to JGP #7 in Poland]
Junior Women
Nora Sayed (SWE) replaces Lilly Almgren-Lidman (SWE) [assignment moved to JGP #7 in Poland]
Junior Men
Robert Wildt (GER) replaces Leon Rojkov [assignments moved to JGP #5 in Georgia and JGP #7 in Poland]
Junior Dance
- Silvia Lutay/Konstantin Tkachenko (BUL) withdrawn [assignment moved to JGP #7 in Poland]

Changes to JGP Batumi #5 entries since release:
Junior Men
Jan Gulaj (POL) withdrawn [assignment moved to JGP #7 in Poland]

Changes to JGP Ljubljana #6 entries since release:
Junior Women
Sumika Kanazawa (JPN) [2nd at JGP #3 in Bangkok] withdrawn [assignment moved to JGP #7 in Poland]
Yuxuan Liu (CHN) [2nd at JGP #1 in Xi'an] replaces Yun Xi Fan [assignment swap, moved to JGP #7 in Poland]

Changes to JGP Gdansk #7 entries since release:
Junior Men
Gianni Motilla (FRA) withdrawn
Shun Uemura (JPN) [5th at JGP #3 in Bangkok] withdrawn

Sept. 21:

Some more assignment changes
JGP Batumi -
Junior Women
- Anne-Sophie Heurtebis FRA has been replaced by Stefania Gladki [assignment swap, Heurtebis to JGP #7 in Poland]

JGP Gdansk -
Junior Pairs
- Laura Gauch/Linus Mager SUI have withdrawn

Keeping track of the numerous changes for the later JGPs can be head spinning!

FINAL JGP #7 in Gdansk, Poland (Oct. 8-10) - entries as of Oct. 6, 2026 (original list with updates added below):

JUNIOR MEN
1 Mikayel SALAZARYAN ARM
2 Denis KROUGLOV BEL
3 Yoanis APOSTOLU BUL
4 William CHAN CAN
5 Tonghe TIAN CHN
6 Jan VALTERA CZE
7 Matias HEINONEN FIN
8 Gianni MOTILLA FRA
9 Edward SOLOVYOV GBR
10 Makar NIKOLAEV GEO
11 Leon ROJKOV GER
12 Christopher Konstantinos MANIS GRE
13 Matvey SOKOLOV ISR - not listed in the starting order
14 Federico BERRUTO ITA
15 Shun UEMURA JPN (sad for all the JPN skaters who didn't get a 2nd opportunity )
16 Jaewook CHUNG KOR
17 Yesung KIM KOR
18 Janis ZNOTINS LAT
19 Leon LO NED
20 Jan GULAJ POL
21 Oscar OLIVER POL
22 Ryszard SIUDEK POL
23 Sandro DE ANGELO SUI
24 Dominik DRNZIK SVK
25 Tim NORDIN SWE
26 Bo-Shun WU TPE
27 Yehor KURTSEV UKR
28 Caleb FARRINGTON USA
29 Henry GAO USA [likely a placeholder] confirmed as going now

JUNIOR WOMEN
1 Izabella ESAIAN ARM
2 Haruna MURAKAMI AUS @spin2win noticed her name is crossed out from Ice Skating Australia's International Assignments spreadsheet with no replacement listed (she's listed to make her Senior int'l & CS debut at Budapest Trophy)
3 Mia Zixuan ZENG AUS
4 Lia LYUBENOVA BUL
5 Lia CHO CAN
6 Maria Ignacia CASTRO CHI
7 Yuxuan LIU CHN [silver in SLO]--> swapped assignments with Yun Xi FAN CHN - not listed in starting order
8 Oliviia BAZLOVA CYP
9 Jana HORCICKOVA CZE
10 Ariadna GUPTA ESPADA ESP
11 Elina GOIDINA EST
12 Venla SINISALO FIN
13 Stefania GLADKI FRA [bronze in GEO]--> swapped assignments with Anne-Sophie HEURTEBIS
14 Alice SMITH GBR
15 Ketevan MAKHARADZE GEO
16 Anna GERKE GER ['S' in the current JGP standings] --> Diana Alexandra ZIESECKE GER [has an 'X' in the standings] https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpswomen.htm
17 Sofia LAMPRINOU GRE
18 Saedis Heba GUDMUNDSDOTTIR ISL
19 Sophia SHIFRIN ISR
20 Simona TKACHMAN ISR
21 Beatrice SOLDATI ITA injured ankle/WD from SLO after SP --> replaced by Zoe MOSCA BARBERIS
22 Sumika KANAZAWA JPN
23 Nayeon KO KOR
24 Kira BARANOVSKA LAT
25 Salome SCHMID LIE - not listed in starting order
26 Gabriele JUSKAITE LTU
27 Camila Simone AREVALO ARIAS MEX
28 Angel DELEVAQUE NED
29 Zofia BOCHENEK POL
30 Aleksandra JANIKOWSKA POL
31 Lena KOPYTOWSKA POL
32 Katarina FEDOROVA COELHO POR
33 Ella HAWKES RSA
34 Ana SCEPANOVIC SRB
35 Elisabeth DIBBERN SUI
36 Alica LENGYELOVA SVK
37 Lilly ALMGREN-LIDMAN SWE
38 Marie BIERWERT UAE --> Evgeniia NIKOLAEVA UAE is listed in the ISU entries (was not among the listed subs originally) but does not have a 'X' in the current JGP standings - ETA an Oct. 7 update - no UAE listed in starting order
39 Khrystyna HALIARETA UKR
40 Jessica JURKA USA [likely a placeholder] --> Emilia NEMIROVSKY is confirmed now

JUNIOR PAIRS (down to 15 with Heckova/Valky's withdrawal - scored 128.31 in early August as the only Jr. pair in the SVK test skates)
1 Kaydee KALLAY / Etienne LACASSE CAN
2 Miroslava ORESHKIN / Vladimir FURMAN CAN
3 Alia TANG / William BOCSKAY CAN
4 Rui GUO / Yiwen ZHANG CHN
5 Ze Yu SONG / Guang Ye ZHAO CHN
6 Leontina HORCICKOVA / Jindrich KLEMENT CZE
7 Sofia GOMEZ MORENO / Mario MARTINEZ-INIGUEZ ESP - not listed in starting order
8 Anita MAPELLI / Noah QUESADA GRAU ESP
9 Romane TELEMAQUE / Lucas COULON FRA
10 Zlata KAMALOVA / Danil PANOV GEO [JGP DEBUT for new country]
11 Irina NAPOLITANO / Edoardo COMI ITA
12 Polina POLMAN / Gabriel RENOLDI ITA
13 Laura GAUCH / Linus MAGER SUI
14 Laura HECKOVA / Alex VALKY SVK
15 Olivia JUNG / Carter GRIFFIN USA [new]
16 Teryn KIM / Lazuli LUNE USA [new]
17 Reagan MOSS / Jakub GALBAVY USA

JUNIOR ICE DANCE
1 Silvia LUTAY / Konstantin TKACHENKO BUL - not listed in starting order
2 Chaima BEN KHELIFA / Julien LEVESQUE CAN
3 Laurence BRIERE / Earl Jesse CELESTINO CAN
4 Xin Yue KANG / Shi Bo HAO CHN
5 Kristyna STANCLOVA / Karel KOSTRON CZE
6 Lumia SASSI / Aarne SAVOLA FIN
7 Angelina CUCHERAT / Leopold DACQUIN FRA
8 Lea HIENNE / Louis VARESCON FRA
9 Mimi MARLER DAVIES / Joseph BLACK GBR
10 Alexia KRUK / Jan EISENHABER GER
11 Liliia LITENKO / Aleksandr RYZHENKOV ISR
12 Melissa CACHOVA / Ivan MOROZOV ITA
13 Arianna SOLDATI / Nicholas TAGLIABUE ITA
14 Yeva ALEKHNOVICH / Stanislaw BORYSEWICZ POL
15 Laura BALCERSKA / David DIADCHENKO POL
16 Claudia AMARO LETESTU / Marco AMARO LETESTU POR
17 Leonie WOODTLI / Timon David SUHNER SUI
18 Lucia STEFANOVOVA / Jacopo BOERIS SVK
19 Mihana NAKAJIMA / Isak Bengt-Eric GRANS SWE
20 Hana Maria ABOIAN / Daniil VESELUKHIN USA
21 Anaelle KOUEVI / Yann HOMAWOO USA [likely a placeholder] (probably were not a placeholder since they spoke about this assignment in an article published on Sept. 24 - excerpts here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...of-the-skate-guard.113906/page-6#post-6955842)

ETA update on Oct. 7: NOT listed in the starting orders from the entries above: Matvey SOKOLOV ISR; Yun Xi FAN CHN, Salome SCHMID LIE, Evgeniia NIKOLAEVA UAE (3 women); Sofia GOMEZ MORENO / Mario MARTINEZ-INIGUEZ ESP (pair); Silvia LUTAY / Konstantin TKACHENKO BUL (ice dance).

 

[spin2win]

16 Anna GERKE GER ['S' in the current JGP standings] or Diana Alexandra ZIESECKE [has an 'X' in the standings] https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpswomen.htm

I was served information about this by the fstwt algorithm, I won't repeat it because it's unseemly. It would appear though the substitution has been made.

Evgeniia NIKOLAEVA UAE is listed in the ISU entries (was not among the listed subs originally) but does not have a 'X' in the current JGP standings

Well she is on the official entry list page

 

[Sylvia]

Well she [Nikolaeva] is on the official entry list page

Jurka is still listed for the USA as well - I assume the ISU's JGP standings pages are more up-to-date (Marie Bierwert's name is no longer there at all).

Re. Gerke - when I searched X just now, all I got was this Sept. 27 thread of 3 posts:
I don’t wanna spread this even more but I want to say the situation regarding Anna Gerke should not have been public information atp. So far it’s just rumours with no official statement from the deu or her. Those are juniors so please don’t publicly speculate or discuss possible reasons publicly sharing vulnerable information on a minor skater on twitter for everyone to see or vague post about possible reasons making people even more interested. Also please stop blaming other junior skaters for talking about it on a small live stream with their friends that probably forgot they were on live and not FaceTime or something not knowing that they were being recorded (yes it’s a public livestream but I don’t think they knew that they were randomly being recorded)

 

[spin2win]

yes that's it. it's speculation about some kind of misconduct/suspension.

 

[Wyliefan]

Goodness!

 

[YukiNieve]

Aren't we bringing more attention to her, 15 years old, if we talk about her even this way? (I did not know about this at all until now)

 

[Karen-W]

Saw this screenshot on X and have verified it is accurate (not hard if you know US jr/novice level pairs skaters).

celine (@hypalo) on X

2013 and 2005? 😭

x.com

I reposted asking the question that should be on all of our minds... What happened to the ISU regulation restricting Jr Pairs & Dance teams to no more than a 7-yr age gap - and I tagged both the ISU & USFS.

It is shameful that no one caught this or questioned it when they paired up.

 

[Sylvia]

My reply in the U.S. Pairs news thread: Technically he (Carter Griffin) is 20 since he didn't turn 21 until after July 1 of this year.

 

[Karen-W]

My reply in the U.S. Pairs news thread: Technically he (Carter Griffin) is 20 since he didn't turn 21 until after July 1 of this year.

I replied in the US Pairs thread but, suffice it to say, I don't think it's a good look for anyone to be finding "technicalities" to excuse a blatant end-run around the ISU's regulations because the male partner's birthday falls after the July 1st cutoff.

 

[Sylvia]

These 2 replies in the U.S. Pairs news thread probably are better off in this thread since it not only concerns U.S. Pairs:

Just because he turned 21 four months after Olivia turned 13 doesn't mean that the age gap isn't in violation of the ISU's rules - or at least the spirit of the rule. I don't think we should be looking for any technicalities to excuse such a wide age gap in a junior level team. The skaters should be protected from potential harm. What's more, nothing about the sport's culture will change if we continue to look the other way on this matter.

I don’t think we can assume that 7 years is the “spirit” of the rule. It’s just as likely that <8 years is the “spirit” of the rule, based on all of the other ISU date math for eligibility is a hard July 1 date that doesn’t take month into consideration.

 

[Wyliefan]

They're up right now in Gdansk. Holy moly, she looks tiny.

 

[Sylvia]

Ted, The Godfather :

Ted Barton on Instagram: "My Italian Production Family - Finding time outside of endless hours of tv production during the JGP to recreate our own little piece of film history. #commentarygodfather 😜"

259 likes, 16 comments - ted.barton.75 on October 10, 2026: "My Italian Production Family - Finding time outside of endless hours of tv production during the JGP to recreate our own little piece of film history. #commentarygodfather 😜".

www.instagram.com

 

[Taso]

Ted, The Godfather :

Ted Barton on Instagram: "My Italian Production Family - Finding time outside of endless hours of tv production during the JGP to recreate our own little piece of film history. #commentarygodfather 😜"

259 likes, 16 comments - ted.barton.75 on October 10, 2026: "My Italian Production Family - Finding time outside of endless hours of tv production during the JGP to recreate our own little piece of film history. #commentarygodfather 😜".

www.instagram.com

I never expected this ever

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks to @victorskid who posted all the official JGP standings links for each discipline in the JGP subforum in the Kiss & Cry section - All Qualifiers for the Final + alternates:

The official standings for Jr. Pairs after event #7: https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpswomen.htm

1	Polina SHESHELEVA / Egor KARNAUKHOV	AIN2	15		13		28	1	382.63	2	253.83	127.53	128.80	25	Q
2	Yuxuan CHEN / Yinbo DONG	CHN	13	15			28	1	311.03	2	200.13	103.64	110.90	21	Q
3	Anita MAPELLI / Noah QUESADA GRAU	ESP			11	15	26	1	320.88	2	201.67	105.15	119.21	29	Q
4	Reagan MOSS / Jakub GALBAVY	USA		13		9	22	2	286.34	2	181.61	92.65	104.73	25	Q
5	Debora Anna COHEN / Lukas VOCHOZKA	CZE		11	7		18	3	278.91	2	172.42	90.23	106.49	26	Q
6	Sofia JARMOC / Luke WITKOWSKI	USA	9		9		18	4	271.80	2	172.46	89.68	99.34	25	Q
7	Taisiia GUSEVA / Daniil OVCHINNIKOV	AIN2			15		15	1	196.91	1	126.43	126.43	70.48	15	S
8	Zlata KAMALOVA / Danil PANOV	GEO				13	13	2	163.95	1	102.90	102.90	61.05	14	S
9	Marykim RANZI / Enryck LEGAULT	CAN		7	5		12	5	255.92	2	158.45	82.43	97.47	26	S

The official standings for Jr. Women after event #7: https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpswomen.htm

1	Sofiia DZEPKA	AIN2	15		15					30	1	419.01	2	276.10	140.54	142.91	71	Q
2	Hana BATH	AUS		15				15		30	1	407.93	2	271.12	140.01	136.81	71	Q
3	Mei OKADA	JPN		13		15				28	1	411.85	2	265.11	133.00	146.74	75	Q
4	Sumika KANAZAWA	JPN			13				15	28	1	399.16	2	259.54	132.41	139.62	73	Q
5	Yihan WANG	CHN		11			15			26	1	396.85	2	254.86	128.44	141.99	71	Q
6	Yuxuan LIU	CHN	13					13		26	2	377.61	2	240.79	122.85	136.82	69	Q
7	Lia CHO	CAN			11				13	24	2	388.51	2	252.37	126.34	136.14	73	S
8	Shuxian JIN	CHN	11			13				24	2	383.30	2	255.11	128.72	128.19	73	S
9	Stefania GLADKI	FRA				11	11			22	3	369.56	2	240.05	121.98	129.51	74	S

Official standings for Jr Ice Dance after event #7: https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpsdance.htm

1	Mariia FEFELOVA / Artem VALOV	AIN2	15		15					30	1	328.25	2	199.82	100.76	128.43	35	Q
2	Darya GRIMM / Grigorii RODIN	GER					13	15		28	1	325.95	2	199.28	102.38	126.67	35	Q
3	Ambre PERRIER GIANESINI / Samuel BLANC KLAPERMAN	FRA					15	13		28	1	324.97	2	197.86	99.16	127.11	35	Q
4	Dania MOUADEN / Theo BIGOT	FRA		15		13				28	1	321.96	2	192.46	98.16	129.50	37	Q
5	Hana Maria ABOIAN / Daniil VESELUKHIN	USA				15			13	28	1	316.46	2	181.36	97.26	135.10	40	Q
6	Zoe BIANCHI / Daniel BASILE	ITA	13		13					26	2	314.53	2	193.19	96.90	121.34	35	Q
7	Arianna SOLDATI / Nicholas TAGLIABUE	ITA					9		15	24	1	303.07	2	183.06	91.86	120.01	38	S
8	Aneta VACLAVIKOVA / William LISSAUER	USA		13				11		24	2	318.09	2	190.63	96.31	127.46	34	S
9	Xinyu CHEN / Gordei CHITIPAKHOVIAN	USA				11	11			22	3	304.83	2	181.55	91.95	123.28	38	S

Official men qualifiers and alternates: https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2026/jgpsmen.htm

1	Lev LAZAREV	AIN2	15		15					30	1	511.11	2	337.88	174.43	173.23	54	Q
2	Hiro KAEWTATHIP	THA			11			15		26	1	463.24	2	298.02	150.06	165.22	50	Q
3	Ean WEILER	SUI		11			15			26	1	443.45	2	284.54	143.99	158.91	53	Q
4	Habin CHOI	KOR		15		11				26	1	441.30	2	295.43	170.20	145.87	59	Q
5	Daiya EBIHARA	JPN	11			15				26	1	436.42	2	290.67	146.47	145.75	58	Q
6	Yanhao LI	NZL	13		13					26	2	475.57	2	305.33	158.03	170.24	54	Q
7	Jaekeun LEE	KOR		13				13		26	2	458.52	2	290.19	146.57	168.33	49	S
8	Denis KROUGLOV	BEL					9		15	24	1	435.27	2	275.94	146.55	159.33	52	S
9	Yehor KURTSEV	UKR				13			11	24	2	400.79	2	258.40	130.95	142.39	58	S

Who recalls how many JGP skaters/teams have won 1 gold in 2 events (besides Krouglov & Soldati/Tagliabue today in Gdansk this year!) who didn't qualify outright for the JGP Final? I know one was Minkyu Seo in 2023: https://results.isu.org/events/jgp2023/jgpsmen.htm

ETA 2 replies from the thread in the Kiss & Cry:

Evgenia Medvedeva both 2013 season and 2014 season.

Von Felten a couple seasons ago

 

[Sylvia]

Happy 27th Birthday yesterday (10/10) to the newest member of the ISU's JGP production team!

ISU Figure Skating ⛸ on Instagram: "What’s Rebecca Ghilardi doing at the Junior Grand Prix? 🤔 Let’s dive in and find out ➡️⛸️ Oh, and one more thing… Happy Birthday, Rebecca! 🎉 Leave her some love in the comments ❤️ #FigureSkating"

1,120 likes, 47 comments - isufigureskating on October 10, 2026: "What’s Rebecca Ghilardi doing at the Junior Grand Prix? 🤔 Let’s dive in and find out ➡️⛸️ Oh, and one more thing… Happy Birthday, Rebecca! 🎉 Leave her some love in the comments ❤️ #FigureSkating".

www.instagram.com