Junior Worlds 2025 Review, and big (shocking?) ice dance news
This week, we dig into the exciting 2025 Junior World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary where Team Japan shined the brightest in singles. Mao Shimada made it a 3-peat with two stunning programs, and Rio Nakata moved up to the top of the podium after silver in 2024.
Women’s Competition
The women’s event saw an incredibly deep field of young women that often came in with very similar skills. Mao Shimada was certainly in a class all her own, winning the title with a quad toe and triple axel in the free, which propelled her to a stunning 40 point victory over the extraordinary Jia Shin from Korea.
Jia Shin was making her final Junior Worlds appearance here, and did so with a fantastic comeback in the free skate that moved her up from 7th to 2nd. Right behind her by less than 2 points was America’s Elyse Lin-Gracey, who put down 2 solid skates to land on her first World Championships podium. Both of these women will be full-time seniors next year internationally, and promise to keep things interesting going into an Olympic season.
Men’s Competition
In the men’s division, things were a bit closer between the top two — Japan’s Rio Nakata and Korea’s reigning Junior World Champion, Minkyu Seo. Minkyu led after the short, but Rio’s powerfully technical free skate gave him the edge for his first World title.
In third for the second year in a row was Slovakia’s Adam Hagara, who continues to impress. Falling behind him by just a few points was 2024 Junior Grand Prix Champ, Jacob Sanchez of the USA. Jacob was in third after the short program, but made a costly mistake on a combination that took him just off the podium. Regardless, both of these men were phenomenal and show tons of promise for the future of mens skating.
Pairs and Ice Dance
The pairs competition had a bit of controversy with the reigning champions, Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava returning from Seniors to take the gold. Their performances were stronger than last season, and they certainly earned the medal — but some were disappointed in the ISU rules that allowed for their return to juniors.
In the dance, Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara of Italy went from 7th in 2024 to gold here.
News: Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron Ice Dance Team
In other news around skating, the first Olympic spoiler return was announced when reigning Olympic ice dance champion, Guillaume Cizeron, and 2023 Canadian National Champion, Laurence Fournier Beaudry officially came out as a new team.
Guillaume Cizeron’s former partner, Gabriella Papadakis, and he had announced their retirement as a team from competitive skating in 2024. As for Laurence Fournier Beaudry, her former partner had been suspended for 6 years from competition in 2024, which left her future in question until now. They plan to skate for France, and will be making a run at being on the French Olympic team next year.
Chapters
0:00 — Intro
0:32 — Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron Announcement
11:48 — Junior Worlds Recap
12:35 — Women’s Competition
30:10 — Men’s Competition
38:59 — Pairs Competition
47:29 — Ice Dance Competition
51:02 — Gold in our Hearts
53:00 — Wrap-Up
