The 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the 12th season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the Junior-level complement to the 2008–09 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for Senior-level skaters. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance.
Skaters earned points towards qualification at each of the eight Junior Grand Prix events. The top eight skaters/teams in the series from each discipline met at the Junior Grand Prix Final. For the first time, the Junior Grand Prix Final was held concurrently with the senior Grand Prix Final.
Competitions The locations of the JGP events change yearly. In the 2008–09 season, the series was composed of the following events:
Date Event Location Other notes August 27–31 2008 JGP Courchevel Courchevel, France No pair competition September 3–7 2008 JGP Merano Merano, Italy No pair competition September 10–14 2008 JGP Mexico Cup Mexico City, Mexico September 17–21 2008 JGP Czech Skate Ostrava, Czech Republic September 24–28 2008 JGP Madrid Cup Madrid, Spain No pair competition October 1–5 2008 JGP Golden Lynx Gomel, Belarus October 8–12 2008 JGP Skate Safari Cape Town, South Africa No pair competition October 15–18 2008 JGP John Curry Memorial Sheffield, United Kingdom December 10–14 2008–09 Junior Grand Prix Final Goyang, South Korea
For the first time, the Junior Grand Prix Final was held in conjunction with the Grand Prix Final.
Qualifying Skaters who reached the age of 13 by July 1, 2008 but had not turned 19 (singles and females of the other two disciplines) or 21 (male pair skaters and ice dancers) were eligible to compete on the junior circuit. Unlike the senior ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, skaters for the Junior Grand Prix are entered by their national federations rather than seeded by the ISU. The number of entries allotted to each ISU member federation is determined by their skaters' placements at the previous season's World Junior Figure Skating Championships in each respective discipline.
For the 2008–09 season, in singles, the five best placed member nations at the 2008 World Junior Figure Skating Championships were allowed to enter two skaters in all eight events. Member nations who placed sixth through tenth were allowed to enter one skater in all eight events. Member nations with a skater who had qualified for the free skate at Junior Worlds were allowed to enter one skater in seven of the events. Member nations who did not qualify for the free skate but placed 25th through 30th in the short program were allowed to enter one skater in six of the events. All other nations were allowed to enter one skater in five of the events. There were provisions for additional entries per member country if another country did not use all of its allotted entries.
In pairs, member nations were allowed to enter up to three teams per event. The host nation was allowed to enter as many pair teams as it wanted. Pairs was contested at four events out of eight.
In ice dance, member nations were allowed to enter one dance team per event. Member nations who placed in the top five at the 2008 World Junior Championships were allowed to enter a second dance team.
The host country was allowed to enter up to three skaters/teams in singles and dance in their event, and there was no limit to the number of pairs teams.
The general spots allowance for the 2008–09 Junior Grand Prix events was as follows:
Entries Men Ladies Ice dance 2 per event 1 per event 1 in seven events 1 in six events
All other member nations had one entry per discipline in five of the eight events in singles, and one entry in all eight events for ice dance.
Junior Grand Prix Final qualifiers The following skaters qualified for the 2008–2009 Junior Grand Prix Final, in order of qualification.
Men Ladies Pairs Ice dance 1 Richard Dornbush Kristine Musademba Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell 2 Michal Březina Yukiko Fujisawa Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein 3 Armin Mahbanoozadeh Alexe Gilles Sabina Imaikina / Andrei Novoselov Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani 4 Alexander Johnson Kanako Murakami Ksenia Krasilnikova / Konstantin Bezmaternikh Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro 5 Florent Amodio Amanda Dobbs Ksenia Ozerova / Alexander Enbert Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue 6 Ivan Bariev Becky Bereswill Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun 7 Denis Ten Angela Maxwell Zhang Yue / Wang Lei Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill 8 Elladj Baldé Diane Szmiett Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir Ekaterina Pushkash / Dmitri Kiselev Alternates 1st Artur Gachinski Stefania Berton Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov Marina Antipova / Artem Kudashev 2nd Keegan Messing Sarah Hecken Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers Karen Routhier / Eric Saucke-Lacelle 3rd Cheng Gongming Shoko Ishikawa Anaïs Morand / Antoine Dorsaz Lucie Myslivečková / Matěj Novák
Michal Březina, the second qualifier in the men's event, withdrew on December 1. Artur Gachinski, the first alternate, replaced him. Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue, the fifth qualifiers in the ice dance event, withdrew due to an injury to Gilles. Marina Antipova / Artem Kudashev, the first alternates, replace them. Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov, the first alternates in the pairs event, withdrew on December 1.
Medalists Men Competition Gold Silver Bronze Details France Michal Březina Armin Mahbanoozadeh Florent Amodio Italy Michal Březina Curran Oi Alexander Nikolaev Mexico Richard Dornbush Elladj Baldé Cheng Gongming Czech Rep. Alexander Johnson Ivan Bariev Akio Sasaki Spain Armin Mahbanoozadeh Artur Gachinski Tatsuki Machida Belarus Denis Ten Yang Chao Cheng Gongming South Africa Richard Dornbush Ivan Bariev Elladj Baldé United Kingdom Florent Amodio Keegan Messing Alexander Johnson Final Florent Amodio Armin Mahbanoozadeh Richard Dornbush
Ladies Competition Gold Silver Bronze Details France Kristine Musademba Becky Bereswill Diane Szmiett Italy Melissa Bulanhagui Rumi Suizu Sarah Hecken Mexico Amanda Dobbs Alexe Gilles Kwak Min-jeong Czech Rep. Yukiko Fujisawa Angela Maxwell Stefania Berton Spain Kristine Musademba Becky Bereswill Kanako Murakami Belarus Haruka Imai Oksana Gozeva Kana Muramoto South Africa Alexe Gilles Diane Szmiett Amanda Dobbs United Kingdom Kanako Murakami Yukiko Fujisawa Angela Maxwell Final Becky Bereswill Yukiko Fujisawa Alexe Gilles
Pairs Competition Gold Silver Bronze Details France No pairs competition held Italy No pairs competition held Mexico Ksenia Krasilnikova / Konstantin Bezmaternikh Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov Czech Rep. Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze Sabina Imaikina / Andrei Novoselov Ksenia Ozerova / Alexander Enbert Spain No pairs competition held Belarus Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze Ksenia Ozerova / Alexander Enbert Zhang Yue / Wang Lei South Africa No pairs competition held United Kingdom Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov Sabina Imaikina / Andrei Novoselov Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Final Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze Zhang Yue / Wang Lei Ksenia Krasilnikova / Konstantin Bezmaternikh
Ice dance Competition Gold Silver Bronze Details France Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill Lucie Myslivečková / Matěj Novák Italy Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi Mexico Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill Valeria Zenkova / Valerie Sinitsin Czech Rep. Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue Marina Antipova / Artem Kudashev Karen Routhier / Eric Saucke-Lacelle Spain Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani Anastasia Vykhodtseva / Alexei Shumski Belarus Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun Ekaterina Pushkash / Dmitri Kiselev Terra Findlay / Benoît Richaud South Africa Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin United Kingdom Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun Karen Routhier / Eric Saucke-Lacelle Final Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro
Medals table The following is the table of total medals earned by each country on the 2008–2009 Junior Grand Prix. It can be sorted by country name, number of gold medals, number of silver medals, number of bronze medals, and total medals overall.
References
External links International Skating Union: ISU Junior Grand Prix Official Site: Junior Grand Prix Merano, Italy Official Site: Junior Grand Prix Madrid, Spain Official Site: Junior Grand Prix Sheffield, United Kingdom