At the pinnacle of the season for Team USA's junior skaters, 14 athletes have their eyes set on the podium as they travel to Tallinn, Estonia, for the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2022, April 13-17.
Originally slated for March 7-13, the event was previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The final event of the 2021-22 season features competition beginning Thursday and concluding Sunday.
The U.S. women look to continue their medal streak, as an American has stood on the podium in each of the last two years the World Junior Championships have been held.
Skating for Team USA are three strong medal contenders and the last three U.S. junior champions; Isabeau Levito, Lindsay Thorngren and Clare Seo won gold in 2021, 2020 and 2022, respectively.
The youngest member of the American delegation at 15 years old, Levito earned the bronze medal in her senior debut at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She also medaled at both her Junior Grand Prix assignments this season, clinching gold at the second event in France and silver in Austria.
Competing at her second World Junior Championships, Thorngren took fifth at the 2022 U.S. Championships and also earned a pair of medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, claiming gold in France and bronze in Slovenia.
Both Levito and Thorngren were slated to complete at the Junior Grand Prix Final before the event was canceled due to the pandemic.
Standing on the podium next to Thorngren in France was Seo, who secured the bronze in her first international competition. This year's gold at the U.S. Championships marked her second career medal in the junior event after taking bronze in 2021.
On the men's side, Ilia Malinin travels to Tallinn with valuable experience under his belt to start 2022. Malinin began his year with a silver in his senior debut at the 2022 U.S. Championships, earning a place on the team for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships where he finished ninth.
Malinin went undefeated in his two Junior Grand Prix assignments in France and Austria to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final (the event was canceled). He looks to become the third U.S. man to be crowned World Junior champion in the last six years.
Prior to the pandemic, Liam Kapeikis competed at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games and claimed bronze at the 2020 U.S. Championships. Although he will only be competing for the second time internationally since then, Kapeikis had a strong showing at the 2022 U.S. Championships, taking seventh.
The reigning U.S. junior champion, Kai Kovar, rounds out the U.S. men's lineup. The 16-year-old placed fifth at Junior Grand Prix France 2 to start the 2021-22 season.
Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia will be the sole pairs team representing Team USA in Tallinn. The 2021 U.S. junior champions finished fourth and sixth on the Junior Grand Prix circuit this season and look to improve on their 10th-place finish from the 2020 World Junior Championships.
The U.S. will send three strong ice dance teams to Estonia, looking to continue a line of success in the event. Team USA took home gold in 2020 and have medaled in ice dance all but one year the World Junior Championships have been held since 2011.
Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen took seventh at the World Junior Championships in 2020, but the 2021 U.S. junior medalists have medaled twice at Junior Grand Prix events this season, clinching gold in France before earning silver in Slovenia. Wolfkostin and Chen, who also won bronze at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games less than a year after becoming a team in 2019, made their senior debut at this year's U.S. Championships, placing sixth.
Oona Brown and Gage Brown also won two medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit this season, following up a gold at the 2021 Junior Grand Prix France 2 with silver at the 2021 Junior Grand Prix Austria. The sibling duo, who has been skating together since 2016, are three-time U.S. junior medalists with their highest result being silver in 2021. They were unable to compete at the 2022 U.S. Championships.
Both Wolfkostin and Chen and the Browns had qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final before the event was ultimately canceled.
The 2022 U.S. junior silver medalists, Angela Ling and Caleb Wein, will make their first World Junior Championship appearance after taking bronze at the 2021 Junior Grand Prix Russia.
Fans can watch the World Junior Championships live on the ISU YouTube channel. To follow the event, including view the full schedule, roster and more, visit the competition central page on the Fan Zone.
Strong Contingent of U.S. Skaters to Compete at World Junior Championships
Fourteen athletes have their eyes set on the podium as they travel to Tallinn, Estonia, for the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2022, April 13-17.
