Twenty-Five U.S. Athletes to Compete Abroad at Junior Grand Prix and Challenger Series Events this Week

Twenty-five Team USA athletes will travel to Junior Grand Prix and Challenger Series events this week in Europe.

Twenty-five Team USA athletes will travel to Junior Grand Prix and Challenger Series events this week in Europe. The Challenger Series continues this weekend with the 2021 Finlandia Trophy in Espoo, Finland, while the final event of the 2021 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP) Series takes place in Linz, Austria. 

In the women’s field, 2018 Olympian Karen Chen headlines the United States contingent at Finlandia Trophy, set for Oct. 7-10. Chen is the 2021 U.S. bronze medalist and finished fourth at the 2021 World Championships. Earlier this fall, the 2017 U.S. champion placed fourth at Autumn Classic International. 2021 U.S. silver medalist Amber Glenn will also represent the U.S. in Finland. 

Jason Brown leads the U.S. men’s field into Espoo. Brown is the 2021 U.S. bronze medalist and finished seventh at the 2021 World Championships. Camden Pulkinen will also represent Team USA, recently placing fourth at the 2021 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.  

The U.S. will field two teams in the pairs event – Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson, and Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc. Calalang and Johnson are the 2021 U.S. silver medalists and recently earned a bronze medal at Cranberry Cup and silver at the John Nicks International Pairs Challenge. Cain-Gribble and LeDuc are the 2021 U.S. bronze medalists and took home bronze at the 2021 Autumn Classic International. The 2019 U.S. champions also finished ninth at the 2021 World Championships.

Two teams will represent Team USA in the ice dance competition. Three-time World medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates will make their international debut this season. The 2021 U.S. silver medalists placed fourth at the 2021 World Championships. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko will also compete in Finland. They recently placed fourth at Lombardia Trophy in Bergamo, Italy. 

The ISU Challenger Series is a group of 10 senior-level international figure skating competitions held each year to help skaters prepare and qualify for ISU Championship events. 

The U.S. will bring a team of 13 to the Junior Grand Prix event in Linz, Austria, scheduled for Oct. 6-9.

Isabeau Levito and Kate Wang will represent the United States in the women’s event. Levito, the 2021 U.S. junior champion, won the gold medal at the second JGP event in France earlier this season. Wang is a 2020 Youth Olympian and placed sixth at JGP Russia. 

In the men’s field, Ilia Malinin is the sole Team USA competitor. Malinin took home the gold medal at the first JGP event in France. He also finished fifth at 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America.

Team USA will field three teams in the pairs competition – Cate Fleming and Chase Finster, Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard, and Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia. Fleming and Finster teamed up in March 2021 and recently placed second in the junior event at the John Nicks International Pairs Challenge. They will be making their JGP debut in Austria. Martins and Bedard, the 2021 U.S. junior silver medalists, placed fifth at JGP Poland, while 2021 U.S. junior champions Smirnova and Siianytsia placed fourth at the same event. 

Two teams will represent the U.S. in the ice dance competition– Oona Brown and Gage Brown, and Angela Ling and Caleb Wein. The Browns won gold at the second JGP event in France, while Ling and Wein took home bronze in JGP Russia. 

The competition in Austria marks the final event in the JGP Series. Entering its 24th season, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series consists of seven international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the seven scheduled events (pairs can compete in two of four designated events). All winners of the events will qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final, and highest scores will be used to fill open spots. The ISU will stream all events live on its YouTube page.

U.S. ENTRIES AT 2021 FINLANDIA TROPHY
Athlete(s) | Hometown | Training Town

Women
Karen Chen | Fremont, Calif. | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Amber Glenn | Plano, Texas | Euless, Texas

Men
Jason Brown | Highland Park, Ill. | Toronto
Camden Pulkinen | Scottsdale, Ariz. | Colorado Springs, Colo. 

Pairs
Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc | Coppell, Texas; Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Euless, Texas 
Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson | Glenview, Ill.; Farmington Hills, Mich. | Irvine, Calif. 

Ice Dance
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko | Montreal; San Jose, Calif. | London, Ontario 
Madison Chock and Evan Bates | Novi, Mich.; Ann Arbor, Mich. | Montreal

U.S. ENTRIES AT 2021 JUNIOR GRAND PRIX AUSTRIA
Athlete(s) | Hometown | Training Town

Women
Isabeau Levito | Mount Holly, N.J. | Mount Laurel, N.J.
Kate Wang | San Francisco | San Francisco

Men
Ilia Malinin | Vienna, Va. | Reston, Va. 

Pairs
Cate Fleming and Chase Finster | Brookline, Mass.; Prospect, Ky. | Irvine, Calif. 
Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard | Lake Barrington, Ill.; McHenry, Ill. | Geneva, Ill. 
Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia | Shakopee, Minn.| Bloomington, Minn. 

Ice Dance
Oona Brown and Gage Brown | Long Island, N.Y. | Dix Hills, N.Y.
Angela Ling and Caleb Wein | Waterloo, Ontario; Rockville, Md. | Rockville, Md. 
 

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS