The World Junior Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Junior Championships were held in 1976 in Megève, France, and the competition has been held every year since, except for 2021, when the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Skaters are eligible to compete at the World Junior Championships, provided they represent a member nation of the ISU and are selected by their respective federation, if they are at least 13 years old before July 1 of the respective season, but not yet 19 (for single skaters), 21 (for men and women in ice dance and women in pair skating), or 23 (for men in pair skating).[1] Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The corresponding competition for senior-level skaters is the World Figure Skating Championships.
Adam Rippon of the United States currently holds the record for winning the most World Junior Championship titles in men's singles (with two), while Mao Shimada of Japan holds the record in women's singles (with three). Natalia Krestianinova and Alexei Torchinski of the Soviet Union are tied with Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China for winning the most titles in pair skating (with three each), while Luka Berulava of Georgia has also won three World Junior Championship titles in pair skating, but with different partners. Elena Krykanova and Evgeni Platov of the Soviet Union hold the record in ice dance (with three).
History
The International Skating Union (ISU) adopted legislation in 1975 establishing the Junior Figure Skating Championships. The championships were established on a two-year trial basis with the understanding that if they were successful, they would be renamed the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. The inaugural World Junior Championships took place in Megève, France, in 1976. No skaters were permitted to compete who had previously competed at the European Championships, World Championships, or the Winter Olympics, nor could they have previously won a medal at any international senior-level competition. Those prohibitions were removed in 1980.[2]Mark Cockerell and Suzie Brasher of the United States won the inaugural men's and women's event, respectively. Sherri Baier and Robin Cowan of Canada won the inaugural pairs event, and Kathryn Winter and Nicholas Slater of Great Britain won the inaugural ice dance event.[2]
Controversy arose at the 1977 World Junior Championships when South Africa entered skaters in the competition. The Soviet Union filed a written protest with the ISU demanding that South African skaters be barred from competing in response to South Africa's apartheid policies. When the ISU refused, the Soviet Union and members of the Warsaw Pact (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) boycotted the competition. In response, the ISU placed a "temporary restriction of not taking part in ISU championships" on skaters from South Africa, although South Africa was not expelled from the ISU.[2]
The competition was elevated to World status beginning in 1978 and the first official World Junior Championships were again held in Megève.[2] They were held without interruption until 2021. The 2021 World Junior Championships were originally scheduled to be held in Harbin, China;[3] however, the ISU announced the cancellation of the event on November 24, 2020, citing "the pandemic developments and related impact on the organizers and participants."[4] The World Junior Championships were the second ISU Championship event to be cancelled during the 2020–21 season, following the cancellation of the 2021 Four Continents Championships on October 16.[5] The 2020–21 ISU Junior Grand Prix series had also been cancelled earlier in the season, on July 20.[6] With the cancellation of the World Junior Championships, there was effectively no opportunity for junior-level skaters to compete during the 2020–21 season.[7]
Skaters may compete at the World Junior Championships if they represent a member nation of the International Skating Union (ISU) and are selected by their federation. Member nations select their entries according to their own criteria. Some countries rely on the results of their national championships while others have more varied criteria, which may include success at certain international events or specific technical requirements. All of the selected skaters must have earned the minimum total element scores, which are determined and published each season by the ISU during the current or immediately previous season. Member nations may enter at least one competitor or team in each discipline; a points system allows member nations to enter additional competitors or teams, up to a total of three per discipline, based on the nation's performance in that discipline at the previous World Junior Championships.[9]
Skaters are eligible to compete on the junior-level circuit if they are at least 13 years old before July 1 of the respective season, and if they have not yet turned 19 (for single skaters), 21 (for both genders in ice dance and females in pair skating) or 23 (for males in pair skating).[10]
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