The 2021 Junior Grand Prix Series is scheduled to get underway in Courchevel, France — the town that hosted the first ISU live stream seven years ago. Skate Canada was scheduled to host the second event in Edmonton Aug. 25-28, but on June 23 it announced the event had been cancelled. The ISU moved it to Courchevel, which will now hold back-to-back competitions. The first event takes place Aug. 18-21 and the second Aug. 25-28.
On Sep. 1, the Japan Skating Federation announced it will not field any singles skaters to any Junior Grand Prix competitions this season due to the quarantine requirements when returning home.
On Aug. 10, the Russian Figure Skating Federation announced its skaters had withdrawn from the first two JGP competitions following notification by the French government of the restrictions for persons entering France from a “red flagged” country. Federation president Alexander Gorshkov confirmed that the ISU agreed to reassign the skaters from those events to the Junior Grand Prixs in Slovenia and Russia.
A new crop of talent is set to take the seven stages of the Series this year. With all junior competitions cancelled in the 2020-2021 season, many young skaters, including all the 2020 World Junior champions, have moved into the senior ranks for the Olympic season.
Entries per nation for the 2021 Junior Grand Prix are based on the results of the 2020 World Junior Championships. Any allotments not used by a nation will be assigned to countries that currently have one skater qualified at each of the seven events. Entry numbers per country for all seven events had to be submitted to the ISU by June 1. Full details of how placements are earned can be found HERE.
Draws will only be held as agreed by the ISU Council for the 2021 Championships. A short program/rhythm dance draw will be held in the presence of the referee, technical controller, ISU event coordinator/assistant and two team leaders whose names would be drawn as witnesses at the team leader meeting; No draw for the free skate/free dance will take place. The starting order will be the reverse of the short program/rhythm dance results; No social events, such as judges dinners, should be held at any of the Junior Grand Prix events.
On Aug. 5, the ISU issued an updated communique with respect to the entry restrictions for countries, particularly for those who are not vaccinated or those who are vaccinated with one not recognized by the host country. Given the situation, skaters will be re-allocated to events where possible to accommodate those facing restrictions. On Aug. 10, the Russian federation issued a press release with respect to the reassignment of its skaters.
No ISU Junior Grand Prix ranking will be applied this season. Depending upon the developments during the Junior Grand Prix series, the ISU Council will evaluate if and how the Junior Grand Prix Final could be held by applying alternative qualification criteria. Full text of the communication is HERE.
″We have not discussed these issues yet. There is a certain understanding of how this will be arranged, but we have not yet decided anything in detail,″ said ISU vice president Alexander Lakernik. ″The ISU Council meeting will take place at the end of the Junior Grand Prix Series. We understand that it would be unfair to choose the finalists only based on the results of performances of the Series, so we will look for other options.″
| DATE | CITY | COUNTRY | PAIRS/NO PAIRS |
|
Aug. 18 – 21 Aug. 25 – 28 Sep. 1 – 4 Sep. 16 – 18 Sep. 23 – 25 Sep. 29 – Oct. 2 Oct. 6 – 9 Dec. 9 – 12 (JGP Final) |
Osaka |
France France Slovakia Russia Slovenia Poland Austria Japan |
— — PAIRS INCLUDED PAIRS INCLUDED — PAIRS INCLUDED PAIRS INCLUDED
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Allotments per nation, based on the results of the 2020 World Junior Championships:
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.
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