ISU Junior Grand Prix in Canada

ISU Junior Grand Prix in Canada
Status	Inactive
Genre	ISU Junior Grand Prix
Frequency	Occasional
Country	Canada
Inaugurated	1999
Previous event	2018
Organised by	Skate Canada

The ISU Junior Grand Prix in Canada is an international figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by Skate Canada. It is held periodically as an event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP), a series of international competitions exclusively for junior-level skaters. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earn points based on their results at the qualifying competitions each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are invited to then compete at the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP) was established by the International Skating Union (ISU) in 1997 and consists of a series of seven international figure skating competitions exclusively for junior-level skaters. The locations of the Junior Grand Prix events change every year. While all seven competitions feature the men's, women's, and ice dance events, only four competitions each season feature the pairs event. Skaters earn points based on their results each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are then invited to compete at the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.^[1]

Skaters are eligible to compete on the junior-level circuit if they are at least 13 years old before 1 July of the respective season, and if they have not yet turned 19 (for single skaters, and females in ice dance and pair skating) or 21 (for males in ice dance and pair skating).^[1] Competitors are chosen by their respective skating federations. The number of entries allotted to each ISU member nation in each discipline is determined by their results at the prior World Junior Figure Skating Championships.^[2]

Canada hosted its first Junior Grand Prix competition in 1999 in Montreal. Soshi Tanaka of Japan won the men's event, Irina Nikolaeva of Russia won the women's event, Chantal Poirier and Craig Buntin of Canada won the pairs event, and Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States won the ice dance event.^[3]

Canada has twice hosted the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, the culminating event of the Junior Grand Prix series. The 2011 Grand Prix Final was held in Quebec City. Jason Brown of the United States won the men's event, Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia won the women's event, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China won the pairs event, and Victoria Sinitsina and Ruslan Zhiganshin won the ice dance event.^[4] The 2018 Grand Prix Final was held in Vancouver. Stephen Gogolev of Canada won the men's event, Alena Kostornaia of Russia won the women's event, Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov of Russia won the pairs event, and Sofia Shevchenko and Igor Eremenko won the ice dance event.^[5]

In May 2020, Skate Canada informed the ISU that they could not host the Junior Grand Prix event scheduled to be held in August in Richmond, British Columbia, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[6] The International Skating Union eventually cancelled all scheduled Junior Grand Prix events for the 2020–21 season, citing increased travel and entry requirements between countries and potentially excessive sanitary and health care costs for those hosting competitions.^[7]

Canada was originally scheduled to host the second event of the 2021 Junior Grand Prix Series in Edmonton, but cancelled the event due to uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was reallocated to France, where the French Federation of Ice Sports was already scheduled to host the first 2021 Junior Grand Prix competition in Courchevel. Thus, two Junior Grand Prix competitions were held back-to-back at the Patinoire du Forum in Courchevel.^[8]

From left to right: The 2018 Junior Grand Prix in Canada champions: Petr Gumennik of Russia (men's singles); Anna Shcherbakova of Russia (women's singles); Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov (pair skating); and Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada (ice dance)

Men's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1999	Montreal	Soshi Tanaka	Ryan Bradley	Kensuke Nakaniwa	[3]
2002		Andrei Griazev	Evan Lysacek	Jamal Othman	[9]
2005		Patrick Chan	Takahiko Kozuka	Craig Ratterree	[10]
2011 Final	Quebec City	Jason Brown	Yan Han	Joshua Farris	[4]
2018	Richmond	Petr Gumennik	Tomoki Hiwatashi	Adam Siao Him Fa	[11]
2018 Final	Vancouver	Stephen Gogolev	Petr Gumennik	Koshiro Shimada	[5]
2020	Richmond	Competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[7]
2021	Edmonton				[8]

Women's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1999	Montreal	Irina Nikolaeva	Naomi Nari Nam	Stacey Pensgen	[3]
2002		Miki Ando	Louann Donovan	Cynthia Phaneuf	[9]
2005		Akiko Kitamura	Megan Oster	Laura Dutertre	[10]
2011 Final	Quebec City	Yulia Lipnitskaya	Polina Shelepen	Polina Korobeynikova	[4]
2018	Richmond	Anna Shcherbakova	Anastasia Tarakanova	Rion Sumiyoshi	[11]
2018 Final	Vancouver	Alena Kostornaia	Alexandra Trusova	Alena Kanysheva	[5]
2020	Richmond	Competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[7]
2021	Edmonton				[8]

• ISU Junior Grand Prix at the International Skating Union
• Skate Canada
• JGP Canada at Skating Scores