The 2021–22 ISU Junior Grand Prix was a series of junior international competitions organized by the International Skating Union that were held from August 2021 through December 2021. It was the junior-level complement to the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earned points based on their placement at each event and the top six in each discipline qualified to compete at the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final in Osaka, Japan. Ultimately, the Grand Prix Final was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic On June 23, 2021, Skate Canada cancelled the second event of the series that it had been scheduled to host in Edmonton, Alberta, citing concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fédération Française des Sports de Glace, the host of the series' first event in Courchevel, offered to replace Skate Canada as host by holding a second, separate JGP event in Courchevel on the originally scheduled dates.
On June 23, the Japan Skating Federation announced that due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, it would not be sending athletes to any of the first three JGP events. The JSF ultimately chose to forego the JGP series entirely and did not send athletes to any of the events. The Chinese Skating Association also did not send athletes to any of the events due to the mandatory quarantine period upon returning home.
On August 5, the ISU announced that due to varying travel and quarantine restrictions during the pandemic, it would consider re-allocation requests on a case-by-case basis according to an outlined criteria of preference. The ISU also said that they would abandon the re-allocation process in the event of an abundance of requests or overly complex requests that would cause logistical issues. In addition, the ISU decided to not implement a JGP ranking for the season and to instead prioritize holding the JGP series safely "with the best possible participation" in light of the pandemic.
On August 10, the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FFKKR) announced that due to quarantine and vaccination requirements for Russian citizens entering France, it would not be able to send skaters to either of the first two events in Courchevel. As a result, the FFKKR asked the ISU to redistribute the quotas of Russian figure skaters from both stages in France to other stages of the series in countries where entry was possible without restrictive quarantine measures; the ISU Council agreed with the proposals. Russia received an additional two entries in singles and ice dance at the third JGP event in Slovakia and at the fourth JGP event in Russia.
Competitions The locations of the JGP events change yearly. Skate Canada was originally scheduled to host the second JGP event in Edmonton, Alberta, but cancelled the event due to uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fédération Française des Sports de Glace instead hosted two back-to-back JGP events in Courchevel. The pairs event scheduled for Canada was reassigned to Poland.
During the fourth JGP event in Russia, the rhythm dance, the first event on the opening day, was suspended after one team had performed due to technical issues. The event later resumed at 22:00 after the remainder of the day's events were completed.
This season, the series was composed of the following events.
Date Event Location Notes Results August 18–21 2021 JGP France I Courchevel, France No pairs Details August 25–28 2021 JGP France II Details September 1–4 2021 JGP Slovakia Košice, Slovakia Details September 15–18 2021 JGP Russia Krasnoyarsk, Russia Details September 22–25 2021 JGP Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia No pairs Details September 29 – October 2 2021 JGP Poland Gdańsk, Poland Details October 6–9 2021 JGP Austria Linz, Austria Details December 9–12 2021–22 JGP Final Cancelled
Entries Skaters who reached the age of 13 before July 1, 2021, but had not turned 19 (singles skaters and female pairs or ice dance skaters) or 21 (male pairs or ice dance skaters) were eligible to compete on the junior circuit. Competitors were chosen by their countries according to their federations' selection procedures. The number of entries allotted to each ISU member federation was to have been determined by their skaters' placements at the 2021 World Junior Championships in each discipline; however, the World Junior Championships were cancelled.
Number of entries per discipline Based on the results of the 2020 World Junior Championships, each ISU member nation was allowed to field the following number of entries per event.
+Singles and ice dance Entries Men Women Ice dance Two entries inseven events One entry inseven events One entry insix events One entry infive events One entry infour events One entry inthree events
+Pairs Entries Pairs Three entries infour events Two entries infour events
Medal summary Men's singles Competition Gold Silver Bronze Results JGP France I Ilia Malinin Lucas Broussard François Pitot Details JGP France II Wesley Chiu Arlet Levandi Edward Appleby Details JGP Slovakia Kirill Sarnovskiy Ilya Yablokov William Annis Details JGP Russia Gleb Lutfullin Egor Rukhin Wesley Chiu Details JGP Slovenia Ilya Yablokov Arlet Levandi Matthew Nielsen Details JGP Poland Gleb Lutfullin Mikhail Shaidorov Egor Rukhin Details JGP Austria Ilia Malinin Artem Kovalev Kirill Sarnovskiy Details
Women's singles Competition Gold Silver Bronze Results JGP France I Lindsay Thorngren Kaiya Ruiter Clare Seo Details JGP France II Isabeau Levito Kim Chae-yeon Kaiya Ruiter Details JGP Slovakia Veronika Zhilina Sofia Muravieva Adeliia Petrosian Details JGP Russia Sofia Akateva Anastasia Zinina Sofia Samodelkina Details JGP Slovenia Adeliia Petrosian Sofia Samodelkina Lindsay Thorngren Details JGP Poland Sofia Akateva Elizaveta Kulikova Shin Ji-a Details JGP Austria Sofia Muravieva Isabeau Levito Anastasia Zinina Details
Pairs Competition Gold Silver Bronze Results JGP Slovakia Anastasia Mukhortova / Dmitry Evgenyev Karina Safina / Luka Berulava Polina Kostiukovich / Aleksei Briukhanov Details JGP Russia Ekaterina Chikmareva / Matvei Ianchenkov Natalia Khabibullina / Ilya Knyazhuk Ekaterina Petushkova / Evgenii Malikov Details JGP Poland Ekaterina Chikmareva / Matvei Ianchenkov Ekaterina Petushkova / Evgenii Malikov Polina Kostiukovich / Aleksei Briukhanov Details JGP Austria Natalia Khabibullina / Ilya Knyazhuk Anastasia Mukhortova / Dmitry Evgenyev Karina Safina / Luka Berulava Details
Ice dance Competition Gold Silver Bronze Results JGP France I Katarina Wolfkostin / Jeffrey Chen Miku Makita / Tyler Gunara Hannah Lim / Ye Quan Details JGP France II Oona Brown / Gage Brown Isabella Flores / Dimitry Tsarevski Solène Mazingue / Marko Jevgeni Gaidajenko Details JGP Slovakia Natalie D'Alessandro / Bruce Waddell Vasilisa Kaganovskaia / Valeriy Angelopol Sofya Tyutyunina / Alexander Shustitskiy Details JGP Russia Irina Khavronina / Dario Cirisano Sofia Leonteva / Daniil Gorelkin Angela Ling / Caleb Wein Details JGP Slovenia Vasilisa Kaganovskaia / Valeriy Angelopol Katarina Wolfkostin / Jeffrey Chen Natalie D'Alessandro / Bruce Waddell Details JGP Poland Irina Khavronina / Dario Cirisano Isabella Flores / Dimitry Tsarevski Angelina Kudryavtseva / Ilia Karankevich Details JGP Austria Sofya Tyutyunina / Alexander Shustitskiy Oona Brown / Gage Brown Nadiia Bashynska / Peter Beaumont Details
Medal table
Qualification Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ISU chose not to implement JGP rankings for the 2021–22 season. On October 4, the ISU announced the alternative qualification procedure for the Junior Grand Prix Final in December. In addition to the below procedure, Japan, as the host of the Junior Grand Prix Final, was awarded a Wild Card berth in men's and women's singles.
For singles and ice dance The seven winners of each individual JGP event would qualify for the Final. Should there only be six different individual winners out of the seven individual JGP events because a skater or team won two JGP events, the six individual winners would qualify for the Final. Should there be fewer than six different individual winners out of the seven individual JGP events because more skaters or teams won two JGP events, all of the individual winners would qualify for the Final. In addition, the best second-placed skater or team, and so forth by total score, who were not yet qualified as a winner, would be invited to the Final in order to reach a total of six entries.
For pairs The four winners of each individual JGP event would qualify for the Final. Should there be fewer than four different individual winners out of the four individual JGP events because a team won two JGP events, all of the individual winners would qualify for the Final. In addition, the best second-placed team, and so forth by total score, who were not yet qualified as a winner, would be invited to the Final in order to reach a total of four entries.
Qualifiers Men Women Pairs Ice dance 1 Ilia Malinin Sofia Akateva Ekaterina Chikmareva / Matvei Ianchenkov Irina Khavronina / Dario Cirisano 2 Ilya Yablokov Veronika Zhilina Natalia Khabibullina / Ilya Knyazhuk Vasilisa Kaganovskaia / Valeriy Angelopol 3 Gleb Lutfullin Sofia Muravieva Anastasia Mukhortova / Dmitry Evgenyev Katarina Wolfkostin / Jeffrey Chen 4 Kirill Sarnovskiy Adeliia Petrosian Ekaterina Petushkova / Evgenii Malikov Natalie D'Alessandro / Bruce Waddell 5 Wesley Chiu Isabeau Levito (withdrew) rowspan=3 Sofya Tyutyunina / Alexander Shustitskiy 6 Egor Rukhin Lindsay Thorngren Oona Brown / Gage Brown Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda Rion Sumiyoshi Alternates Men Women Pairs Ice dance 1 Artem Kovalev Anastasia Zinina (called up) Karina Safina / Luka Berulava Sofia Leonteva / Daniil Gorelkin 2 Mikhail Shaidorov Sofia Samodelkina Polina Kostiukovich / Aleksei Briukhanov Isabella Flores / Dimitry Tsarevski 3 Arlet Levandi Kim Chae-yeon Ekaterina Storublevtseva / Artem Gritsaenko Miku Makita / Tyler Gunara
Records and achievements Records
The following new junior ISU best scores were set during this season:
Segment Skater(s) Score Event Date Women Free skating Sofia Akateva 157.19 2021 JGP Russia September 18, 2021 Total score 233.08
Achievements At the JGP France I, Hannah Lim and Ye Quan were the first South Korean and the first Asian ice dance team to win an ISU Junior Grand Prix medal (a bronze medal). At the JGP France II, Arlet Levandi was the first Estonian men's singles skater to win an ISU Grand Prix medal (a silver medal) at either the junior or senior level. At the JGP Slovakia, Karina Safina and Luka Berulava were the first Georgian pairs team to win an ISU Grand Prix medal (a silver medal) at either the junior or senior level. At the JGP Poland, Angelina Kudryavtseva and Ilia Karankevich won Cyprus's first ISU Grand Prix medal (a bronze medal) at either the junior or senior level in any discipline.
Top scores
Men's singles +Top 10 best scores in the men's combined total Skater Nation Score Event 1 Ilia Malinin 245.35 2021 JGP Austria 2 Ilya Yablokov 231.99 2021 JGP Slovenia 3 Gleb Lutfullin 231.26 2021 JGP Poland 4 Egor Rukhin 223.29 2021 JGP Russia 5 Artem Kovalev 221.51 2021 JGP Austria 6 Wesley Chiu 217.59 2021 JGP Russia 7 Kirill Sarnovskiy 216.70 2021 JGP Austria 8 Mikhail Shaidorov 207.03 2021 JGP Poland 9 William Annis 204.60 2021 JGP Slovakia 10 Fedor Zonov 201.28 2021 JGP Russia +Top 10 best scores in the men's short program Skater Nation Score Event 1 Artem Kovalev 81.31 2021 JGP Russia Ilia Malinin 2021 JGP Austria 3 Gleb Lutfullin 80.13 2021 JGP Russia 4 Ilya Yablokov 78.89 2021 JGP Slovenia 5 Egor Rukhin 78.43 2021 JGP Russia 6 Wesley Chiu 76.63 Corey Circelli 2021 JGP France I 8 William Annis 76.21 2021 JGP Slovakia 9 Kirill Sarnovskiy 75.20 2021 JGP Austria 10 Andrei Anisimov 73.69 2021 JGP Russia