Youth Olympic Games Preview(ish): Ice Dance
I wanted to do this as soon as the JGP was done (because the JGP was the last to determine which countries earned spots to the games), but of course, life got busy.
YOG is more restrictive than ISU Juniors in terms of age limits, so the field we will see in January (10-15 for figure skating). Skaters have to be born between January 1, 2003, and December 3, 2005, except for male ice dancers and pairs, who have to be born between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2005. For reference, the ISU age limits for this season are July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2006 (July 1, 1998, for the dance/pairs men).
Additionally, this is an IOC event so skaters must have citizenship for the country they represent, which may eliminate a few skaters from the selection.
Ice dance is especially affected by these restrictions, as none of the 6 pairs that qualified for the JGP final are age-eligible.
I know in the past the U.S. has used specific qualifying competitions and Canada hasn’t sent anyone due to conflicts with nationals. However, for all the previews I will do will assume that the countries will send their top skaters.
My preview will be in the order that the countries earned their spots (WJC 2019, followed by JGP, then host nation). Bolded names are age-eligible pairs we might see in Lausanne. Links will go to the pair’s ISU bio.
By virtue of Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha’s victory at World Juniors, Canada has earned two spots to the Ice Dance event in Lausanne. While Lajoie and Lagha are not age-eligible, Canada has multiple competitive pairs for the two spots.
Based on JGP results, the two spots will probably go to Natalie D'ALESSANDRO and Bruce WADDELL, and Emmy BRONSARD and Aissa BOUARAGUIA. D/W won silver at JGP Egna while B/B won bronze at JGP Croatia. I believe Skate Canada has stated that the top-scoring interested skaters at the end of the JGP will get the spots so assuming these two are interested, we will see them in Lausanne
Other options for Canada are Nadiia BASHYNSKA and Peter BEAUMONT who earned bronze at JGP Russia, and Miku MAKITA and Tyler GUNARA, who have a couple of 4th places finishes this season. The biggest question mark here would be Peter’s citizenship–he’s originally from Great Britain and represented the country until 2016, so I’m not sure if he has the Canadian citizenship required to be eligible.
With two pairs on the podium at World Juniors, Russia has earned 2 spots in Ice Dance. Russia had many duos on the JGP this season, but only one is age-eligible for YOG–Sofya TYUTYUNINA and Alexander SHUSTITSKIY, first alternates for the JGP final after winning a silver and bronze at their events.
With Russia’s depth in ice dance, however, I’m pretty sure they’ll have a second age-eligible pair who didn’t qualify for a JGP spot that they’ll send.
Every country from here on out has one spot to the YOG. Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik, the top qualifiers for the JGPF are not eligible as Avonley is too old and Vadym doesn’t have U.S. citizenship.
Based on the JGP, Katarina WOLFKOSTIN and Jeffrey CHEN (Yes, Karen’s brother) are the top U.S. pair and will probably get the spot. They’re a new pair this season, and place 4th and 5th at their JGP events. Another option would be siblings Oona and Gage BROWN, “pewter” medalists at U.S. Junior Nationals last season.
Georgia was the next country to earn a spot, but Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya (who earned the spot), are too old for YOG and Georgia doesn’t seem to have any other junior ice dance teams, so I predict this spot will be reallocated to the next country in line, Estonia (will later)
France’s top age-eligible pair is Celina FRADJI and Jean-Hans FOURNEAUX, who made their junior international debut this season at JGP France with the 10th place finish. Like the United States, France’s top pair and JGPF qualifiers Loicia Demougeot and Theo Le Mercier are too old for the YOG.
Ukraine will probably be represented by Anna CHERNIAVSKA and Oleg MURATOV who placed 11th at JGP Poland this season. Both are born in 2004 so they have many more years at the Junior level–YOG will probably be a good experience for them.
Italy had a few dance teams on the JGP this season but only one is age-eligible: siblings Giulia TUBA and Andrea TUBA. Born in 2004 and 2003, these two also have many years left at the junior level and YOG would be a good experience for them as well.
The Czech Republic earned a spot in ice dance due to the Taschler(ova) siblings’ excellent performances on the JGP (3rd and 5th), however, the siblings are not age-eligible. Denisa CIMLOVA and Vilem HLAVSA will probably get the spot.
Japan also earned a spot on the JGP, due to the strong performances of Utana YOSHIDA and Shingo NISHIYAMA, who are age-eligible for the games! This team trains in Toronto (at the Cricket Club) with Tracy Wilson, Andrew Hallam, and Joey Russell, where they are training mates of D’Alessandro and Waddell.
Switzerland gets a spot in every discipline as the host nation, but they did not have an ice dance team on the JGP this season, so I doubt they have an age-eligible team for YOG. This spot will probably get reallocated to Great Britain
*Probable reallocation from Georgia
Should Estonia get a reallocated spot, they will probably be represented by
Darja NETJAGA and Marko Jevgeni GAIDAJENKO, who train part-time in Russia under Alexei Gorshkov, who trains some of Russia’s top junior dance teams.
*Probable reallocation from Switzerland
Great Britain didn’t have any age eligible teams on the JGP, but Emily PHILLIPS and Jayin PANESAR are age-eligible and will be competing at a few smaller international events in the upcoming months.
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