2009 was quite the year. Chesley Sullenberger landed Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, saving all lives involved. President Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. The Black Eyed Peas single "Boom Boom Pow" was released and was later named the Billboard Song of the Year.
 
But aside from all those incredible events, some of today's figure skating stars were making their international debuts at the ISU World Junior Championships 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
 
In the men's division, 19-year-old Adam Rippon became the first figure skater to win two World Junior Championship titles (2008, '09), just 10 years after he started skating in 1999. His free skate, a combination of "Send in the Clowns," and "I, Pagliacci," earned him 147.70 points, 12 points more than the silver medal. He later went on to become the U.S. Champion (2016), a seven-time Grand Prix medalist and an Olympic bronze medalist in the Team Event at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
 
In the ladies competition, Caroline Zhang earned her second straight silver medal at the World Junior Championships at 15 years old, despite initially placing tenth in the short program. She earned 107.03 in the free skate, taking her to a total of 154.67 points for her third consecutive year on the podium (she was the junior world champion in 2007). Zhang performed her signature "pearl spin," a variation of a lay-back with a lower upper body position while catching the blade, straight into a hyper-extended Biellmann spin. She later went on to become a two-time bronze medalist at Four Continents Championships (2010, '12).
 
Ashley Wagner earned her second bronze medal at World Juniors at 17 years old, after placing fourth at the U.S. Championships. She later went on to the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 where she helped Team USA earn bronze in the first ever Team Event. Wagner also became a three-time U.S. champion (2012, '13, '15), three-time Grand Prix Final medalist and World silver medalist in 2016.
 
In pairs, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir earned their first international medal, bronze, as a team at World Juniors. The pair started training together in 2006, and they went on to capture multiple medals at the senior international level and two U.S. titles (2013, '14). They ceased their partnership in 2014, but Castelli went on to compete with Mervin Tran while Shnapir partnered with DeeDee Leng.
 
Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein topped the 2009 World Junior podium in ice dance. In the following seasons, they went on to make their senior debut, earning two bronze international medals and bronze at the 2011 U.S. Championships. At the end of the 2011 season, they ended their partnership, and Chock teamed up with her current partner, Evan Bates. The pair has since gathered 10 Grand Prix Series medals, including three golds, two Grand Prix Final medals and earned their first ISU Championship title at the ISU Four Continents Championships 2019 in Anaheim, California. They have also been on the U.S. Championships podium in seven consecutive seasons, earning the U.S. ice dance title in 2015.
 
At just 14 and 17 years old, ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani placed second at World Juniors in 2009. They competed on the junior international circuit for the following season, moving up to senior in 2010. They went on to earn three World medals, two bronzes and one silver, and became Four Continents champions in 2016. The Shibutanis have collected six Grand Prix Series gold medals and are two-time bronze medalists at the Grand Prix Final. The pair has also won a medal every year they competed at U.S. Championships, earning titles in 2016 and 2017, and claimed bronze medals in ice dance and the Team Event at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
 
Just short of the podium, Madison and Keiffer Hubbell were less than a half a point off the World Junior podium in ice dance. The siblings had earned four Junior Grand Prix gold medals, including gold at the Junior Grand Prix Final in 2007, as well as bronze at 2010 Four Continents. They ended their partnership in 2011, and Madison paired up with her current partner Zachary Donohue. The team has reached the U.S. Championships podium every year they have competed, and are the two-time reigning U.S. champions (2018, '19). In the 2018-2019 season, they also earned their first Grand Prix Final title after earning gold at Skate Canada International and Skate America.
 
Where will Team USA be in 10 years? Only time will tell.