Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev led Team USA after day one at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2023 by earning the top spot in the pairs short program, putting themselves in gold medal position.
En route to the top spot, the 2022 Junior Grand Prix silver medalists earned an international best score of 66.95, more than six points ahead of the second place team. The duo opened with a Level 4 triple twist lift and earned their highest marks on their Level 4 lift, earning all positive grades of execution to put them in gold medal position going into Thursday's free skate.
U.S. teammates Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer also earned an international personal best short program score with 52.13 points. Their program to Florence + The Machine's rendition of "Tiny Dancer" featured a Level 4 reverse lasso lift that earned them 7.70 points and led to a seventh-place finish after the short program.
France's Oxana Vouillamoz and Flavien Giniaux are currently in second with a score of 60.58 followed by Australia's Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore in third with 59.18 points.
In the women's discipline, all three U.S. women qualified in the top 24 to advance to the free skate performance. Forty-seven women competed in the short program on Wednesday.
Clare Seo led the U.S. women, finishing in ninth place after the short program with a score of 58.41. Despite an early bobble, Seo came back strong in her short program to a melody of "Simple Gifts" by Elder Joseph and "Appalachian Spring: VII Doppio Movimento" by Aaron Copland with a back half triple loop and three Level 4 elements to earn her a spot in the top 10.
Josephine Lee currently sits in 14th place after the short program earning a score of 56.09. Skating to "Letting Go" by Saara Aalto, Lee fell on her opening combination jump but like Seo made a comeback with a back half triple loop and three Level 4 elements to close out her short program.
2023 U.S. junior champion, Soho Lee skated to "Nocturne" by Chopin. She executed a Level 4 camel spin with a flying entry, a Level 4 combo spin with a change of foot and closed her performance with a Level 4 layback spin. Her performance earned her 54.23 points, good for 16th place heading into the free skate.
Japan's Mao Shimada (71.78) and Ami Nakai (67.28) earned the first and third spots, while Jia Shin of Korea sits in second place with 71.19 points.
