Above photo credit: Getty Images
By Abby Farrell
Sixteen of Team USA’s top junior skaters will represent their country at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2025 Feb. 25-March 2, in Debrecen, Hungary.
The U.S. delegation will be comprised of experienced skaters who have stood on the podium both domestically and internationally in the junior and senior ranks this season. Of the 13 athletes who competed in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, nine members clinched medals at both their competitions. In addition, four of the U.S. skaters earned a medal at a senior international competition.
Reigning World Junior silver medalists Olivia Flores and Luke Wang and World Junior bronze medalists Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer will return and vie for a spot on the podium in the pairs event for the second straight year. 2024 marked the first time two pairs teams stood on the podium at a World Junior Championships since 2006.
Flores and Wang continued their winning ways this season, taking silver and bronze at Junior Grand Prix Turkey and Junior Grand Prix Latvia, respectively, as well as silver at the 2024 Junior Grand Prix Final.
Williams and Lewer competed internationally as seniors for the first time this season, taking bronze at 2024 Tayside Trophy and securing a top-10 finish in their Grand Prix debut at Finlandia Trophy.
Joining them to represent the stars and stripes is Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy. The pair out of Bloomington, Minnesota, will make their World Junior Championships debut after winning their first U.S. junior pairs title at the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. They finished in the top 10 at Junior Grand Prix Poland.
In the men’s event, Jacob Sanchez will be competing at his second consecutive World Junior Championships in the men’s discipline. Sanchez will travel to Debrecen with hopes to continue success in his breakout season, which saw him take home gold at both of his Junior Grand Prix assignments, the Junior Grand Prix Final and Tallinn Trophy – his first-ever senior international event.
Competing for the United States in the men’s discipline for the first time is Patrick Blackwell. Blackwell collected silver at Junior Grand Prix Czech Republic before taking bronze at the 2025 U.S. Championships earlier this season.
In the women’s event, Sophie Joline von Felten and Elyce Lin-Gracey will make their World Junior Championships debut.
Von Felten won gold at her first Junior Grand Prix event of the season in the Czech Republic. Last month, von Felten made history as the first U.S. woman ever to successfully land a quadruple Salchow en route to winning the U.S. junior women’s title.
Skating at the senior level this season, Lin-Gracey claimed silver at Cranberry Cup International and gold at Nebelhorn Trophy. Lin-Gracey’s overall score of 213.33 at Nebelhorn Trophy remains the fifth-highest total score achieved by a woman in the 2024-25 season. Lin-Gracey then finished sixth on home soil at Skate America and seventh at Skate Canada International.
All three ice dance teams representing the United States will compete at their first World Junior Championships, but all three made the podium at every Junior Grand Prix event they each competed in.
Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski won gold at Junior Grand Prix Poland and silver at Junior Grand Prix Czech Republic to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final, where they collected silver.
Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin will compete one month after winning their first U.S. junior ice dance title in Wichita. Internationally, they earned a silver and bronze at their two Junior Grand Prix events.
The brother and sister team of Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen will take the ice with two Junior Grand Prix and one U.S. Championships medal to their name. They claimed silver and bronze at Junior Grand Prix Latvia and Junior Grand Prix Slovenia, respectively, followed by a bronze at the 2025 U.S. Championships.
Competition begins Wednesday with the men’s short program and rhythm dance, followed by the women’s short program and free dance Thursday. On Friday, pairs teams take the ice for the first time for the short program and champions will be crowned following the men’s free skate. The event concludes Saturday with the women’s and pairs free skates.
Fans can watch all the action from the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2025 live on the ISU YouTube channel.
For more information about the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2025, including results and how to watch information, click here.
U.S. ENTRIES AT ISU WORLD JUNIOR FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025
Athlete | Hometown | Training Town
Women
Elyce Lin-Gracey | Arcadia, Calif. | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Sophie Joline von Felten | Boston, Mass. | Boston, Mass.
Men
Patrick Blackwell | Norwood, Mass. | Norwood, Mass.
Jacob Sanchez | Montgomery, N.Y. | Newburgh, N.Y.
Pairs
Olivia Flores and Luke Wang | Colorado Springs, Colo.; Ellicott City, Md. | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy | Minnetonka, Minn.; Shakopee, Minn.| Bloomington, Minn.
Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer | Boston, Mass.; Brisbane, Australia | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Ice Dance
Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin | Woodbridge, Conn.; Wethersfield, Conn. | Newington, Conn.
Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen | Fairfax Station, Va.; Fairfax Station, Va. | Rockville, Md.
Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski | Ann Arbor, Mich.; Lakewood, Colo. | Canton, Mich.
