Photo Credit KrPhotogs Photography/U.S. Figure Skating
By Kristen Henneman
The last time Teams Elite and Skyliners junior both headed to the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships in 2022, they made history.
That year, Skyliners junior earned silver and Teams Elite secured bronze, marking the first time two U.S. synchronized skating teams had ever stood on the podium at a World Championships.
Two year later, both teams return to the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships, and both will be looking to make more history as they vie for gold at this year’s event, which takes place March 15-16 in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
If either team wins gold, it would be the first time a U.S. synchronized skating team, at either the junior or senior level, has stood atop a Worlds podium.
Teams Elite and Skyliners junior rank first and second, respectively, in the 2024 ISU Challenger Series Synchronized Skating Rankings. Teams Elite, which won gold at both their Challenger Series events to go undefeated this season internationally, totaled a combined 407.76 points, the only team to score more than 400 points at their two Challenger Series events.
Skyliners junior, which ranks second with 399.65 points, won their opening Challenger Series event before finishing second to Teams Elite in Poland.
To punch their ticket to the World Junior Championships, Teams Elite won their first-ever U.S. junior title. This will be the second time they’ve competed at the World Junior Championships.
Skyliners junior, who earned the silver medal after winning the free skate, heads to the event as the most successful team to represent Team USA at the World Junior Championships after claiming a medal the last four years they’ve attended, including silver in 2018 and 2022, which is the best-ever result for the United States at the World Junior Championships.
Competition begins Friday, March 15 with the short program and concludes Saturday, March 16 with the free skate.
All competition will be livestreamed on the ISU’s YouTube channel. Live results will be available on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
