ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia

ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia
Status	Active
Genre	ISU Junior Grand Prix
Frequency	Occasional
Country	Slovenia
Inaugurated	1999
Previous event	2024
Organized by	Slovene Skating Union

The ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia – also known as Skate Slovenia and the Ljubljana Cup – is an international figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Slovene Skating Union (Slovene: Zveza Drsalnih Športov Slovenije). It is held periodically as an event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP), a series of international competitions exclusively for junior-level skaters. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earn points based on their results at the qualifying competitions each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are invited to then compete at the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP) was established by the International Skating Union (ISU) in 1997 and consists of a series of seven international figure skating competitions exclusively for junior-level skaters. The locations of the Junior Grand Prix events change every year. While all seven competitions feature the men's, women's, and ice dance events, only four competitions each season feature the pairs event. Skaters earn points based on their results each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are then invited to compete at the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.^[1]

Skaters are eligible to compete on the junior-level circuit if they are at least 13 years old before July 1 of the respective season, and if they have not yet turned 19 (for single skaters, and females in ice dance and pair skating) or 21 (for males in ice dance and pair skating).^[1] Competitors are chosen by their respective skating federations. The number of entries allotted to each ISU member nation in each discipline is determined by their results at the prior World Junior Figure Skating Championships.^[2]

Slovenia hosted its first Junior Grand Prix competition in 1999 in Bled. Stefan Lindemann of Germany won the men's event, Irina Tkatchuk of Russia won the women's event, Julia Shapiro and Alexei Sokolov of Russia won the pairs event, and Elena Khalyavina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia won the ice dance event.^[3]

Slovenia hosted the 2001 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – the culminating event of the 2001–02 ISU Junior Grand Prix Series – in Bled. Stanislav Timchenko of Russia won the men's event, Miki Ando of Japan won the women's event, Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China won the pairs event, and Elena Khalyavina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia won the ice dance event.^[4]

The International Skating Union officially cancelled all scheduled Junior Grand Prix events for the 2020–21 season, which included the 2020 Ljubljana Cup, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing increased travel and entry requirements between countries and potentially excessive sanitary and health care costs for those hosting competitions.^[5]

Men's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1999	Bled	Stefan Lindemann	Ben Miller	Denis Balandin	[3]
2001 Final		Stanislav Timchenko	Ma Xiaodong	Kevin van der Perren	[4]
2003		Christopher Mabee	Dennis Phan	Shawn Sawyer	[6]
2012		Joshua Farris	Jin Boyang	Alexander Samarin	[7]
2014	Ljubljana	Jin Boyang	Alexander Petrov	Dmitri Aliev	[8]
2016		Alexei Krasnozhon	Ilia Skirda	Kazuki Tomono	[9]
2018		Petr Gumennik	Tomoki Hiwatashi	Koshiro Shimada	[10]
2020		Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[5]
2021		Ilya Yablokov	Arlet Levandi	Matthew Nielsen	[11]
2024		Jacob Sanchez	Adam Hagara	Genrikh Gartung	[12]

Women's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1999	Bled	Irina Tkatchuk	Tamara Dorofejev	Galina Maniachenko	[3]
2001 Final		Miki Ando	Ludmila Nelidina	Akiko Suzuki	[4]
2003		Kimmie Meissner	Lina Johansson	Viktória Pavuk	[6]
2012		Kim Hae-jin	Barbie Long	Evgenia Gerasimova	[7]
2014	Ljubljana	Serafima Sakhanovich	Yuka Nagai	Leah Keiser	[8]
2016		Rika Kihira	Marin Honda	Alina Zagitova	[9]
2018		Anastasia Tarakanova	Anna Tarusina	Lee Hae-in	[10]
2020		Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[5]
2021		Adeliia Petrosian	Sofia Samodelkina	Lindsay Thorngren	[11]
2024		Sophie Joline von Felten	Shin Ji-a	Mei Okada	[12]

• ISU Junior Grand Prix at the International Skating Union
• Slovene Skating Union (in English and Slovene)
• JGP Slovenia at Skating Scores