OTTAWA, ON (February 24, 2025) – All eyes will be on Debrecen, Hungary, as fourteen of Canada’s top junior skaters are set to compete in the 2025 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. Taking place from February 28 to March 2, Canadian NextGen athletes will compete in men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance as they seek the coveted title of World Champion.
Headlining the Canadian delegation will be Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, who enter the competition as the second-ranked junior pairs team in the world. The duo has made an impressive comeback since returning from injury earlier this season, winning gold at three consecutive competitions. Joining them in the pairs event will be 2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher, and national silver medalists Martina Ariano Kent and Charly Laliberté-Laurent.
After narrowly missing out on the podium at the Championships last year, ice dance team Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang will look to bring home a medal from Hungary. Bronze medalists at the 2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix in China, Nguyen and Giang also captured their first national title last month. Rounding out the ice dance event will be national bronze medalists Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren, who claimed silver at the 2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Poland.
In the men’s event, Anthony Paradis will enter the competition in strong standing after capturing the senior men’s silver medal at both the 2024-2025 Skate Canada Challenge and the 2025 Canadian National Skating Championships. He will skate alongside the junior men’s national champion David Bondar, who will be making his World Junior Championships debut in Hungary.
In the women’s competition, 2024 national champion Lulu Lin will look to make a powerful return to the ice after battling an injury earlier this season. She will be joined by first-time World Junior Championships competitor Kara Yun, who captured the senior women’s bronze medal at the 2024-2025 Skate Canada Challenge.
For the full competition schedule and results, please click here.
Team Canada
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach
Women
Lulu Lin | 15 | Oakville, ON | Paul Parkinson
Kara Yun | 16 | Vancouver, BC | Lee Barkell
Men
David Bondar | 18 | Richmond Hill, ON | Lee Barkell
Anthony Paradis | 17 | Boisbriand, QC | Yvan Desjardins
Pairs
Martina Ariano Kent | 17 | Montreal, QC & Charly Laliberté-Laurent | 19 | Boucherville, QC | Marc-Andre Craig
Jazmine Desrochers | 18 | Mississauga, ON & Kieran Thrasher | 20 | Amherstburg, ON | Jeff Langdon & Bruno Marcotte
Ava Kemp | 16 | Winnipeg, MB & Yohnatan Elizarov | 21 | Winnipeg, MB | Kevin Dawe
Ice Dance
Sandrine Gauthier | 20 | Saint-Constant, QC & Quentin Thieren | 21 | Montreal, QC | Benjamin Brisebois
Chloe Nguyen | 19 | Burnaby, BC & Brendan Giang | 21 | Burnaby, BC | Aaron Lowe
Team Leaders – Andre Bourgeois & Cynthia Ullmark
Medical Team – Delphine Boury-Simoes & Paige Larson
Official – Veronique Gosselin