OTTAWA, ON (February 21, 2024) – Canada’s up-and-coming figure skaters have big goals for the 2024 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, which will take place in Taipei City, Taipei from February 26 to March 3, 2024. Team Canada will feature two pair teams, three ice dance teams, two men, and two women. 

Pair team Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov placed sixth at the 2023 World Junior Championships held in Calgary, Alta., and will enter this year’s competition riding a high after capturing a silver medal at the ISU Grand Prix Final, gold at the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) Solidarity Cup in Gdansk, Poland, and gold at the 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships (nationals). They will be joined by Martina Ariano Kent and Charly Laliberté-Laurent who finished fourth at the Grand Prix Final, won gold at the JGP Cup of Austria, bronze at the JGP Budapest, and took silver at nationals. 

The ice dance competition will feature all of the junior medallists from nationals with gold medallists Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys, silver medallists Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang – who also captured silver at the JGP Cup of Austria, and bronze medallists Alisa Korneva and Kieran MacDonald. All teams will be looking to gain valuable experience on the international stage. 

The men’s event will be promising after both skaters recently podiumed in the senior men’s competition at nationals. Aleksa Rakic captured silver at the event and also finished fourth at the 2023 Cranberry Cup and fifth at the Nebelhorn Trophy. 2023 national junior bronze medallist Anthony Paradis delivered an inspired performance to claim bronze at his first senior nationals. 

Kaiya Ruiter will look to cap off a strong season at the event after earning her first Canadian senior championships title in January, and silver medals at Skate Canada Challenge and the Autumn Classic International. She finished tenth at the World Junior Championships last year that were held in her hometown of Calgary, Alta. She’ll be joined by Lulu Lin who continues her climb up the ranks after being crowned the junior Canadian champion in January and finishing seventh at the Junior Grand Prix Solidarity Cup in Poland. 

TEAM CANADA 
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location 

Pair 
Ava Kemp | 15 | Winnipeg, Man. & Yohnatan Elizarov | 21 | Winnipeg, Man. | Kevin Dawe & Lee Barkell | Toronto, Ont.  
Martina Ariano Kent | 16 | Mount Royal, Que. & Charly Laliberté-Laurent | 18 | Boucherville, Que. | Marc-André Craig & David Alexandre Paradis | Chambly, Que.   

Ice Dance 
Alisa Korneva | 17 | Waterloo, Ont. & Kieran MacDonald | 21 | Waterloo, Ont. | Carleigh MacDonald & Paul MacIntosh | Waterloo, Ont.  
Chloe Nguyen | 18 | Vancouver, B.C. & Brendan Giang | 20 | Burnaby, B.C. | Aaron Lowe & Megan Wing | Burnaby, B.C. 
Layla Veillon | 17 | London, Ont. & Alexander Brandys | 18 | London, Ont. | Scott Moir & Cara Moir | London, Ont.  

Men 
Anthony Paradis | 16 | Boisbriand, Que. | Yvan Desjardins & Violaine Émard | Rosemère, Que. 
Aleksa Rakic | 19 | Burnaby, B.C. | Joanne McLeod | Burnaby, B.C. 

Women 
Lulu Lin | 13 | Mississauga, Ont. | Andrew Evans & Paul Parkinson | Mississauga, Ont.  
Kaiya Ruiter | 17 | Calgary, Alta. | Scott Davis & Jeff Langdon | Calgary, Alta. 

Team Leaders – Andre Bourgeois & Manon Perron  
Medical Team – Delphine Boury-Simoes & Mike McMurray 
Officials – Laura Carr & Patty Klein 

For more information about the event, please click here.