Mao Shimada won her record third straight world junior championship crown with a phenomenal showing in the free skate in Debrecen, Hungary, on Saturday afternoon, March 1. Combining incredible athleticism with fantastic artistry, the 16-year-old superstar was victorious by a margin of more than 40 points.
Shimada's performance to "Mado Kara Mieru" may well go down as the greatest single skate in the 50-year history of the World Junior Championships. It was an absolutely stunning display by the Tokyo native that will be remembered for years to come.
The winning total score for Shimada was a personal best of 230.84 points. She established new personal bests in both the short program (74.68) and the free skate (156.16) on the way to victory.
South Korea's Jia Shin, who was seventh after the short program, jumped up to finish second for the fourth straight year with 190.53. American Elyce Lin-Gracey, who competed in the senior Grand Prix this season, took third place at 188.71.
Ami Nakai, the world junior bronze medalist in 2023, came in fourth on 185.89. Georgia's Inga Gurgenidze, who was second after the short program, came undone in her free skate and fell to sixth place with 183.04.
Kaoruko Wada, who was fifth after the short program, dropped to eighth on 181.65.
Mao Shimada is Brilliant in Her Free Skate
Leading by more than seven points after the short program, Shimada took the gutsy route by really going for it in her free skate. She opened with a beautiful triple axel, followed by a big quadruple toe loop, then tore off consecutive triple/triple combinations.
Shimada landed eight clean triples in all, and earned level fours on all of her spins in an ethereal effort that was punctuated by her mesmerizing final spin at mind-blowing speed.
Mao Shimada Reacts to Her Victory
"More than winning for the third time, I'm very happy that I was able to bring out a performance I'm satisfied with," Shimada stated. "I think I was able to do everything I can. In the past, I had a lot of frustrating experiences, and in some competitions I didn't have many happy memories because of my mistakes."
Added Shimada, "This time, to be able to get my season's best score, and to get over 150 for the first time. I was really happy when I landed my first two jumps. But I still had the rest of the performance to go, so I focused and wanted to land all of my jumps."
Shimada felt immense pride in her record-setting achievement.
"I'm really happy to be the first to do it as a Japanese," she said, "and when compared to the results of my practice, I think it turned out really well."
Shin Looks Ahead After Another 2nd-Place Finish
Shin was the last skater of the penultimate group and moved into first place with her skate to "Liebestraum No. 3." She fell on a triple lutz/triple toe loop combination midway through the program, but hit seven triples and posted level fours on two of her spins.
"I'm not so happy because I made a mistake today," Shin declared. "The four years I skated in world juniors and juniors felt like a really, really long time for me. I'm excited to move up to senior next season, but it kind of feels surreal for me."
Added Shin, "I really know I need to work on my skating skills so that I will be a good senior. Also, the Olympic Games is something that feels very far away for me right now. It has to come closer before I start thinking about it."
Nakai Narrowly Misses Making the Podium
Nakai missed the podium by less than three points in her performance to songs from the "Cinderella" soundtrack. The 16-year-old went down on her opening triple axel, then under-rotated another triple axel on the front end of a planned combination.
While her challenging a second straight triple axel was admirable, one had to wonder about the wisdom of it, as it ultimately cost her a second world junior medal.
"Of course, there were a lot of things leading up to this, and even within myself, I felt a bit emotionally confused and had some worries," Nakai remarked. "But when the music started, more than before, I just thought, 'I'll give it everything I have, no matter what,' and I have no regrets about that."
Added Nakai, "I'm very frustrated that I made mistakes, but I feel like I gave it my all. Challenging the axel is what I wanted, and because I was able to take it seriously, I feel like my opportunities to attempt it might slightly decrease in the future. But rather than focusing only on results, I think for seniors, the process is more important.
"While I'm still a junior, I want to gain as many experiences as possible," Nakai continued. "That's why in this situation, I chose to go for two axels."
Skating Mistakes Impact Wada's Score
Wada, who was fifth after the short program, had a real shot to make the podium, but saw it end in a flurry of quarter rotation short calls and under-rotations in her skate to selections from the "Titanic" soundtrack.
The 15-year-old had five different quarter calls, two under-rotations, and two edge calls on her jumping passes. She did record level fours on all of her spins, but that could not offset the significant issues elsewhere.
"There were some things I was a bit unsure about in terms of my score, but I was very satisfied with my performance itself, so I'm glad," Wada stated. "Compared to my short program there were a lot more people in the audience. I think being able to skate in that atmosphere made for an amazing experience."
Added Wada, "I was able to skate without being overly hesitant, and I didn't get nervous. Thanks to that, I was able to skate freely with ease. Even if I didn't make any mistakes, and I had a satisfying performance, I couldn't get very high scores this time."
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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