Canada’s Ava Kemp & Yohnatan Elizarov skated off with gold at the ISU Figure Skating Junior World Championships 2026 on Thursday in Tallinn, Estonia, becoming the first Canadian Junior Pair to win this title since 1978. The standings shuffled often during an eventful Pairs Free Skating competition.

Kemp & Elizarov golden for Canada 

Ava Kemp & Yohnatan Elizarov came from second place to strike the first Pairs gold for Canada at the ISU Junior World Championships in 48 years. Jazmine Desrochers & Kieran Thrasher made it one-two for the Canadian Pairs with the silver medal while Hannah Herrera & Ivan Khobta of Ukraine rose from fifth to earn the bronze in their first season as a team. 

The ISU Figure Skating Junior World Championships celebrate their 50^th anniversary this year and you have to go back almost to the beginning to find Pair Skating Champions from Canada. The last ones were Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini in 1978, who went on to become ISU World Champions in 1984.

When Kemp & Elizarov met Underhill/Martini not long ago at their club, they did not know yet they would follow in their footsteps. 

“That means everything to us,” Kemp said about winning that first Junior World title in almost half a century. “We met Barb and Paul this year. They used to skate where we train, in the same club, so they came to our ice show and watched. We talked to them a bit and our choreographer Sandra [Bezic] worked with them too. We have a move in our long program that's from them so it means a lot.”

Kemp & Elizarov put out a romantic performance to “Clair de Lune” that featured a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow-single Axel-single Axel and throw triple Lutz. Kemp only missed the triple toe. The two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists scored 105.68 points for the Free Skating to move up one spot and take the title with 167.90 points. 

"Going into today we weren't really that nervous,” Kemp shared. “I felt pretty good in practice this morning, overnight, last night and then getting into the long program was a bit different. I haven't really felt like that before. We were slightly disappointed in our skate. It wasn't bad, but definitely not what we planned for. I wasn't sure what the other skaters had done and whatnot, so I honestly had no clue what was going to happen.”

Overnight leaders Desrochers & Thrasher impressed with their lifts in their routine set to “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, but made some errors. The Canadians ranked fourth in the Free Skating with 99.41 points and slipped to second at 162.25 points. 

Jazmine Desrochers & Kieran Thrasher (CAN) took the silver medal on Thursday © ISU

"At the end of the day, we're just happy to have been able to be here,” Desrochers said. “Putting out that short program was really a big step for us this season, so I think we definitely have stuff to be proud of.

"I don't think it's ever a medal lost,” she continued. “We did what we could when we were in the moment. We fought for what we could with what we had. Obviously I wish that today's skate would have gone better and it would have been more similar to what we train at home but again, we’re so proud of what we were able to do.”

While the Canadians were among the medal hopefuls, the new team of Herrera & Khobta created the biggest surprise of the night. Having skated together since June 2025, they gave a solid performance to “Primavera” by Ludovico Einaudi that included strong lifts, a nice triple twist and a double Axel-double Axel-single Axel sequence. The only major glitch came when she singled the Salchow. Herrera & Khobta were second in the Free Skating with 103.20 points and pulled up from fifth to claim the bronze. Khobta returned onto the World Junior podium after winning bronze three years ago with his previous partner, Violetta Sierova.  

Hannah Herrera & Ivan Khobta of Ukraine took the bronze in their first season as a team © ISU

“As a pair team that skated at their first [Junior] Worlds, not even having a year in the partnership, you just couldn't expect to have this success,” Khobta said. “I want to say thank you to everyone who supported us.” 

Herrera was still stunned: “I'm just kind of taking it all in, I guess. I just started [skating Pairs] a year ago. I didn't know if we were going to make it to this point or anything. I've just been taking it all in as I go, trying to gain experience. I'm really thankful to my coaches and Vania [Ivan Khobta]. He's been really helpful in making sure I'm learning everything.”

Yuxuan Chen/Yinbo Dong (CHN) turned in the third-best Free Skating to move up to fourth place on 157.99 points. The 2024 ISU Junior World silver medalists Olivia Flores & Luke Wang (USA) came fifth (149.99 points). Reigning ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Rui Guo & Yiwen Zhang (CHN) performed an excellent quadruple twist but made some errors on other elements to drop from third to sixth place (146.83 points). 

Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher, Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) and Hannah Herrera and Ivan Khobta (UKR) during the Pairs medal ceremony © ISU

The two Canadian duos are still age-eligible for juniors in the upcoming season, but they will most likely move up to the senior level, along with the Ukrainian team, who will be ineligible for the juniors.

Find more comments from the medalists in the Press Conference Highlights on the ISU event website.

Where to Watch

All the events are live-streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube channel.

What and when 

The schedule of the ISU Figure Skating Junior World Championships 2026 is as follows:

Wednesday, March 4: Junior Pairs & Junior Men’s Short Programs
Thursday, March 5: Junior Women’s Short Program & Junior Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March 6: Junior Rhythm Dance, Junior Men’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 7: Junior Free Dance, Junior Women’s Free Skating,

Full entry lists, results and further information are available on the ISU Figure Skating Junior World Championships event page and the official event website. Find the press conference highlights with comments from the top three skaters/couples on the ISU event website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldJuniorFigure and #FigureSkating. 

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