Broussard Wins Second JGP Gold, Neset and Markelov Earn Bronze at Final JGP

Lucas Broussard triumphed with a gold medal-winning performance at the final stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series Oct. 12-15 in Egna, Italy, while ice dancers Leah Neset and Artem Markelov also secured a bronze medal for Team USA, bringing the total medal count up to 10 for the season.

Broussard continued his winning streak after earning gold at the Junior Grand Prix Poland event two weekends ago, securing his spot at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December.

His short program earned 74.79 points, smashing his previous personal best at the previous JGP by over five points. He opened the powerful "Adios Nonino" tango program with a triple Axel and continued with a Level Four Flying Camel spin, a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and a Level Four Step Sequence, earning positive grades of execution on all but one element.

A triple toe kicked off his free skate to "The Leftovers" by Max Richter and "Compassion" by Ilya Beshevli, and he successfully completed six jumping passes, two of which were in combination, and one triple-triple sequence. He placed second in the free skate with a score of 136.35, but earned the highest program component scores in the segment. He also set a new overall personal best with 211.14 points to clinch the top step of the podium.

Japanese skaters Shunsuke Nakamura (211.01) and Takeru Amine Kataise (201.35) claimed second and third, respectively.

Daniel Martynov returned to the JGP circuit after a three-year hiatus, finishing in eighth place.

The 2019 U.S. intermediate silver medalist placed third in the short program, beginning his performance with a well-executed triple Axel. He also hit two spins and a triple loop to accrue 72.35 points. Although he fell to eighth overall in the standings following his free skate to "Air" by Jan Werner, he scored 115.56 in the segment and 187.91 overall to set new international personal bests in all three of his performances in Italy.

In ice dance, Neset and Markelov, the 2022 U.S. ice dance junior champions, completed two strong performances to place second in the rhythm dance and third in the free dance to clinch third overall, setting new international personal bests for each segment and overall scores in the process.

In their JGP debut, Neset and Markelov earned positive GOEs for every element in their "Moulin Rouge!" themed rhythm dance, scoring 61.27 points. They continued this trend in the free dance, set to music from the Pirates of the Caribbean film soundtrack. The powerful program featured a Level Four dance spin, two Level Four lifts and a swashbuckling choreographic character step sequence, earning them 95.09 for the segment and 156.36 overall.

Teammates Jenna Hauer and Benjamin Starr finished right behind in fourth place with145.48 points overall and also earned all positive GOEs in both programs. Their tango rhythm dance incorporated Level Four twizzles and a Level Three rotational lift to earn them a personal best score of 60.32 points and put them in third place in the rhythm dance segment.  A Level Four rotational lift, Level Four dance spin and a Level Four straight line lift in their free dance kept them in the hunt for a medal with 85.16 points, although they finished just off the podium in fourth.

The top of the dance podium was claimed by Czech team Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek (173.00), and Korea's Hannah Lim and Ye Quan earned silver (158.25).

In the women's event, Sherry Zhang and Soho Lee both finished in the top 10. Thirteen-year-old Zhang placed sixth in her first international outing, while 2022 JGP Latvia silver medalist Lee was close behind in seventh place.  

Zhang started her "I Dreamed a Dream" short program with an impressive triple Lutz-double toe combination. She also executed a triple loop and two Level Four spins, racking up 57.85 points. She came into the free skate in seventh place, completing a triple flip-double toe combination, triple loop-double toe-double loop combination, and three Level Four spins, including a stunning combination spin at the end of the program. This performance earned 114.03 points, and she finished sixth in both the free skate and overall with 171.88 points.

Lee's short program, which earned a score of 61.73, included three Level Four spins and a triple loop and earned her positive GOES in all but one element, placing fifth.

Wearing a purple tutu-style dress, she performed balletically to selections from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, landing seven jumps and executing three Level Four spins in the free skate with only small mistakes. She landed in 10th in the free skate and seventh overall, scoring 103.77 points in the free skate and 165.50 total.

The women's podium consisted of Hana Yoshida of Japan (208.31), Korea's Chaeyeon Kim (203.94) and Inga Gurgenidze of Georgia (190.52).

Junior Grand Prix Italy marks the last event before the Junior Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy, which will  take place Dec. 8-11. For more information on results from this season's Junior Grand Prix series, visit U.S. Figure Skating's JGP Competition Central.