Team USA tallied two silver medals with
Olivia Flores and Luke Wang in pairs and
Yahli Pedersen and Jeffrey Chen in ice dance at the third Junior Grand Prix in Istanbul, Turkey, this past weekend.
By earning their second silver at Junior Grand Prix series, Flores and Wang are the first U.S. athletes to secure their spot at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023 in Beijing, China, Dec. 7-10.
The duo was in third after the short program with a score of 49.52, but wowed the judges in their free skate to "The Force Theme" and "Rey's Theme" by Samuel Kim. Highlighted by their double Axel-single Axel-double Axel jump sequence, Flores and Wang earned an international personal best score of 105.00 and finished 14 points ahead of the third-place free skate team to win the silver with a total score of 154.52.
Adele Zheng and Andy Deng finished sixth overall in their JGP debut with a score of 106.92.
In ice dance, Pedersen and Chen took home the silver medal in their JGP debut after leading the field in the rhythm dance to "A Kind of Magic" and "Under Pressure" by Queen. The team shined with a midline serpentine step sequence that earned them 9.74 points to contribute to their score of 63.25. In the free dance, the duo had an unfortunate fall, putting them fifth overall in the free skate with 83.12 points, but their overall score of 146.37 was good for the silver medal.
Olivia Ilin and Dylan Cain finished sixth overall, scoring 134.81 points for an international personal best in their JGP debut. With their free dance performance to "Fire on Fire" by Sam Smith and "Pink Flames" by Karl Hugo, Ilin and Cain earned an international personal best score of 83.12 points.
In the women's discipline,
Elyce Lin-Gracey finished just off the podium in fourth place, earning international personal best scores across the board – 59.75 in the short program, 119.41 in the free skate and 179.16 for her overall score. After she finished fifth in the short program, she dazzled in her free skate to "Anna's Theme" by Joshua Bell and "Not About Angels" by Birdy, performing three jumping elements in the second half of her skate take third in the segment.
In the men's discipline,
Kai Kovar finished ninth overall with a score of 166.30.
For complete results, visit the
Junior Grand Prix Competition Central.
