# 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix

The 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the 12th season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the Junior-level complement to the 2008–09 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for Senior-level skaters. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance.
Skaters earned points towards qualification at each of the eight Junior Grand Prix events. The top eight skaters/teams in the series from each discipline met at the Junior Grand Prix Final. For the first time, the Junior Grand Prix Final was held concurrently with the senior Grand Prix Final.

## Competitions

The locations of the JGP events change yearly. In the 2008–09 season, the series was composed of the following events:
| Date | Event | Location | Other notes |
| August 27–31 | 2008 JGP Courchevel | Courchevel, France | No pair competition |
| September 3–7 | 2008 JGP Merano | Merano, Italy | No pair competition |
| September 10–14 | 2008 JGP Mexico Cup | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| September 17–21 | 2008 JGP Czech Skate | Ostrava, Czech Republic | |
| September 24–28 | 2008 JGP Madrid Cup | Madrid, Spain | No pair competition |
| October 1–5 | 2008 JGP Golden Lynx | Gomel, Belarus | |
| October 8–12 | 2008 JGP Skate Safari | Cape Town, South Africa | No pair competition |
| October 15–18 | 2008 JGP John Curry Memorial | Sheffield, United Kingdom | |
| December 10–14 | 2008–09 Junior Grand Prix Final | Goyang, South Korea | |
For the first time, the Junior Grand Prix Final was held in conjunction with the Grand Prix Final.

## Qualifying

Skaters who reached the age of 13 by July 1, 2008 but had not turned 19 (singles and females of the other two disciplines) or 21 (male pair skaters and ice dancers) were eligible to compete on the junior circuit. Unlike the senior ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, skaters for the Junior Grand Prix are entered by their national federations rather than seeded by the ISU. The number of entries allotted to each ISU member federation is determined by their skaters' placements at the previous season's World Junior Figure Skating Championships in each respective discipline.
For the 2008–09 season, in singles, the five best placed member nations at the 2008 World Junior Figure Skating Championships were allowed to enter two skaters in all eight events. Member nations who placed sixth through tenth were allowed to enter one skater in all eight events. Member nations with a skater who had qualified for the free skate at Junior Worlds were allowed to enter one skater in seven of the events. Member nations who did not qualify for the free skate but placed 25th through 30th in the short program were allowed to enter one skater in six of the events. All other nations were allowed to enter one skater in five of the events. There were provisions for additional entries per member country if another country did not use all of its allotted entries.
In pairs, member nations were allowed to enter up to three teams per event. The host nation was allowed to enter as many pair teams as it wanted. Pairs was contested at four events out of eight.
In ice dance, member nations were allowed to enter one dance team per event. Member nations who placed in the top five at the 2008 World Junior Championships were allowed to enter a second dance team.
The host country was allowed to enter up to three skaters/teams in singles and dance in their event, and there was no limit to the number of pairs teams.
The general spots allowance for the 2008–09 Junior Grand Prix events was as follows:
| Entries | Men | Ladies | Ice dance |
| 2 per event | United States Russia China Czech Republic Canada | United States Finland Japan Russia Sweden | United States Canada Russia Ukraine Italy |
| 1 per event | France Switzerland Spain Ukraine Kazakhstan | Germany Canada Estonia Spain Italy | |
| 1 in seven events | Japan Sweden Germany Slovakia Poland | South Korea Slovakia Ukraine Austria China New Zealand Australia Hungary | |
| 1 in six events | Estonia Austria Norway Finland Israel Italy | Czech Republic Azerbaijan Chinese Taipei Denmark | |
All other member nations had one entry per discipline in five of the eight events in singles, and one entry in all eight events for ice dance.

## Junior Grand Prix Final qualifiers

The following skaters have qualified for the 2008–2009 Junior Grand Prix Final, in order of qualification.
| | Men | Ladies | Pairs | Ice dance |
| 1 | Richard Dornbush | Kristine Musademba | Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze | Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell |
| 2 | Michal Březina | Yukiko Fujisawa | Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov | Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein |
| 3 | Armin Mahbanoozadeh | Alexe Gilles | Sabina Imaikina / Andrei Novoselov | Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani |
| 4 | Alexander Johnson | Kanako Murakami | Ksenia Krasilnikova / Konstantin Bezmaternikh | Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro |
| 5 | Florent Amodio | Amanda Dobbs | Ksenia Ozerova / Alexander Enbert | Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue |
| 6 | Ivan Bariev | Becky Bereswill | Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran | Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun |
| 7 | Denis Ten | Angela Maxwell | Zhang Yue / Wang Lei | Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill |
| 8 | Elladj Baldé | Diane Szmiett | Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir | Ekaterina Pushkash / Dmitri Kiselev |
| Alternates |||||
| 1st | Artur Gachinski | Stefania Berton | Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov | Marina Antipova / Artem Kudashev |
| 2nd | Keegan Messing | Sarah Hecken | Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers | Karen Routhier / Eric Saucke-Lacelle |
| 3rd | Cheng Gongming | Shoko Ishikawa | Anaïs Morand / Antoine Dorsaz | Lucie Myslivečková / Matěj Novák |
* Michal Březina, the second qualifier in the men's event, withdrew on December 1. Artur Gachinski, the first alternate, replaces him.
* Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue, the fifth qualifiers in the ice dance event, withdrew due to an injury to Gilles. Marina Antipova / Artem Kudashev, the first alternates, replace them.
* Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov, the first alternates in the pairs event, withdrew on December 1.

## Medalists
### Men

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Michal Březina | Armin Mahbanoozadeh | Florent Amodio |
| Italy | Michal Březina | Curran Oi | Alexander Nikolaev |
| Mexico | Richard Dornbush | Elladj Baldé | Cheng Gongming |
| Czech Rep. | Alexander Johnson | Ivan Bariev | Akio Sasaki |
| Spain | Armin Mahbanoozadeh | Artur Gachinski | Tatsuki Machida |
| Belarus | Denis Ten | Yang Chao | Cheng Gongming |
| South Africa | Richard Dornbush | Ivan Bariev | Elladj Baldé |
| United Kingdom | Florent Amodio | Keegan Messing | Alexander Johnson |
| Final | Florent Amodio | Armin Mahbanoozadeh | Richard Dornbush |

### Ladies

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Kristine Musademba | Becky Bereswill | Diane Szmiett |
| Italy | Melissa Bulanhagui | Rumi Suizu | Sarah Hecken |
| Mexico | Amanda Dobbs | Alexe Gilles | Kwak Min-jeong |
| Czech Rep. | Yukiko Fujisawa | Angela Maxwell | Stefania Berton |
| Spain | Kristine Musademba | Becky Bereswill | Kanako Murakami |
| Belarus | Haruka Imai | Oksana Gozeva | Kana Muramoto |
| South Africa | Alexe Gilles | Diane Szmiett | Amanda Dobbs |
| United Kingdom | Kanako Murakami | Yukiko Fujisawa | Angela Maxwell |
| Final | Becky Bereswill | Yukiko Fujisawa | Alexe Gilles |

### Pairs

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held |
| Italy | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held |
| Mexico | Ksenia Krasilnikova / Konstantin Bezmaternikh | Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov | Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov |
| Czech Rep. | Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze | Sabina Imaikina / Andrei Novoselov | Ksenia Ozerova / Alexander Enbert |
| Spain | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held |
| Belarus | Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze | Ksenia Ozerova / Alexander Enbert | Zhang Yue / Wang Lei |
| South Africa | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held | No pairs competition held |
| United Kingdom | Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov | Sabina Imaikina / Andrei Novoselov | Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran |
| Final | Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze | Zhang Yue / Wang Lei | Ksenia Krasilnikova / Konstantin Bezmaternikh |

### Ice dance

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani | Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill | Lucie Myslivečková / Matěj Novák |
| Italy | Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein | Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro | Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi |
| Mexico | Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell | Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill | Valeria Zenkova / Valerie Sinitsin |
| Czech Rep. | Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue | Marina Antipova / Artem Kudashev | Karen Routhier / Eric Saucke-Lacelle |
| Spain | Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro | Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani | Anastasia Vykhodtseva / Alexei Shumski |
| Belarus | Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun | Ekaterina Pushkash / Dmitri Kiselev | Terra Findlay / Benoît Richaud |
| South Africa | Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell | Piper Gilles / Zachary Donohue | Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin |
| United Kingdom | Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein | Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun | Karen Routhier / Eric Saucke-Lacelle |
| Final | Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein | Madison Hubbell / Keiffer Hubbell | Ekaterina Riazanova / Jonathan Guerreiro |

## Medals table

The following is the table of total medals earned by each country on the 2008–2009 Junior Grand Prix. It can be sorted by country name, number of gold medals, number of silver medals, number of bronze medals, and total medals overall.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 17 | 11 | 5 | 33 |
| 2 | Russia (RUS) | 6 | 11 | 7 | 24 |
| 3 | Japan (JPN) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Ukraine (UKR) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 9 | China (CHN) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 10 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | South Korea (KOR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 32 | 32 | 32 | 96 |