# 1997–98 ISU Junior Series

The 1997–98 ISU Junior Series was the first season of what was later named the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was designed to be a junior-level complement to the ISU Champions Series, which was for senior-level skaters. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The top skaters from the series met at the Junior Series Final in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 5–8, 1998.

## Competitions

The locations of the ISU Junior Grand Prix events change yearly. In the 1997–98 season, the series was composed of the following events:
| Date | Event | Location |
| August 19–23, 1997 | 1997 JS Grand Prix de Saint Gervais | Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France |
| September 17–21, 1997 | 1997 JS Sofia Cup | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| September 25–28, 1997 | 1997 JS Ukrainian Souvenir | Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine |
| October 8–11, 1997 | 1997 JS Pokal der Blauen Schwerter | Chemnitz, Germany |
| October 23–26, 1997 | 1997 JS Hungarian Cup | Székesfehérvár, Hungary |
| Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 1997 | 1997 JS Grand Prix SNP | Banská Bystrica, Slovakia |
| March 6–8, 1998 | 1997–98 JS Final | Lausanne, Switzerland |

## Series notes

At the Junior Series Final, Timothy Goebel, the winner of the men's event, made history by becoming the first skater to land a quadruple salchow jump in competition. It was videotaped by the father of another skater.

## Junior Series Final qualifiers

The following skaters qualified for the 1997–98 Junior Series Final, in order of qualification.
There were eight qualifiers in singles and six in pairs and ice dance.
| | Men | Ladies | Pairs | Ice dance |
| 1 | Timothy Goebel | Viktoria Volchkova | Alena Maltseva / Oleg Popov | Flavia Ottaviani / Massimo Scali |
| 2 | Ivan Dinev | Julia Soldatova | Julia Obertas / Dmytro Palamarchuk | Jessica Joseph / Charles Butler |
| 3 | Matt Savoie | Amber Corwin | Natalie Vlandis / Jered Guzman | Federica Faiella / Luciano Milo |
| 4 | Vincent Restencourt | Chisato Shina | Victoria Maxiuta / Vladislav Zhovnirski | Oksana Potdykova / Denis Petukhov |
| 5 | Christo Turlakov | Andrea Diewald | Svetlana Nikolaeva / Alexei Sokolov | Zita Gebora / Andras Visontai |
| 6 | David Jäschke | Shelby Lyons | Tiffany Stiegler / Johnnie Stiegler | Jamie Silverstein / Justin Pekarek |
| 7 | Yosuke Takeuchi | Morgan Rowe | – | – |
| 8 | Vitaly Danilchenko | Elena Pingachova | – | – |
Christel Borghi was given the host wildcard spot to the Junior Series Final. She placed 8th out of 8 competitors. Viktoria Volchkova withdrew before the competition with injury.

## Medalists
### Men

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Timothy Goebel | Matthew Savoie | David Jäschke |
| Bulgaria | Ivan Dinev | Derrick Delmore | Yosuke Takeuchi |
| Ukraine | Timothy Goebel | Vincent Restencourt | Yosuke Takeuchi |
| Germany | Matthew Savoie | Alexei Vasilevski | David Jäschke |
| Hungary | Vitali Danilchenko | Christo Turlakov | Vincent Restencourt |
| Slovakia | Ivan Dinev | Pavel Kersha | Juraj Sviatko |
| Final | Timothy Goebel | Ivan Dinev | Matthew Savoie |

### Ladies

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Elena Pingachova | Andrea Diewald | Shelby Lyons |
| Bulgaria | Morgan Rowe | Brittney McConn | Chisato Shina |
| Ukraine | Viktoria Volchkova | Chisato Shiina | Kumiko Taneda |
| Germany | Amber Corwin | Julia Soldatova | Sara Lindroos |
| Hungary | Julia Soldatova | Júlia Sebestyén | Anette Dytrt |
| Slovakia | Viktoria Volchkova | Amber Corwin | Erin Pearl |
| Final | Julia Soldatova | Amber Corwin | Elena Pingachova |

### Pairs

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Svetlana Nikolaeva / Alexei Sokolov | Natalie Vlandis / Jered Guzman | Stefanie Weiss / Matthias Bleyer |
| Bulgaria | Alena Maltseva / Oleg Popov | Jacinthe Larivière / Lenny Faustino | Irina Melihova / Vladimir Saprykin |
| Ukraine | Julia Obertas / Dmytro Palamarchuk | Tiffany Stiegler / Johnnie Stiegler | Viktoria Shliakhova / Grigori Petrovski |
| Germany | Natalie Vlandis / Jered Guzman | Julia Obertas / Dmytro Palamarchuk | Svetlana Nikolaeva / Alexei Sokolov |
| Hungary | Alena Maltseva / Oleg Popov | Megan Sierk / Dustin Sierk | Victoria Maxiuta / Vladislav Zhovnirski |
| Slovakia | Viktoria Maxiuta / Vladislav Zhovnirski | Sabrina Lefrançois / Nicolas Osseland | Carissa Guild / Andrew Muldoon |
| Final | Julia Obertas / Dmytro Palamarchuk | Victoria Maxiuta / Vladislav Zhovnirski | Natalie Vlandis / Jered Guzman |

### Ice dance

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| France | Flavia Ottaviani / Massimo Scali | Zita Gebora / Andras Visontai | Julia Golovina / Denis Egorov |
| Bulgaria | Federica Faiella / Luciano Milo | Jamie Silverstein / Justin Pekarek | Julia Golovina / Denis Egorov |
| Ukraine | Jessica Joseph / Charles Butler | Natalia Romaniuta / Daniil Barantsev | Kristina Kobaladze / Oleg Voiko |
| Germany | Oksana Potdykova / Denis Petukhov | Federica Faiella / Luciano Milo | Jamie Silverstein / Justin Pekarek |
| Hungary | Jessica Joseph / Charles Butler | Zita Gebora / Andras Visontai | Oksana Potdykova / Denis Petukhov |
| Slovakia | Flavia Ottaviani / Massimo Scali | Olga Pogosian / Alexander Kirsanov | Olga Kudym / Anton Tereschenko |
| Final | Federica Faiella / Luciano Milo | Oksana Potdykova / Denis Petukhov | Flavia Ottaviani / Massimo Scali |

## Medals table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Russia (RUS) | 10 | 7 | 8 | 25 |
| 2 | United States (USA) | 9 | 9 | 6 | 24 |
| 3 | Italy (ITA) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Ukraine (UKR) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | France (FRA) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 8 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 10 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Slovakia (SVK) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 84 |