Four Titles for Russian Neutral Athletes
The opening event of the 2026–27 ISU Junior Grand Prix series ended Saturday in Xi'an with authorized individual neutral athletes (AIN2, Russia) collecting gold in every discipline on offer. Sofiia Dzepka won women's singles with 213.28 points, Lev Lazarev dominated the men's draw at 250.21, Mariia Fefelova and Artem Valov secured the ice dance title on 162.16, and Polina Shesheleva partnered Egor Karnaukhov to win pairs. The clean sweep across all four disciplines at the season opener underlines the depth of Russian junior skating even under the neutral-athlete framework — no national flag, anthem or kit — that the ISU extended into the 2026–27 season following reinstatement announced in June 2026.
Dzepka, who enters this season as one of the few women anywhere to have ratified a quadruple jump in international competition, set the tone from the short programme and never relinquished first place in the free skate. Her winning margin over silver medallist Liu Yuxuan of China was nearly 24 points, a gap that illustrates both Dzepka's technical ceiling and the still-developing free-skating consistency of the chasing field.
China's Women Lock Up Three of the Top Four Places
The standout national story at Xi'an belonged to the host country. Three Chinese women finished immediately behind Dzepka: Liu Yuxuan (189.57) claimed silver, Jin Shuxian (188.80) bronze, and Jin Chenxi (183.94) fourth — a range of just 5.63 points across three skaters in positions two through four. The result reflects the breadth of China's current junior women's programme and sends an early statement to rivals before the remaining six JGP legs.
China's pairs teams reinforced that message. Chen Yuxuan and Dong Yinbo (CHN) took silver while Wang Chenling and Chen Yongzheng (CHN) claimed bronze, both finishing well clear of a U.S. pair. Across women's singles and pairs, Chinese athletes earned four of the eight available medals — two silver and two bronze — the strongest opening-event return in recent JGP memory for the host federation.
Ebihara Climbs to Bronze; Li Makes New Zealand History
Japan's Daiya Ebihara arrived at his free skate in fourth place after the short programme and produced a performance good enough to finish third overall at 219.76 points, securing Japan's first men's singles JGP medal of the new season. The bronze continues a consistent run for the 16-year-old, who placed fourth in last season's JGP Final.
Ebihara was pushed to the lower step of the podium by New Zealand's Yanhao Li, who skated to a personal-best total of 230.89 for silver — the highest score ever achieved by a New Zealand skater at a JGP event. Li, who won the 2024 JGP Thailand and reached last season's Final, is widely regarded as a potential medallist at the season-ending Final in December. Lazarev, the runaway leader from the opening day, won the overall title by roughly 19 points, suggesting his short-programme dominance was no fluke.
Ice Dance and the Season Ahead
In ice dance, Fefelova and Valov converted their rhythm-dance lead into a comfortable free-dance victory. Italy's Zoe Bianchi and Daniel Basile (154.25) stepped up to silver — the strongest result by an Italian ice dance pair at a JGP since 2019 — while Canada's Summer Homick and Nicholas Buelow (143.68) took bronze. Two U.S. pairs filled fourth and fifth. With Xi'an concluded, the JGP circuit moves into its September phase, with Ebihara, Li and Dzepka each holding a full complement of qualifying points for the Final.