This and That: 2023 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and Russian Cup Final (Mao Shimada)

This week, the top juniors on the planet went to Calgary for the 2023 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. Mao Shimada skated her socks off and showed us all that figure skating can be a beautiful sport. Jia Shin, Ami Nakai, Yu-jae Kim, Min-sol Kwon and An Xiangyi stood out at the event. Sophia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev won gold in pairs for coach Todd Sand who suffered a heart attack earlier in the day. The skating community is praying for his recovery as he remains in the hospital. Kao Miura won the men’s event in commanding fashion and Kateřina Mrázková and Daniel Mrázek lived up to their hype in dance. In Russia, Boikova and Kozlovskii narrowly defeated Mishina and Galliamov. Both pairs performed tremendous free skates. Kamila Valieva could not hold off Adelia Petrosian. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva won bronze and Sofia Akatyeva had to settle for fourth. Petr Gumennik was the best Russian man once again. And all of Russia was relieved that Kaganovskaya and Angelopol performed u