Skate Guard Blog: Does Success As A Junior Translate To Success As A Senior?

Alexandr Fadeev won the World Junior title in France in 1980 and made history as the first man to translate a win at the World Junior Championships to a win at the World Championships five years later in Japan

Does success as a junior translate to success as a senior? There's absolutely no 'one size fits all' answer to this question but taking a look back through skating history reveals some interesting facts about how skaters who have won the World Junior Championships have fared later in their careers.

Today we'll take a look at how all of the past winners at the World Junior Championships have fared when they competed in the World Championships. While these results don't take into account 'surprise' Olympic medal wins by skaters who never placed in the top five at the Worlds like Adelina Sonitkova and Paul Wylie, they do reveal some interesting facts. In singles skating, for instance, fifteen women who won the World junior title never competed at the senior Worlds as compared to nine men. However, twenty-two World titles were won by women who also won the World Junior title, as compared to thirteen men.

Ilia Kulik's winning performance from the 1995 World Junior Championships

Rudy Galindo and Kristi Yamaguchi were the only pair that won the World junior title to both win medals at the World Championships as singles skaters. Only four pairs, Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han and Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, have won both junior and senior World titles together. However, five other skaters who won the World junior title in pairs, Maxim Trankov, Maria Petrova, Anton Sikharulidze, Ingo Steuer and Aliona Savchenko were World Champions as seniors with different partners.

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov

Only two ice dance teams have won World junior and senior titles together - Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. Marina Anissina and Ilya Averbukh won the World Junior Championships twice and were both World Champions with different partners. Madison Chock and Evan Bates both won World junior titles with different partners. Their best finishes as seniors at the World Championships with those partners was ninth in both cases, in successive years.

Dennis Coi

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONS - MEN

Year	World Junior Champions	Best Result At World Championships
1976	Mark Cockerell	8^th in 1985
1977	Daniel Béland	Did not compete at World Championships
1978	Dennis Coi	Did not compete at World Championships
1979	Vitali Egorov	Did not compete at World Championships
1980	Alexandr Fadeev	1^st in 1985
1981	Paul Wylie	9^th in 1988
1982	Scott Williams	9^th in 1986
1983	Christopher Bowman	2^nd in 1989
1984	Viktor Petrenko	1^st in 1992
1985	Erik Larson	Did not compete at World Championships
1986	Vladimir Petrenko	10^th in 1988
1987	Rudy Galindo	3^rd in 1996
1988	Todd Eldredge	1^st in 1996
1989	Viacheslav Zagorodniuk	3^rd in 1994
1990	Igor Pashkevich	8^th in 1997
1991	Vasili Eremenko	13^th in 1995
1992	Dmitri Dmitrenko	11^th in 1999
1993	Evgeny Pliuta	9^th in 1998
1994	Michael Weiss	3^rd in 1999 and 2000
1995	Ilia Kulik	2^nd in 1996
1996	Alexei Yagudin	1^st in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002
1997	Evgeni Plushenko	1^st in 2001, 2003 and 2004
1998	Derrick Delmore	Did not compete at World Championships
1999	Ilia Klimkin	9^th in 2003
2000	Stefan Lindemann	3^rd in 2004
2001	Johnny Weir	3^rd in 2008
2002	Daisuke Takahashi	1^st in 2010
2003	Alexander Shubin	Did not compete at World Championships
2004	Andrei Griazev	11^th in 2005
2005	Nobunari Oda	4^th in 2006
2006	Takahiko Kozuka	2^nd in 2011
2007	Stephen Carriere	10^th in 2008
2008	Adam Rippon	6^th in 2010 and 2016
2009	Adam Rippon	6^th in 2010 and 2016
2010	Yuzuru Hanyu	1^st in 2014 and 2017
2011	Andrei Rogozine	13^th in 2013
2012	Han Yan	7^th in 2014
2013	Joshua Farris	11^th in 2015
2014	Nam Nguyen	5^th in 2015
2015	Shoma Uno	2^nd in 2017 and 2018
2016	Daniel Samohin	20^th in 2018
2017	Vincent Zhou	3^rd in 2019
2018	Alexey Erokhov	Did not compete at World Championships
2019	Tomoki Hiwatashi	Did not compete at World Championships
2020	Andrei Mozalev	Did not compete at World Championships

Laetitia Hubert

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONS - WOMEN

Year	World Junior Champions	Best Result At World Championships
1976	Suzie Brasher	Did not compete at World Championships
1977	Carolyn Skoczen	Did not compete at World Championships
1978	Jill Sawyer	Did not compete at World Championships
1979	Elaine Zayak	1^st in 1982
1980	Rosalynn Sumners	1^st in 1983
1981	Tiffany Chin	3^rd in 1985 and 1986
1982	Janina Wirth	11^th in 1983
1983	Simone Koch	8^th in 1988
1984	Karin Hendschke	Did not compete at World Championships
1985	Tatiana Andreeva	Did not compete at World Championships
1986	Natalia Gorbenko	8^th in 1989
1987	Cindy Bortz	Did not compete at World Championships
1988	Kristi Yamaguchi	1^st in 1991 and 1992
1989	Jessica Mills	Did not compete at World Championships
1990	Yuka Sato	1^st in 1994
1991	Surya Bonaly	2^nd in 1993, 1994 and 1995
1992	Laetitia Hubert	4^th in 1992 and 1998
1993	Kumiko Koiwai	16^th in 1995
1994	Michelle Kwan	1^st in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003
1995	Irina Slutskaya	1^st in 2002 and 2005
1996	Elena Ivanova	Did not compete at World Championships
1997	Sydne Vogel	Did not compete at World Championships
1998	Julia Soldatova	3^rd in 1999
1999	Daria Timoshenko	29^th in 2004
2000	Jennifer Kirk	17^th in 2005
2001	Kristina Oblasova	Did not compete at World Championships
2002	Ann Patrice McDonough	Did not compete at World Championships
2003	Yukina Ota	Did not compete at World Championships
2004	Miki Ando	1^st in 2007 and 2011
2005	Mao Asada	1^st in 2008, 2010 and 2014
2006	Yuna Kim	1^st in 2009 and 2013
2007	Caroline Zhang	Did not compete at World Championships
2008	Rachael Flatt	5^th in 2009
2009	Alena Leonova	2^nd in 2012
2010	Kanako Murakami	4^th in 2013
2011	Adelina Sotnikova	9^th in 2013
2012	Julia Lipnitskaia	2^nd in 2014
2013	Elena Radionova	3^rd in 2015
2014	Elena Radionova	3^rd in 2015
2015	Evgenia Medvedeva	1^st in 2016 and 2017
2016	Marin Honda	Did not compete at World Championships
2017	Alina Zagitova	1^st in 2019
2018	Alexandra Trusova	3^rd in 2021
2019	Alexandra Trusova	3^rd in 2021
2020	Kamila Valieva	Did not compete at World Championships

Sherri Baier and Robin Cowan

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONS - PAIRS

Year	World Junior Champions	Best Result At World Championships
1976	Sherri Baier and Robin Cowan	10^th in 1997
1977	Josée France and Paul Mills	Did not compete at World Championships
1978	Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini	1^st in 1984
1979	Veronika Pershina and Marat Akbarov	5^th in 1983
1980	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	2^nd in 1985
1981	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	2^nd in 1985
1982	Marina Avstriyskaya and Yuri Kvashnin	Did not compete at World Championships
1983	Marina Avstriyskaya and Yuri Kvashnin	Did not compete at World Championships
1984	Manuela Landgraf and Ingo Steuer	8^th in 1995 (Ingo - 1^st in 1997)
1985	Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov	1^st in 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990
1986	Elena Leonova and Gennadi Krasnitski	Did not compete at World Championships
1987	Elena Leonova and Gennadi Krasnitski	Did not compete at World Championships
1988	Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudy Galindo	5^th in 1989 and 1990 (Kristi – 1^st in 1991 and 1992 women's, Rudy - 3^rd in 1996 men's)
1989	Ekaterina Chernyshova and Dmitri Sukhanov	Did not compete together at World Championships (Dmitri – 15th in 1993)
1990	Natalia Krestianinova and Alexei Torchinski	13^th in 1994
1991	Natalia Krestianinova and Alexei Torchinski	13^th in 1994
1992	Natalia Krestianinova and Alexei Torchinski	13^th in 1994
1993	Inga Korshunova and Dmitri Saveliev	Did not compete at World Championships
1994	Maria Petrova and Anton Sikharulidze	6^th in 1995 (Maria - 1^st in 2000, Anton - 1^st in 1998 and 1999)
1995	Maria Petrova and Anton Sikharulidze	6^th in 1995 (Maria - 1^st in 2000, Anton - 1^st in 1998 and 1999)
1996	Victoria Maxiuta and Vladislav Zhovnirski	Did not compete at World Championships
1997	Danielle and Steven Hartsell	10^th in 1999
1998	Yulia Obertas and Dmitri Palamarchuk	11^th in 1999 (Yulia – 5^th in 2005)
1999	Yulia Obertas and Dmitri Palamarchuk	11^th in 1999 (Yulia – 5^th in 2005)
2000	Aliona Savchenko and Stanislav Morozov	9^th in 2001 (Aliona - 1^st in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2018, Stanislav - 4^th in 2007)
2001	Dan and Hao Zhang	2^nd in 2006, 2008 and 2009
2002	Elena Riabchuk and Stanislav Zakharov	Did not compete at World Championships
2003	Dan and Hao Zhang	2^nd in 2006, 2008 and 2009
2004	Natalia Shestakova and Pavel Lebedev	Did not compete at World Championships
2005	Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov	4^th in 2010 (Maxim - 1^st in 2013)
2006	Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins	Did not compete at World Championships
2007	Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker	11^th in 2009 (Rockne - 10^th in 2010)
2008	Ksenia Krasilnikova and Konstantin Bezmaternikh	Did not compete at World Championships
2009	Lubov Ilyushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze	Did not compete together at World Championships (Lubov - 6^th in 2017, Nodari - 8^th in 2014)
2010	Wenjing Sui and Cong Han	1^st in 2017 and 2019
2011	Wenjing Sui and Cong Han	1^st in 2017 and 2019
2012	Wenjing Sui and Cong Han	1^st in 2017 and 2019
2013	Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier	12^th in 2015 (Brandon - 7^th in 2021)
2014	Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin	Did not compete together at World Championships (Xiaoyu - 4^th in 2017, Yang - 4^th in 2019)
2015	Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin	Did not compete together at World Championships (Xiaoyu - 4^th in 2017, Yang - 4^th in 2019)
2016	Anna Dušková and Martin Bidař	11^th in 2018
2017	Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor	16^th in 2017 and 2018
2018	Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin	Did not compete at World Championships
2019	Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov	1^st in 2021
2020	Apollinariia Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov	Did not compete at World Championships

Tatiana Durasova and Sergei Ponomarenko

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONS - ICE DANCE

Year	World Junior Champions	Best Result At World Championships
1976	Kathryn Winter and Nicky Slater	Did not compete together at World Championships (Nicky - 5^th in 1983 and 1984)
1977	Wendy Sessions and Mark Reed	Did not compete together at World Championships (Wendy - 11^th in 1981)
1978	Tatiana Durasova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Did not compete together at World Championships (Sergei - 1^st in 1989, 1990 and 1992)
1979	Tatiana Durasova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Did not compete together at World Championships (Sergei - 1^st in 1989, 1990 and 1992)
1980	Elena Batanova and Alexei Soloviev	7^th in 1984
1981	Elena Batanova and Alexei Soloviev	7^th in 1984
1982	Natalia Annenko and Vadim Karkachev	Did not compete together at World Championships (Natalia - 4^th in 1986, 1987 and 1988)
1983	Tatiana Gladkova and Igor Shpilband	Did not compete at World Championships
1984	Elena Krykanova and Evgeni Platov	Did not compete together at World Championships (Evgeni - 1^st in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997)
1985	Elena Krykanova and Evgeni Platov	Did not compete together at World Championships (Evgeni - 1^st in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997)
1986	Elena Krykanova and Evgeni Platov	Did not compete together at World Championships (Evgeni - 1^st in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997)
1987	Ilona Melnichenko and Gennadi Kaskov	Did not compete at World Championships
1988	Oksana Grishuk and Alexandr Chichkov	Did not compete together at World Championships (Oksana - 1^st in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997)
1989	Angelika Kirkhmaier and Dmitri Lagutin	Did not compete at World Championships
1990	Marina Anissina and Ilya Averbukh	Did not compete together at World Championships (Marina - 1^st in 2000, Ilya - 1^st in 2002)
1991	Aliki Stergadiu and Juris Razgulajevs	13^th in 1994
1992	Marina Anissina and Ilya Averbukh	Did not compete together at World Championships (Marina - 1^st in 2000, Ilya - 1^st in 2002)
1993	Ekaterina Svirina and Sergei Sakhnovski	Did not compete together at World Championships (Sergei - 3^rd in 2002)
1994	Silwia Nowak and Sebastian Kolasiński	9^th in 1999 and 2000
1995	Olga Sharutenko and Dmitri Naumkin	Did not compete at World Championships
1996	Ekaterina Davydova and Roman Kostomarov	Did not compete together at World Championship (Roman - 1^st in 2004 and 2005)
1997	Nina Ulanova and Mikhail Stifounin	Did not compete together at World Championship (Mikhail- 18^th in 2001)
1998	Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler	25^th in 1998
1999	Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek	12^th in 2000
2000	Natalia Romaniuta and Daniil Barantsev	16^th in 2000
2001	Natalia Romaniuta and Daniil Barantsev	16^th in 2000
2002	Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto	2^nd in 2005 and 2009
2003	Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin	1^st in 2009
2004	Elena Romanovskaya and Alexander Grachev	23^rd in 2006
2005	Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin	16^th in 2006
2006	Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir	1^st in 2010, 2012 and 2017
2007	Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev	3^rd in 2013
2008	Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates	9^th in 2010 (Evan - 2^nd in 2015)
2009	Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein	9^th in 2011 (Madison - 2^nd in 2015)
2010	Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov	4^th in 2014 (Nikita - 1^st in 2021)
2011	Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin	8^th in 2015
2012	Victoria Sinitsina and Ruslan Zhiganshin	7^th in 2014 (Victoria - 1^st in 2021, Ruslan - 7^th in 2015)
2013	Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin	4^th in 2019
2014	Kaitlyn Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker	9^th in 2019 and 2021
2015	Anna Yanovskaya and Sergey Mozgov	Did not compete together at World Championships (Anna - 19^th in 2019)
2016	Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter	Did not compete at World Championships
2017	Rachel and Michael Parsons	Did not compete at World Championships
2018	Anastasia Skoptsova and Kirill Aleshin	Did not compete at World Championships
2019	Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha	14^th in 2021
2020	Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik	Did not compete at World Championships

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Does Success As A Junior Translate To Success As A Senior?