Figure skating men's singles skater Seo Min-gyu (Kyungshin High School) became the first Korean man to win the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix (JGP) Final.
On Dec. 5 at IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan, Seo Min-gyu received a technical element score (TES) of 91.64, a program components score (PCS) of 79.45, and a free skating total of 171.09 in the men's singles free skate at the 2025-2026 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.
With his short program score of 84.82 added, he totaled 255.91 points to beat Japan's Nakata Rio (249.70) for the title. It is the first time a Korean man has won gold at this event. The bronze went to the United States' Lucius Kazanecki, who scored 225.85.
Combining men's and women's singles, it is the first victory in 20 years since Kim Yeon-a (retired) won the women's singles in Nov. 2005.
The Junior Grand Prix Final is a champions' showdown featuring six skaters who posted the highest placements at the seven Junior Grand Prix events this season. Although it features skaters age 17 and under, the event is regarded as a prestigious major because, in figure skating, the performance gap between juniors and seniors is not large.
In the women's singles held the same day, Kim Yu-seong (Surigo High School) won the silver medal. She received a TES of 75.49, a PCS of 59.11, and a free skating total of 134.60, and with her short program score of 64.06 added, she finished second with 198.66 behind Japan's Shimada Mao (218.13).