ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championship 2015
The ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championship was held in 2013 for the first time. It is a biannual event sanctioned by the International Skating Union. This year's event will be held in Zagreb, from March 13th till March 14th.
Zagreb will host the event with over 500 skaters from the world's 24 best teams coming from 19 countries (from Europe, North America, Australia and Africa). More than 2000 foreign guests are expected and the first ones are coming from Australia on March 5th.
Amongst the world's best skaters under 19, the Croatian team will also compete. The Finnish team „Musketeers“, coached by world senior champion Anu Oksanen, will try to defend the world title from Helsinki from two years ago.take a look at the performance of the Finnish team from 2013. Championship. Remarkable!
Take a look at the video below to see the performance of the Finnish team from the 2013 Championship. Remarkable!
Video credit: ISU Skating
This is the first time that Zagreb is hosting this Championship. Until now, Zagreb has been the host of the World Senior Synchronized Skating Championship twice (2004 and 2009) and of Synchronized Skating Junior World Challenge Cup (2002). This is a great honor for the Croatian Skating Federation because it's the second Federation in the world that was given the trust to host all the big championships in this sport. It is also the 15th season of organizing big international competitions in synchronized skating in Zagreb.
During the last 14 years of hosting big competitions, skating has brought to Zagreb 129 different teams from 21 countries from all continents. Also, 10 000 skaters, coaches, judges, and fans have visited Zagreb to compete or to enjoy great skating. More than 95 000 visitors saw the competitions in Zagreb.
It is a great honor for Zagreb to host the Championship in the year which is marked by the initiative to include synchronized skating in the Olympic family. The final goal is to include synchronized skating into the program of Winter Olympic Games in 2018 which will be held in South Korea.
The prices for the event are really affordable – the entrance fee for two people is only 20 kunas. The event will be held in the Ice hall of Dom sportova in Zagreb.
Image credit: Zagreb Snowflakes
Just to remind you – synchronized skating team was formed in 1956 by Dr. Richard Porter, also known as the „father of synchronized skating“. In the early days, synchronized skating was called precision skating. During the 1970s, the interest for this sport grew tremendously because of the creative and innovative routines and skating skills, such as jumps, spirals, spins, and lifts that originally were not permitted in competition.
International competitions in this sport are held at three levels – Senior, Junior, and Novice. The World Synchronized Skating Championship was held for the first time in 2000 and the most successful countries, since then, are Finland and Sweden. The World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships are held from 2013 when Finnish team „Musketeers“ won.
So, if you like great synchronized skating performances, accompanied by good music and shiny costumes, come to Zagreb in mid-March. For really affordable ticket price, you can see the world's best junior skaters and indisputable talent of future stars of this sport. The Ice hall of Dom sportova is a couple of tram stations away from the Zagreb city centre – be there and enjoy this gracious sport.
Header image credit: Zagreb Snowflakes
Author: Dora Kršul