World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2024: Seo Minkyu wins men's title after Nakata Rio takes free skate

Republic of Korea's Seo Minkyu overcame an early mishap to claim the men's title at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2024 on Saturday (2 March).

Having led after Thursday's short program, the 15-year-old was second in the free skate behind Nakata Rio, but won overall gold by 1.44 points from the Japanese skater.

Adam Hagara, who took silver at last month's Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, was third on the day as the Slovakian secured a trio of bronze medals in Taipei City.

• World Junior Figure Skating Championships Taipei 2024: Shimada Mao wins second consecutive title
• World Junior Figure Skating Championships Taiepei 2024: All results, scores and medals - complete list
• ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships Taipei 2024 preview: Full schedule & how to watch live

Nakata comes good but Seo holds on for gold

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final winner Nakata, fifth after the short program, did not make the best start to his 'James Bond' free skate as he had a two-footed landing on his opening quad toeloop.

A triple Axel-triple toeloop combination was better, and he was almost foot-perfect after that as he hit a soild triple Axel followed by a triple flip and triple flip-Euler-triple Salchow combination.

The Wales-born 15-year-old earned a score of 151.71 for a total of 229.31 with three skaters to come.

Hagara could not overtake him despite a clean free skate to 'Dream On' by Aerosmith.

Apart from an awkward finish to his opening triple Axel-double toeloop combination, the Slovakian was solid throughout and his 147.59 was just shy of his personal best. That put him second in the free skate and second overall with a total of 225.61.

For Francois Pitot, lying second after the short program, it was a day to forget.

The young Frenchman started with a good triple Axel-double toeloop combination but then singled what should have been a triple Axel.

A later attempt at a triple Axel, as he tried to retrieve lost points, was lacking in execution and a fall on a triple Lutz ended his medal hopes. He scored 136.16 to leave him sixth in free and fourth overall on 214.95 with just overnight leader Seo left to skate.

The Korean made an eerily identical start to Pitot, hitting his triple Axel-double toeloop combination before popping his triple Axel. His jumping settled down after that, landing a triple loop before an on-point triple flip-triple toeloop combination.

With his technical elements score behind that of Nakata, it looked like it would be close for the overall gold. Seo's free skate score of 150.17 saw him take second on the day, but his total of 230.75 was enough for the title.

New Zealand's Youth Olympic bronze medallist Li Yanhao bounced back from 23rd in the short program to take eighth in the free and finish 12th overall.

Jacob Sanchez, who finished fourth at Gangwon 2024, struggled badly with his jumping. The American took 15th in the free skate, although that only saw him slip one place in the overall standings from ninth to 10th.

Coached by Hamada Mie, Nakamura Shunsuke produced a fine free skate featuring a quad toeloop and a triple Axel-double toeloop combination, although he lost points for a fall on his second triple Axel.

Having been 10th after the short program, the 18-year-old scored 142.61 for a total of 215.46 which left him atop the leaderboard until teammate Nakata's skate. He eventually finished fourth in the free skate and fourth overall.

Neset and Markelov earn ice dance gold for USA

Earlier, Leah Neset and Artem Markelov won the free dance to complete victory in the ice dance competition.

Despite a one-point deduction, the American duo scored 99.60 for a winning total of 196.76 having led the way after Friday's rhythm dance.

Israel's Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov took second in the free dance to move up to silver overall, just ahead of Germany's Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy.