Youth Olympic champ You Young and seven more up-and-coming female figure skaters to watch out for 

While reigning world champion figure skater Sakamoto Kaori returns for another season on the international scene, there is a host of up-and-coming teenagers and youngsters in women's skating to keep an eye on as the new Olympic quadrennium gets underway.

Chief among them is the Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 champion You Young, the triple Axel-jumping Korean skater who finished sixth at Beijing 2022 and is still just 18 years old.

The International Skating Union (ISU) voted in June to raise the age limit for skaters in the coming seasons, but it remains 15 years old for 2022-23. It will go up to 16 next year, and 17 in 2024-25 – where it is set to remain.

Here, a look at You and seven other up-and-coming female skaters to watch out for this coming year - and beyond.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Skate Canada 2022.

You Young, 18, South Korea

After her triumph at Lausanne in January of 2020, You established herself as a force on the senior level, finishing second at Four Continents and adding two Grand Prix bronzes last season. After winning her fifth national title prior to the Olympics, she went on to a sixth-place finish, helped by a stirring free skate to Les Miserables.

She continues to be inspired by the greatest Korean skater ever, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic champion, Yuna Kim.

"[She] made me start figure skating when I was young because I really liked watching her in Vancouver," You told Olympics.com last season. "Everything was perfect. She was really like a god in that moment because she didn't make any mistakes in the short or free."

After a silver at the U.S. International Classic Challenger Series event to start You's season, she’s set for Grand Prix stops at Skate Canada and the MK John Wilson Trophy (Great Britain).

Isabeau Levito, 15, USA

Is Levito picking up where world bronze medallist Alysa Liu left off?

The 15-year-old has actually drawn more comparisons to the skating of Torino 2006 silver medallist Sasha Cohen for her elegant style and presentation, and put those skills on display in her first-ever senior Grand Prix, coming in second coming in second  at Skate America behind Sakamoto.

The Philadelphia native won the World Junior Championships in 2022 after placing third at the U.S. Championships in January at the senior level – though she was age ineligible for Beijing.

Levito stands just over 5-feet tall (156 cm) and is coached by former pair skater Yulia Kuznetsova. She began skating at just age 2, and has one big goal in mind for the coming quad: Qualify for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Kawabe Mana, 17, Japan

While You was champion at Lausanne 2020, Kawabe finished just off the podium in fourth – and she also possesses the sought-after triple Axel, which helped her to land on the Japanese Olympic team in 2022.

The Olympics were a humbling experience for the teen, who struggled with nerves and finished 23rd. She looks up to another Japanese youngster, Kihira Rika, and made waves last season for using the famous Japanese artist Yoshiki’s song Miracle, which was an international hit.

Kawabe changed coaches in the off-season, now working with Higuchi Mihoko, a coach/choreographer who has worked with the likes of Asada Mao and Uno Shoma, among others.

Anastasiia Gubanova, 19, Georgia

While Russian skaters continue to be banned by the ISU, the Russian-born Gubanova switched allegiances to Georgia in 2021 (having sat out the 2020-21 season), helping her to secure an Olympic berth, where she finished in 11th place.

The past two seasons Gubanova has worked with 2012 world silver medallist Alena Leonova as her choreographer, with this year’s free skate set to music from the film Slumdog Millionaire.

She was sixth at Worlds in 2022 (buoyed by a fantastic free skate) and opened this season with a third place finish at Finlandia Trophy.

Lee Hae-in, 17, South Korea

How deep is the women’s skating field in Korea? The answer is very – as it includes the likes of You and 17-year-old teammate Lee, not to mention three top-five finishers at World Juniors in 2022 as well as top-rated skaters like Kim Yelim and Lim Eunsoo, among others.

Lee has finished among those competitive rivals inside the top three at nationals each of the last four years, and this season looks to level up after a fourth-place finish at Skate America. Having missed out on the Winter Olympics by just 1.31 at Korean Nationals, she came in 7th at Worlds following a silver medal at Four Continents.

She also has a triple Axel in her pocket.

Madeline Schizas, 19, Canada

After Kaetlyn Osmond won the world title in 2018 (and subsequently retired), Canada – with its long history of figure skating success – has been looking for a top female to rise above. That could well be Schizas.

The 19-year-old from the Toronto area captured the Canadian title in 2022 ahead of the Olympics, where she finished 19th. She jumped up to 12th at Worlds a few weeks later.

Watanabe Rinka, 20, Japan

The lone non-teen on the list, Watanabe made a splash to start out the 2022-23 season by not only winning gold at Lombardia Trophy but beating teammate and world champ Sakamoto in the process. (By some eight points, mind you.)

Her free skate has been choreographed by Olympic ice dancer (2010 and 2014) Cathy Reed, and she’ll make appearances at Skate Canada and NHK Trophy after Higuchi Wakaba, another Japanese skater, announced she was sitting the season out due to injury.

Oh yes – and Watanabe has a triple Axel, too.

Lindsay Thorngren, 16, USA

Alongside teammate Levito, the 16-year-old from the New York City suburbs is eyeing a spot as one of the next-best for Team USA, Thorngren having won bronze at Junior Worlds in 2022.

Skate Canada is her senior Grand Prix debut, and Thorngren has worked with well-known choreographer Benoit Richaud for both her short program and free skate this season.