Jack Gallagher 
Three-time world junior champion Mao Shimada (©KYODO)
Read the full story on SportsLook - [ICE TIME] Mao Shimada Remains a Skater Without Parallel on the Junior Circuit
It was a week of records for Mao Shimada at the World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. And she became the first three-time world junior titlist in history, established personal bests in the short program, free skate and for total score, and won the competition by more than 40 points on Saturday, March 1.
At 16 years old, Shimada completely dominated her fellow skaters, as she has for the past three years. The Tokyo native extended her streak of never losing an event she competed in as a junior.
Most impressive was how she chose to attack her free skate to "Mado Kara Mieru" even though she had a big lead and could have taken an easier path. Landing both her triple axel and quadruple toe loop on successive jumps highlighted her poise under pressure.
At this point, the biggest opponent Shimada will likely face in the near term is apathy. With victory after victory, one wonders how she gets herself up for the next battle. It can't be easy.
Returning to Juniors for One More Season
Shimada will be skating as a junior again next year due to the current ISU rule, which prevents skaters who have not turned 17 by July 1 from moving up to seniors. As has been previously documented, Shimada will also be ineligible to compete at the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
"More than winning for the third time, I'm very happy that I was able to bring out a performance I'm satisfied with," Shimada stated after her win. "I am happy with the title, but I am even happier that I was able to perform how I wanted to in both my short program and long program. Now I know I can perform like this under any circumstances."
Added Shimada, "The first time, I just came here [to the world juniors] to enjoy and have fun. The second time, I was really nervous because I wanted to win. On the third time, I wanted to enjoy it again and do the best I can do."
Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
