[ICE TIME] Mei Okada Collects 2nd Junior Grand Prix Medal in Slovenia

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Teen Mei Okada brought home Japan's only medal from the Junior Grand Prix in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a bronze over the weekend. The 14-year-old added the hardware to the bronze she won at the JGP in Bangkok in September and kept herself in the running for a spot in the JGP Final with the result.

American Sophie Joline von Felten was the surprise winner with a total score of 197.41 points on Saturday, October 5, while three-time world junior silver medalist Jia Shin of South Korea took second at 193.04. Okada's tally in third was 190.93.

Rena Uezono, the world junior and JGP Final bronze medalist last season, ended up fourth on 181.27 and won't make the JGP Final this season.

Von Felten's progress in just two years is nothing short of mind boggling. She competed in two JGPs in 2022, finishing 25th and 23rd. The 15-year-old, who was born in Zurich and trains in Boston, landed two triple axels in her free skate to "Romeo and Juliet" on the way to victory.

Race for Junior Grand Prix Final Berths Comes into Focus

Mao Shimada (30 points) and Kaoruko Wada (28) have already clinched berths in the JGP Final, while France's Stefania Gladki (24) appears in a decent position with just one JGP event remaining.

Shin and Okada are tied with 22 points in the JGP standings along with South Korea's Nayeon Ko. The 16-year-old Shin is first in the tiebreaker category, with Okada second and Ko third.

Von Felten is scheduled to compete in Wuxi, China, this week and can lock up a spot in the JGP Final with a podium finish. South Korea's Yuseong Kim and China's Yihan Wang, both sitting on 15 points, will battle with von Felten for honors in Wuxi.

Okada Earns Plaudits for Showing in Free Skate

After a clean short program, Okada had jump issues with her triple flips (two edge calls) and underrotated a double loop in her free skate to music from the "Maleficent" soundtrack. She did land five clean triples, however, and earn level fours on all of her spins and put out a beautiful performance.

"Everything was so seamless. So much choreography and transitions into and out of all the elements," ISU announcer Ted Barton stated after Okada's free skate. "The elements are part of the choreography and they are not separate and she made it look like that. It was nicely done."

Barton cited Okada's economical use of energy in her program for special praise.

"Look how easy and quick she is off the ice and so efficient," Barton commented. "She uses less energy on these jumps because she uses the momentum to carry her into them, and she has more energy to use in the choreography throughout the program."

ISU commentator Mark Hanretty also liked what he saw from Okada.

"The different cluster of turns at the opening, but she does them so beautifully," Hanretty noted while analyzing Okada's free skate. "Constant facial expression and investment in her interpretation right through the difficult transitions."

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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.