XI’AN CITY, CHINA (Aug. 22, 2026) – Ice dancers Summer Homick (Tillsonburg, Ont.) and Nicholas Buelow (Barrie, Ont.) captured bronze this weekend as eight of Canada’s NextGen skaters opened the 2026–2027 ISU Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix Series in Xi’an City, China. 

Homick and Buelow entered the free dance with 55.94 points from their rhythm dance before delivering a personal-best free dance score of 87.74. Their total score of 143.68, also a personal best, secured their place on the podium. 

“That was so special, we really fought for that,” said Homick after the free skate. “We knew coming into this event that it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s a good field, so it feels so rewarding to know that we laid everything out there.” 

Joining Homick and Buelow on the podium were independent neutral athletes Mariia Fefelova and Artem Valov, who won gold with 162.16 points. Italy’s Zoe Bianchi and Daniel Basile earned silver with 154.25 points.  

In junior pairs, Brianna Dion (Ottawa, Ont.) and Jacob Côté (Dartmouth, N.S) set new personal bests in the short program and overall. Skating to ABBA, they earned 46.67 points for their short program, followed by 81.35 points in the free program, finishing fifth overall with a personal-best total score of 128.02.  

“We were very pleased with our free program,” said Dion. “We kept it calm, relaxed and easy. We know we worked very hard leading up to it, so we know that we put out the best that we could.” 

This weekend’s competition also saw the debut of a brand-new pairs team in Alia Tang (Milton, Ont.) and William Bocskay (Brantford, Ont.). Teaming up over the summer, the duo scored 46.71 points for their short program. They then went on to score 76.17 points in the free program, finishing sixth overall with 122.88 total points.  

“We learned a lot,” said Bocskay, reflecting on their first international appearance. “It was a much bigger crowd than we were anticipating, a much bigger venue, a bigger atmosphere, and a more sophisticated experience, I guess, than we were expecting. It was a good learning experience to skate like that, and it was completely different than anything we’ve ever done before.” 

On the podium, independent neutral athletes Polina Shesheleva and Egor Karnaukhov placed first overall, blowing the competition out of the water with 191.84 points. China’s Yuxuan Chen and Yinbo Dong followed in second with 157.52 points. Chen Ling Wang and Yong Zheng Chen, also representing China, placed third with 134.50 points.  

In junior women’s, Victoria Barakhtina (Toronto, Ont.) finished 10th overall. She earned 57.44 points in the short program before scoring 107.33 points with her free skate set to “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from the musical Evita, for a total of 164.77 points. 

“I’m pretty happy with what I did and how I performed,” Barakhtina said after her free skate. “I’m just happy to compete here, and I really liked the atmosphere and arena and just everything.” 

Independent neutral athlete Sofiia Dzepka earned the gold medal with a total of 213.28 points. China’s Yuxuan Liu (189.57) and Shuxian Jin (188.80) rounded out the podium with silver and bronze, respectively. 

In junior men’s, Grayson Long (Toronto, Ont.) got off to a strong start, placing third in the short program with 78.45 points. He earned 119.09 points in the free skate to finish eighth overall with a total of 197.54 points.  

“I was really excited to compete in front of this crowd,” and I had a great time, Long said after the competition. “The free skate didn’t go as planned, but I am proud that I fought until the end and I’m just ready to try this again.”  

Independent neutral athlete Lev Lazarev took gold in the category with a total of 250.21 points. New Zealand’s Yanhao Li earned silver with 230.89 total points, and Japan’s Daiya Ebihara secured bronze with a total of 219.76 points. 

The 2026–2027 ISU Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix Series continues next weekend in Riga, Latvia, on the second stop of the international circuit.

The full competition results can be found here.