Jacob Sanchez (born April 23, 2007) is an American figure skater. He is the CS Tallinn Trophy champion. At the junior level, he is the 2024 Youth Olympic silver medalist in the team event, the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, the 2024 JGP Turkey and the 2024 JGP Slovenia gold medalist, the 2023 U.S. Junior silver medalist, and the 2021 U.S. Junior pewter medalist.[1][2]

Jacob Sanchez
Born (2007-04-23) April 23, 2007 (age 17)
Middletown, New York,
United States
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Figure skating career
Country United States
DisciplineMen's singles
CoachOleg Makarov
Larisa Selezneva
Skating clubHudson Valley Figure Skating Club
Began skating2012
Medal record
"" Winter Youth Olympics ""
Silver medal – second place 2024 Gangwon Team
Junior Grand Prix Final
Gold medal – first place 2024–25 Grenoble Singles

Personal life

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Sanchez was born on April 23, 2007 in Middletown, New York to parents, Johana, a school teacher, and Jose, a retired police officer. He also has two brothers, Joseph and Jayden.[3]

Sanchez is Puerto Rican and serves as an ambassador of Diversify Ice, an organization that strives to support competitive figure skaters from minority groups. In addition to figure skating, he also enjoys playing hockey, football, and soccer.[3][4]

His figure skating idols are Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen, and Vincent Zhou.[5]

Sanchez has expressed interest in becoming a physical therapist after completing his competitive figure skating career.[3]

Career

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Early career

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Sanchez began figure skating in 2012 at the age of five. He originally wanted to be a hockey player so his mother enrolled him into "Learn to Skate" lessons. However, he was unable to use hockey skates so he tried using figure skates instead. He ultimately decided that he enjoyed the feeling of balancing and gliding across the ice in those skates. Following this, he began watching figure skaters compete on TV and ultimately decided that he wanted to pursue the sport.[6][7][8] He then began training under 1984 Olympic pair bronze medalists, Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov at the Hudson Valley Figure Skating Club.[3][7]

Sanchez won the silver medal at the 2018 U.S. Juvenile Championships before going on to win bronze at the 2019 U.S. Intermediate Championships.[2]

Moving up to the junior level the following year, Sanchez finished seventeenth at the 2020 U.S. Junior Championships and went on to win the pewter medal at the 2021 U.S. Junior Championships.[3]

Junior career

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2021–22 season: Junior international debut

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Sanchez started the season by the bronze medal on the junior level at the 2021 Cranberry Cup International. In addition, he debuted on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, finishing sixth at 2021 JGP Poland.[2]

In January, Sanchez competed at the 2022 U.S. Junior Championships, coming in ninth.[2]

2022–23 season: U.S. Junior national silver medal

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In August, Sanchez competed on the junior level at the 2022 Cranberry Cup International, Sanchez won the silver medal. Three months later, he competed as a junior at the 2023 U.S. Eastern Sectionals, finishing fourth.[2]

Qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Junior Championships, Sanchez won the silver medal behind Lucas Broussard. He then ended the season by taking gold on the junior level at the 2023 Coupe du Printemps.[2]

2023–24 season: Youth Olympics team silver

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Selected to compete on the 2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, Sanchez finished fourth at 2023 JGP Thailand and fifth at 2023 JGP Hungary.[1]

Sanchez was then named to the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic team. In the men's singles individual event, Sanchez won the short program but placed sixth in the free skate, dropping to fourth overall. In the team event, Sanchez helped Team U.S.A. take silver by placing second in his segment.[2]

Competing at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, Sanchez placed ninth in the short program and fifteenth in the free skate, finishing tenth overall.[2][1]

2024–25 season: Junior Grand Prix Final gold

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Sanchez started the season by on the junior level at the 2022 Cranberry Cup International, where finished second behind New Zealand skater, Yanhao Li.[2]

Competing on the 2024–25 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, Sanchez won gold at 2024 JGP Turkey. Prior to his victory he had no second assignment on the series, but was assigned to 2024 JGP Slovenia following his gold medal win.[9] In Slovenia, Sanchez managed to win a second gold medal. With these results, he qualified for the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final as the highest ranking junior man.[1][2][10] At that event, Sanchez placed second in the short program with a score of 79.24, only 0.15 points behind leader, Rio Nakata. In the free skate, Sanchez would deliver a strong performance, less than a point below his personal best and second in the segment behind Seo Min-kyu. However, with an overall score 227.38, Sanchez earned enough to win the gold medal overall.[11][12][13] Following the event, Sanchez said, "I have so many emotions right now. If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season that I would go to the JGP final and medal I wouldn’t have believed it. Also the last week and a half was pretty rough. I was quite sick last week and also had some problems with my lower back but I didn’t let that get to me. The skates weren’t perfect but I pushed through." He also credited fellow competitor and close friend, Rio Nakata for helping through the competition, saying, "It’s been great to be on this whole trip together with Rio, have him by my side and also see him again after quite a long time."[14]

Senior career

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2024–25 season: Senior international debut

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In mid-November, Sanchez made his senior international debut at the 2024 Tallinn Trophy, where he won the gold medal.[1]

Programs

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Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2020–21
[3]
2021–22
[15]
2022–23
[16]
2023–24
[17]
  • Sarabande Suite
    by Globus
    choreo. by Sebastian Arrango, Adam Blake
2024–25
[8]

Competitive highlights

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Competition placements at senior level [2]
Season 2024–25
U.S. Championships TBD
CS Tallinn Trophy 1st
Competition placements at junior level [2]
Season 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Winter Youth Olympics 4th
Winter Youth Olympics
(Team event)
2nd
World Junior Championships 10th
Junior Grand Prix Final 1st
U.S. Championships 17th 4th 9th 2nd
JGP Hungary 5th
JGP Poland 6th
JGP Slovenia 1st
JGP Thailand 4th
JGP Turkey 1st
Coupe du Printemps 1st
Cranberry Cup 3rd 2nd 2nd

Detailed results

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ISU personal best scores in the 5/-5 GOE System [2]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS 229.46 2024 JGP Slovenia
Short program TSS 85.09 2024 JGP Slovenia
TES 47.03 2024 JGP Slovenia
PCS 38.06 2024 JGP Slovenia
Free skating TSS 148.97 2024 CS Tallinn Trophy
TES 76.87 2024 CS Tallinn Trophy
PCS 74.10 2024 JGP Slovenia
  • At national events in the United States, pewter medals are awarded for fourth place.

Senior level

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Results in the 2024–25 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Nov 11–17, 2024   2024 CS Tallinn Trophy 2 76.63 1 148.97 1 225.60

Junior level

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Results in the 2019–20 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Jan 20–26, 2020   2020 U.S. Championships (Junior) 17 49.21 15 92.98 17 142.19
Results in the 2020–21 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Jan 11–21, 2021   2021 U.S. Championships (Junior) 1 66.91 6 110.64 4 177.55
Results in the 2021–22 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 11–15, 2021   2021 Cranberry Cup International 3 67.08 3 113.24 3 180.32
Sep 29 – Oct 2, 2021   2021 JGP Poland 3 70.92 7 123.11 6 194.03
Jan 3–9, 2022   2022 U.S. Championships (Junior) 13 48.41 8 106.62 9 155.03
Results in the 2022–23 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 10–14, 2022   2022 Cranberry Cup International 2 64.43 3 108.50 2 172.93
Jan 23–29, 2023   2023 U.S. Championships (Junior) 4 69.85 2 143.72 2 213.57
Mar 17–19, 2023   2023 Coupe du Printemps 1 70.29 1 142.34 1 212.63
Results in the 2023–24 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 23–26, 2023   2023 JGP Thailand 1 77.69 5 123.80 4 201.49
Sep 20–23, 2023   2023 JGP Hungary 5 65.15 4 133.52 5 198.67
Jan 28–30, 2024   2024 Winter Youth Olympics 1 76.38 6 123.90 4 200.28
Feb 1, 2024   2024 Winter Youth Olympics (Team event) 2 129.77 2 129.77
Feb 26 – Mar 3, 2024   2024 World Junior Championships 9 73.35 15 125.85 10 199.17
Results in the 2024–25 season[2]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 8–11, 2024   2024 Cranberry Cup International 2 75.12 2 143.09 2 218.21
Sep 18–21, 2024   2024 JGP Turkey 1 81.14 1 139.11 1 220.25
Oct 2–5, 2024   2024 JGP Slovenia 1 85.09 1 144.37 1 229.46
Dec 5–8, 2024   2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final 2 79.24 2 148.14 1 227.38

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Jacob SANCHEZ: Competitive Results". International Skating Union. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "USA–Jacob Sanchez". SkatingScores.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Jacob Sanchez". U.S. Figure Skating Zone. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Our Mission". Diversify Ice. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Inspired by the Greats, Sanchez Prepares to Take the Ice in South Korea". U.S. Figure Skating Zone. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  6. ^ Martinez, Jillian (16 September 2021). "Jacob Sanchez: Meet the Young Latino Skater with "Raw Talent"". U.S. Figure Skating Zone. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b Capellazzi, Gina (8 September 2022). "Getting to know Jacob Sanchez". Figure Skaters Online. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Jacob SANCHEZ: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Exciting moments at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ankara". International Skating Union. September 23, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2024/2025 - Junior Men". International Skating Union. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  11. ^ "2024 Junior Grand Prix Final - Junior Men's Final Results". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  12. ^ "USA's Jacob Sanchez wins Junior Grand Prix title on first try with help from Nakata Rio's lucky necklace and Ilia Malinin's mantra". Olympics. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  13. ^ "Team USA Brings Home Six Grand Prix Final Medals". U.S. Figure Skating. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  14. ^ "I have so many emotions right now. If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season that I would go to the JGP final and medal I wouldn't have believed it". Instagram. Golden Skate. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Jacob SANCHEZ: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Jacob SANCHEZ: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Jacob SANCHEZ: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024.
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