Ava Kemp (born; 12 February 2003) is a Canadian pair skater. With her skating partner, Yohnatan Elizarov, she is the 2026 World Junior champion, 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medallist, 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medallist, four-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medallist, and two-time Canadian junior champion (2024-25).
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ava Kemp | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 24 June 2008 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 155 cm (5 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Kevin Dawe, Lee Barkell | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Granite Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kemp/Elizarov are the first Canadian pairs team to win the World Junior Championships since Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini in 1978.[1]
Personal life
editKemp was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2008. She is currently homeschooled.[2]
Career
editEarly Years
editKemp began skating in 2008.[3] Kemp first skated in women's singles before forming a partnership with Yohnatan Elizarov, with whom she won the 2022 Canadian Novice title.[4]
2022-23 season: Junior Grand Prix silver
editKemp/Elizarov made their junior international debut at the 2022 JGP Latvia, winning the silver medal. After the event, Elizarov stated “It’s very hard to believe. I think we had like 15 points in total over our personal best. It was a great, great competition.”[5] At their second Junior Grand Prix event, 2022 JGP Poland II, they placed fifth, qualifying the team for the 2022-23 Junior Grand Prix Final. However, Kemp/Elizarov later withdrew from the event after an injury from Kemp.[6]
At the 2023 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed second in the short program and third in the free skate, finishing second overall.[4] Afterwards, the team was named to the 2023 World Junior Championships team. At the World Junior Championships, they placed sixth with a score of 149.03, an almost twenty-point improvement over their previous personal best score.[4] Shortly after the competition, Elizarov suffered a sudden lung collapse which required surgery. Additionally, Kemp suffered from a back injury, delaying their training for the next season.[7]
2023-24 season: Junior Grand Prix Final silver
editIn the Summer of 2023, Kemp/Elizarov relocated from Winnipeg to Toronto in order to follow their longtime coach, Kevin Dawe.[7][8]
Kemp/Elizarov competed twice on the 2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, placing fourth at the 2023 JGP Hungary and first at the 2023 JGP Poland.[4] With these results, Kemp/Elizarov qualified for the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final. There, Kemp/Elizarov finished second overall and earned personal best scores in all segments.[4]
At the 2024 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov earned their first junior national title, beating the second placed team by over 15 points.[4] The team subsequently competed at the 2024 World Junior Championships and placed 6th after falling three times in the free skate.[7]
2024-25 Season: Injury & Return to competition
editKemp/Elizarov missed the 2024-25 ISU Junior Grand Prix series due to a back injury from Kemp.[9] Returning from injury in December, Kemp/Elizarov competed at the 2024-25 Skate Canada Challenge, the qualifying competition for the Canadian National Championships. Afterwards, Kemp shared “The last couple of months, it’s just been a really slow build, slowly adding elements back in. We’re pretty much training all the elements in practice.”[10] At the 2025 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov successfully defended their title. The pair then competed at the 2025 Bavairan Open, where they won the competition and earned the minimum technical score needed to compete at the 2025 World Junior Championships. At the World Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed 10th.[4]
2025–2026 season: World Junior champion and senior debut
editKemp/Elizarov won gold at both the 2025 JGP Latvia and 2025 JGP Turkey, setting personal best scores at both competitions.[4] As a result, the pair qualified for the 2025-26 Junior Grand Prix Final.
The pair made their senior international debut at the 2025 Ice Challenge, where they finished third and earned the technical minimum scores required to compete at both the Four Continents Championships and World Championships.[4]
At the Junior Grand Prix Final, the pair placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate, ultimately finishing third. "We’re disappointed with our free skate today... Still, we made it onto the podium, so it’s encouraging to win the bronze medal,” Kemp stated afterwards.[11]
Kemp/Elizarov elected to compete at the senior level at the 2026 Canadian National Championships, placing fourth overall. As a result, the team was named to Canada's 2026 Four Continents Championships team. At the Four Continents Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed 8th. Speaking on their experience at the competition, Elizarov stated “The short program didn’t go as planned because my boot actually broke during the six-minute warm-up, so I didn’t really go for the salchow during the short program... It was a big learning experience for everything that is to come, also for situations when things don’t go to plan.”[12]
Kemp/Elizarov ended their season at the 2026 World Junior Championships. Second in the short program and first in the free skate, Kemp/Elizarov ultimately win the title, becoming the first Canadian pairs team to win the World Junior Championships since Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini in 1978.[1] On their achievement, Kemp stated “I think that means everything to us, because Barbara and Paul—we actually met them last year. They used to skate or train in the same club, and they came to our ice show and watched us, and we talked with them a bit. Also, our choreographer Sandra (Bezic) worked with them, and we have one move in our long program that is for them, so it actually means a lot.”[13]
Programs
edit- Program details mentioned at first occurrence
| Season | Short program | Free skate program |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 [14] |
|
|
| 2023-24 [15] |
Monde Inversé
|
|
| 2024-25 [16] |
|
|
| 2025-26 [3] |
Succession |
|
Competitive highlights
editPair skating with Yohnatan Elizarov
edit- JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
- TBD – Assigned
- WD – Withdrew from competition
| Season | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
| Four Continents Championships | 8th |
| Canadian Championships | 4th |
| Season | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Junior Championships | 6th | 6th | 10th | 1st |
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 2nd | 3rd | ||
| Canadian Championships | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |
| JGP Hungary | 4th | |||
| JGP Latvia | 2nd | 1st | ||
| JGP Poland | 5th | 1st | ||
| JGP Turkey | 1st | |||
| Skate Canada Challenge | 1st |
Detailed results
editPair Skating with Yohnatan Elizarov
edit| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 179.43 | 2025 JGP Turkey |
| Short program | TSS | 63.94 | 2025 JGP Turkey |
| TES | 37.21 | 2025 JGP Turkey | |
| PCS | 27.88 | 2025-26 Junior Grand Prix Final | |
| Free skating | TSS | 115.49 | 2025 JGP Turkey |
| TES | 57.32 | 2025 JGP Turkey | |
| PCS | 58.17 | 2025 JGP Turkey |
Senior level
edit| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Nov 5–9, 2025 |  2025 Ice Challenge |
3 | 60.14 | 3 | 108.10 | 3 | 168.24 |
| Jan 5–11, 2026 | 2026 Canadian Championships |
3 | 65.85 | 4 | 120.34 | 4 | 186.19 |
| Jan 21-25, 2025 |  2026 Four Continents Championships |
10 | 49.09 | 8 | 110.11 | 8 | 159.20 |
Junior level
edit| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 7-10, 2022 |  2022 JGP Latvia |
2 | 43.53 | 2 | 81.20 | 2 | 124.73 |
| Oct 5-8, 2022 |  2022 JGP Poland II |
5 | 43.85 | 5 | 85.52 | 5 | 129.37 |
| Jan 9–15, 2023 | 2023 Canadian Championships |
2 | 49.87 | 3 | 77.65 | 2 | 127.52 |
| Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2023 | 2023 World Junior Championships |
5 | 55.88 | 5 | 93.15 | 6 | 149.03 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 20-23, 2023 |  2023 JGP Hungary |
6 | 44.24 | 4 | 88.69 | 4 | 132.93 |
| Sep 27-30, 2023 | 2023 JGP Poland |
53 | 54.25 | 1 | 105.66 | 1 | 159.91 |
| Dec 7–10, 2023 | 2023-24 Junior Grand Prix Final |
2 | 57.91 | 2 | 110.92 | 2 | 168.83 |
| Jan 8–14, 2024 | 2024 Canadian Championships |
1 | 60.45 | 1 | 105.05 | 1 | 165.50 |
| Feb 26–Mar 3, 2024 |  2024 World Junior Championships |
5 | 54.86 | 5 | 85.81 | 6 | 140.67 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Nov 28 - Dec 1, 2024 | 2024-25 Skate Canada Challenge |
1 | 50.24 | 1 | 91.02 | 1 | 141.26 |
| Jan 14–19, 2025 | 2025 Canadian Championships |
1 | 59.49 | 1 | 99.90 | 1 | 159.39 |
| Jan 20-26, 2025 |  2025 Bavarian Open |
1 | 60.01 | 2 | 107.14 | 1 | 167.15 |
| Feb 25–Mar 2, 2025 | 2025 World Junior Championships |
10 | 50.20 | 7 | 95.17 | 10 | 145.37 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Aug 20-23, 2025 | 2025 JGP Latvia |
1 | 62.67 | 1 | 113.24 | 1 | 175.91 |
| Aug 27–30, 2025 |  2025 JGP Turkey |
2 | 63.94 | 1 | 115.49 | 1 | 179.43 |
| Dec 4–7, 2025 |  2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final |
3 | 62.82 | 4 | 103.64 | 3 | 166.46 |
| Mar 3–8, 2026 |  2026 World Junior Championships |
2 | 62.22 | 1 | 105.68 | 1 | 167.90 |
References
edit- 1 2 Slater, Paula (2026-03-05). "Kemp and Elizarov end Canada's 48-year Junior World Pairs' drought". Golden Skate. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Spectacular Rise for Teenage Figure Skaters - Dakota Community Centre". 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- 1 2 "Ava Rae KEMP/Yohnatan ELIZAROV: 2024-2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 8 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "CAN-Ava KEMP/Yohnatan ELIZAROV". skatingscores.com. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
- ↑ Nealin, Laurie (2022-09-19). "Spectacular rise for teenage figure skaters". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Ava Kemp / Yonathan Elizarov 🇨🇦 PB 55.88:". X. Golden Skate. March 1, 2023.
- 1 2 3 Kellar, Anna (2024-06-02). "Canadian junior champs Kemp and Elizarov 'dig in'". Golden Skate. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Young Ontario Pairs Skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov Eager to Turn Golden Junior Skates Into Seniors Success". Skate Ontario. Retrieved 2026-06-05.
- ↑ Perron, Ariane (2025-12-06). "Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov Win Bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix Final". Skate Canada. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ Nealin, Laurie (2024-11-29). "Winnipeg pair erases all doubt". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov win bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix Final". Skate Canada. December 6, 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Ava Kemp / Yohnatan Elizarov 🇨🇦 62.22". Instagram. March 4, 2026.
- ↑ Slater, Paula (2026-03-05). "Kemp and Elizarov end Canada's 48-year Junior World Pairs' drought". Golden Skate. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ↑ "Ava Rae KEMP/Yohnatan ELIZAROV: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022.
- ↑ "Ava Rae KEMP/Yohnatan ELIZAROV: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023.
- ↑ "Ava Rae KEMP/Yohnatan ELIZAROV: 2024-2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024.