Japan & US Teams Return to Luxembourg’s Coupe du Printemps

From Friday 13 to Sunday 15 March 2026, Luxembourg hosted the 46th edition of the ISU international figure skating competition "Coupe du Printemps" at the Kockelscheuer ice rink.

The Coupe du Printemps, organised by the Union Luxembourgeoise de Patinage (ULP) and the Club Hiversport Luxembourg Figure Skating Section at Kockelscheuer, attracted around 500 spectators over the three days of competition. According to the organisers, around 100 skaters from 26 nations took part in the international competition, while a further 90 athletes participated in the interclub event held on Friday, bringing the total number of participants to about 190.

Jerry Hilgert, member of the organising committee, told Chronicle.lu that several aspects of this year’s competition stood out: “Something that stood out was the number of nations that registered because usually we don't have 26 nations coming, more about around 20. So that was a bit special. Also, it was the first time since two or three years that we had a Japanese team coming and also a US team coming.” He added: “And then also with quite high standard coaches. So there was Brian Orser, who’s an Olympic coach from Canada. There was also Stéphane Lambiel from Switzerland, who is quite well known because he won several titles when he was an active skater.”

Japanese skaters claimed four podium places across the two main senior categories. In the Senior Women event, which featured ten competitors, Japan’s Mana Kawabe won the title with 194.95 points, ahead of compatriot Rinka Watanabe (161.64), while Italy’s Marina Piredda rounded off the podium with 152.40 points. In the Senior Men category, eight skaters took part, with the United States’ Daniel Martynov securing first place with 238.82 points. Japan’s Kazuki Tomono finished second with 233.11 points, followed by fellow Japanese skater Nozomu Yoshioka in third with 218.50 points.

Beyond the senior events, the competition also featured participants across several categories for both men and women. The largest group was in the Junior Women category (ages 16-18), where 26 skaters competed. Belgium’s Lilou Remeysen claimed the title with a score of 164.63 points, ahead of Elizaveta Grashchenkova of Uzbekistan (152.45) and Lucca Dijkhuizen of the Netherlands (148.26). Another highly contested category was Basic Novice Women (girls aged 12-15), which featured 21 skaters. Belgium’s Jill de Doncker won the category with 36.58 points, narrowly ahead of Merthe Jongste of the Netherlands (36.56) and Maria Artyukhova of Estonia (35.58). Luxembourg was represented by six skaters in this category, with Emma de Reggi finishing as the highest-ranked local competitor in 11th place with 30.67 points.

Jerry Hilgert also highlighted several promising Luxembourgish skaters who competed at the event: “The champion in junior is Dita Giltaire. This is her last season as a junior because next year she will skate as a senior. Another very promising skater is Alison Morgan, who competed in the Advanced Novice Girls category and performed very well. She has just moved into that category, so she still has several years to develop.” He added: “From the younger team, there is also Sebastian Berg. He showed quite a nice programme and finished second in his category. I’m looking forward to seeing what he will do in the coming years.”

Luxembourg’s skaters competed in four categories: Advanced Novice Women, Basic Novice Women, Basic Novice Men and Junior Women. The highest placement came in the Basic Novice Men category, where Sébastien Berg finished second with 30.39 points in a field of three skaters. In the Advanced Novice Women category, Alison June Morgan placed eighth with 89.41 points among nineteen competitors. In the Junior Women category, Dita Giltaire finished nineteenth with 86.15 points out of 26 skaters. Luxembourg was also represented by six skaters in the Basic Novice Women category, where Emma de Reggi achieved the best national result, finishing eleventh with 30.67 points.