Ava Kemp

Ava Kemp (born 24 June 2008) 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).

Kemp/Elizarov are the first Canadian pairs team to win the World Junior Championships since Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini in 1978.

Personal life Kemp was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2008. She is currently homeschooled.

Career

Early Years Kemp began skating in 2011. 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.

At the 2023 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed second in the short program and third in the free skate, finishing second overall.

2023-24 season: Junior Grand Prix Final silver In the Summer of 2023, Kemp/Elizarov relocated from Winnipeg to Toronto in order to follow their longtime coach, Kevin Dawe.

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. 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.” 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.

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.”

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.

Programs