Jennifer Kirk

Last updated
Jennifer Kirk
Jennifer Kirk 2003 NHK Trophy.jpg
Kirk in 2003.
Born (1984-08-15) August 15, 1984 (age 39)
Newton, Massachusetts
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Figure skating career
Country United States
Skating club SC of Boston
Began skating1994
RetiredSeptember 7, 2005
Medal record
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Figure skating: Ladies' singles
Four Continents Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Jeonju Ladies' singles
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Gangneung Ladies' singles
World Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Oberstdorf Ladies' singles
Junior Grand Prix Final
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1999–2000 Gdansk Ladies' singles

Jennifer Anne "Jenny" Kirk (born August 15, 1984) is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2000 World Junior champion and the 2002 Four Continents champion.

Contents

Early life

Jennifer Kirk was born in Newton, Massachusetts. [1] Prior to skating, she was a gymnast until the age of nine. [2] She also studied ballet and once performed with the Boston Ballet. [3]

Career

Kirk grew interested in skating and began training with coaches Evy and Mary Scotvold at the age of 10 [2] at the Skating Club of Boston. She was featured as a young up-and-coming skater on the PBS shows Zoom and Arthur . [4] [5] At 15, a piece of bone tore from her pelvis and jutted into her hip flexor. [6]

Kirk won gold at the 2000 World Junior Championships. In 2002, she captured the Four Continents title. At the 2002 World Championships, she placed 15th in the short program before withdrawing due to a hip injury. [7]

Ahead of the 2002–03 season, Kirk moved to train with Richard Callaghan in Detroit. In addition to single skating, she also briefly dabbled in pair skating with Fedor Andreev in the summer of 2003, describing it as fun but challenging. In the summer of 2004, Kirk moved to the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California, to train with Frank Carroll and Ken Congemi. [2] [8] [9]

Kirk won the bronze medal at the 2004 U.S. Championships. The following season, she withdrew from her first Grand Prix assignment due to an injury. [7] She placed 10th at the 2004 Cup of Russia and won bronze at the 2005 Four Continents.

On September 7, 2005, Kirk announced her retirement from competitive figure skating. [10] She moved to Boston, where she worked as a coach, but later returned to Southern California. Kirk's decision to quit competitive skating the year before the Olympics was profiled on Ice Diaries .

Kirk is a member of the U.S. Figure Skating International Committee. In the fall of 2012, she and her colleague, David Lease, launched "The Skating Lesson", a podcast and website. [11] The two interview current and former skaters, coaches, choreographers and skating officials including Debi Thomas, Frank Carroll, Sandra Bezic, Alissa Czisny, Tiffany Chin, and Rudy Galindo. The web-series has garnered a following of thousands of figure skating fans with its weekly video interviews.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

In May 1999, Kirk's mother, Pat Harris, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died in August 2001. The loss of her mother was one of the reasons Kirk decided to retire. "Although I still love skating very much, my passion and love for the competitive aspect of the sport has dwindled following the death of my mother in 2001 and my nagging hip injuries." [10] In 2009, she revealed her career-long struggle with eating disorders and mentioned that it had been a factor in her decision to retire. [12] [13] She also stated that disordered eating was very common among skaters but not enough was being done to address the problem. [14] [15]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2004–05
[1]
2003–04
[16]
  • Chicago
    by John Kander, Fred Ebb
2002–03
[17]

  • Die Fledermaus
    by Johann Strauss II
2001–02
[18]
2000–01
[19]

1999–2000

Results

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International [20]
Event97–9898–9999–0000–0101–0202–0303–0404–05
Worlds WD 1 18th17th
Four Continents 5th1st3rd
GP Cup of Russia 10th
GP NHK Trophy 6th5th
GP Skate America 4th2nd
GP Skate Canada 6th
GP Sparkassen 4th
GP Trophée Lalique 3rd
International: Junior [20]
Junior Worlds 1st
JGP Final 2nd
JGP Japan 1st
JGP Netherlands 4th
National [7]
U.S. Champ. 3rd N3rd J7th4th5th5th3rd4th
Levels: N = Novice, J = Junior. WD = Withdrew

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanne Carter</span> Australian figure skater

Joanne Carter is an Australian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1998 Piruetten champion, the 1996 Golden Spin of Zagreb silver medalist, the 2004 Karl Schäfer Memorial bronze medalist, and a seven-time Australian national champion. She reached the free skate at the 1998 Winter Olympics and fifteen ISU Championships – four World, eight Four Continents, and three World Junior Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuğba Karademir</span> Turkish figure skater

Tuğba Karademir is a Turkish former competitive figure skater. She won silver medals at the 2008 International Challenge Cup and 2008 Ondrej Nepela Memorial. She qualified to the free skate at two Winter Olympics, two World Championships, and seven European Championships (2004–2010). She served as the flag-bearer for Turkey at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elena Sokolova</span> Russian figure skater

Elena Sergeyevna Sokolova is a Russian former competitive figure skater. She is the 2003 World silver medalist, a three-time European medalist, and a three-time Russian national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Corwin</span> American figure skater

Amber Corwin Farrow is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 1999 Four Continents silver medalist and 2004 bronze medalist.

Jamie Silverstein is an American former competitive ice dancer. With Justin Pekarek, she is the 2000 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 1999 World Junior champion, and 2000 U.S. silver medalist. With Ryan O'Meara, she is the 2006 U.S. bronze medalist and competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgan Matthews (figure skater)</span> American ice dancer

Morgan Matthews is an American former competitive ice dancer. With Maxim Zavozin, she is the 2006 Four Continents silver medalist and 2005 World Junior champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valérie Marcoux</span> Canadian pair skater

Valérie Marcoux is a Canadian former pair skater. With partner Craig Buntin, she is a three-time Canadian national champion. Prior to teaming up with Buntin in 2002, she skated with Bruno Marcotte. Marcoux announced her retirement from competitive figure skating on April 24, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fedor Andreev</span> Russian-Canadian figure skater

Fedor Vladimirovich Andreev is a former figure skater with dual Russian and Canadian citizenship. In single skating, he is the 2003 Canadian bronze medalist and the 1999 junior national champion. In 2010, he switched to ice dancing and competed for Russia with partner Jana Khokhlova for one season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachael Flatt</span> American figure skater

Rachael Elizabeth Flatt is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2008 World Junior champion, a winner of four silver medals on the Grand Prix series, and the 2010 U.S. national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annette Dytrt</span>

Annette Dytrt, also Dytrtová, is a German former competitive figure skater who also competed internationally for the Czech Republic. She is the 1999 Czech national champion and the 2003–06 German national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktória Pavuk</span> Hungarian figure skater

Viktória Pavuk is a Hungarian former competitive figure skater. She is a two-time International Cup of Nice champion and the 2011 Hungarian national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alisa Drei</span> Finnish figure skater

Alisa Drei is a Finnish former competitive figure skater. She finished in the top ten at seven European Championships.

Elena Kostantinovna Romanovskaya is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Alexander Grachev, she won the 2004 World Junior title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristina Oblasova</span> Russian figure skater

Kristina Alexandrovna Oblasova is a Russian former competitive figure skater. She is the 2001 World Junior champion and the 2004 Russian national bronze medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenna McCorkell</span>

Jenna McCorkell is a former figure skater from Northern Ireland. She is an eleven-time British national champion and won seven senior international medals, including gold at the Ondrej Nepela Memorial and Ice Challenge. She placed as high as eighth at the European Championships (2008) and 14th at the World Championships, and competed at two Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abigail Pietersen</span> South African figure skater

Abigail Pietersen is a South African former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 South African national champion and qualified to the free skate at three Four Continents Championships. She switched to pair skating in 2005, but later switched back to singles. Her younger brother, Justin Pietersen, also competed internationally in figure skating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ana Cecilia Cantú</span> Mexican former competitive figure skater

Ana Cecilia Cantú Felix is a Mexican former competitive figure skater. She is a four-time national champion and competed at 9 ISU Championships. She is still to-date, the first and only Mexican female skater to qualify to the final segment at the World Figure Skating Championships, in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miriam Manzano</span> Australian figure skater

Miriam Manzano-Hammond is a former Australian competitive figure skater in ladies' singles. She is the 2003 Merano Cup champion, the 2002 Karl Schäfer Memorial silver medalist, the 2003 Finlandia Trophy bronze medalist, and a six-time Australian national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diána Póth</span> Hungarian figure skater

Diána Póth is a Hungarian former competitive figure skater. She is a two-time Karl Schäfer Memorial silver medalist and a two-time Hungarian national champion. She also competed briefly for Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hristina Vassileva</span> Bulgarian figure skating coach, choreographer and former competitor

Hristina Vassileva-Zhecheva is a Bulgarian figure skating coach and choreographer in USA, and former competitor. She is six time Bulgarian national champion and reached the free skate at four ISU Championships. She achieved her best result, 16th, at the 2001 European Championships.

References

  1. 1 2 "Jennifer KIRK: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 3, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. 1 2 3 "Jennifer Kirk: Online Interview". goldenskate.com. November 10, 2003. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  3. Mittan, Barry (January 9, 2003). "Jennifer Kirk: Gymnastics Background Strengthens Kirk's Skating". GoldenSkate. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  4. Zoom. Season 1. Episode 4. 7 January 1999. PBS.
  5. "The Good Sport". Arthur. Season 6. Episode 9A. PBS. WQED (TV).
  6. Kirk, Jennifer (June 27, 2009). "Preventing Pain in Figure Skating". True/Slant. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 "Jennifer Kirk". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on March 9, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (October 30, 2008). "The Inside Edge with Sarah and Drew". IceNetwork.com . Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  9. Hersh, Philip (14 January 2005). "Kirk stepping out on her own". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  10. 1 2 "2004 U.S. Bronze Medalist Jennifer Kirk Announces Retirement From Competitive Figure Skating". U.S. Figure Skating . September 7, 2005. Archived from the original on November 10, 2005.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. The Skating Lesson's about page
  12. Kirk, Jennifer (July 5, 2009). "Skating's not-so-secret Shame". True/Slant . Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  13. Kirk, Jennifer (July 8, 2009). "The Aftermath". True/Slant . Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  14. Coker, Lesleyann (January 20, 2010). "Jenny Kirk on Figure Skating's Eating Disorder Epidemic (Part I)". Huffington Post . Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  15. Coker, Lesleyann (January 21, 2010). "Jenny Kirk on Figure Skating's Eating Disorder Epidemic (Part II)". Huffington Post . Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  16. "Jennifer KIRK: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 16, 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. "Jennifer KIRK: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 18, 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. "Jennifer KIRK: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 11, 2002.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. "Jennifer KIRK: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 19, 2001.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. 1 2 "Jennifer KIRK". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Jennifer Kirk at Wikimedia Commons