Matej Silecky

Last updated
Matej Silecky
Born (1994-04-15) 15 April 1994 (age 30)
Verona, New Jersey, United States
Hometown Berkeley, CA
Height1.85 m (6.1 ft)
Figure skating career
Country Flag of the United States.svg United States
Skating club The Skating Club of New York
Began skating1998

Matej Silecky (born April 15, 1994) is an American figure skater and documentary film director.

Contents

Early life and education

Matej was born on April 15, 1994, and was raised in Verona, New Jersey and Kyiv, Ukraine.

He is a 2015 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where he received the Charlene Conrad Liebau Library Prize for Undergraduate Research for The Post-Soviet Development of Elite-Level Athletics in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. [1] [2]

Figure Skating Career

Matej competed in singles and pairs and was the 2012 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships Junior Men's Champion. [3] He left competitive skating due to a shoulder injury sustained during the 2015 – 2016 season. [4] At that time, he was partnered with Elizaveta Usmantseva, competing in Senior Pairs at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. After a six-year hiatus from competitive skating, Matej and his partner, Kate Finster, competed at the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Championship Pairs, where they placed 7th. [5]

Competitive Programs

Season Short program Free skating
Pairs

2021-2022

choreo. by Sinead Kerr, John Kerr  [6] 
choreo. by Sinead Kerr, John Kerr 
Pairs

2015–2016

choreo. by Matej Silecky
choreo. by Matej Silecky
Singles

2012–2013

choreo. by Phillip Mills

Professional Skating

In 2017 - 2018, Matej joined ITV's Dancing On Ice (series 10) in the United Kingdom. He was partnered with Coronation Street actress Brooke Vincent, and they finished as Runners-up in the series. In 2019 – 2020, Matej was a skating professional in Dancing on Ice (Netherlands and Belgium), where he and his partner, Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding, Nicolien Sauerbreij, made the semifinals. [7] [8] He also skated in the first ice skating event in Nepal, Skate Nepal, led by Dawa Steven Sherpa, as part of the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign, at Gokyo Lakes (4750 m) on February 14, 2020, along with Elizabeth Putnam, Patrick Chan, Jeremy Abbott, Sergei Voronov and others. [9]

Film career

Whilst recovering from an injury, Matej established a production company, Kitsune Tale Productions, and made the documentary, Baba Babee Skazala [Grandmother Told Grandmother] about Ukrainian children torn from their homes in the crush between the Nazi and Soviet fronts in World War II. [10] [11]

In 2022, Matej played the role of Ice Skater in the independent feature film Goodbye, Petrushka [12] .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-France Dubreuil</span> Canadian ice dancing coach (born 1974)

Marie-France Dubreuil is a Canadian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With her husband Patrice Lauzon, she is a two-time (2006–2007) World silver medallist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Hubbell</span> American ice dancer

Madison Hubbell is an American former ice dancer. She competed with Zachary Donohue from 2011 to 2022. With him, she is a two-time 2022 Winter Olympics medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, the 2014 Four Continents champion, and a three-time U.S. national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Country changes in figure skating</span>

Country changing is a phenomenon in the figure skating world in which skaters change the country they represent in competition. There are many different reasons why competitors switch countries, but it mostly comes down to maximizing the possibility of being able to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympic Games. A skater who cannot do that representing their home country often looks for another one. Because spots to Worlds and the Olympics are allotted by country, not by skater, a skater can hope to transfer to a new country and have a better chance of becoming national champion, being sent to Worlds, and qualifying for a spot in the Olympics.

The Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating, which has been held since 1938. It is one of three sectional competitions, alongside the Midwestern Sectional Figure Skating Championships and Pacific Coast Sectional Figure Skating Championships.

The 2013–14 figure skating season began on July 1, 2013, and ended on June 30, 2014. During this season, elite skaters competed at the 2014 European Championships, Four Continents Championships, World Junior Championships, and World Championships, as well as the 2014 Winter Olympics. They also competed at elite events such as the Grand Prix series and Junior Grand Prix series, culminating at the Grand Prix Final.

Dawa Steven Sherpa is a Nepalese Sherpa adventurer, entrepreneur and environmentalist, known for his contributions to mountaineering, environmental conservation, and social welfare in Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marko Farion</span> American bandurist (born 1962)

Marko Farion is an American bandurist, opera singer, and dentist. Farion currently resides in Sterling Heights, Michigan with dental offices in Clawson, Michigan and Artesia, New Mexico. His music has been featured on PBS. He has been referenced in several books about bandura and bandurists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vadym Kolesnik</span> Ukrainian-American ice dancer

Vadym Kolesnik is a Ukrainian-born ice dancer who competes for the United States. With his skating partner, Emilea Zingas, he is the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist and 2023 U.S. national pewter medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Chen</span> American figure skater

Jeffrey Chen is an American ice dancer.

Oona Brown is an American ice dancer. Competing with her brother, Gage Brown, she is the 2022 World Junior champion and a two-time U.S. national junior medalist.

Danylo Siianytsia is a Ukrainian-born pair skater who represents the United States. With his former skating partner, Anastasiia Smirnova, he is the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb champion. They are also the 2021 U.S. junior national champions and finished in the top ten at two World Junior Championships.

The 2021–22 figure skating season began on July 1, 2021 and ended on June 30, 2022. During this season, elite skaters competed at the ISU Championship level at the 2022 European Championships, Four Continents Championships, World Junior Championships, and World Championships, as well as at the 2022 Winter Olympics. They also competed at elite events such as the Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix series, and the ISU Challenger Series.

National figure skating championships for the 2021–22 season took place mainly from December 2021 to January 2022. They were held to crown national champions and to serve as part of the selection process for international events, such as the 2022 ISU Championships and the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance. A few countries choose to organize their national championships together with their neighbors; the results were subsequently divided into national podiums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 World Figure Skating Championships</span> Figure skating competition

The 2022 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Montpellier, France, from March 21–27, 2022. Figure skaters competed for the title of world champion in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The competition was used to determine the entry quotas for each federation at the 2023 World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yehor Yehorov</span>

Yehor Yehorov is a Ukrainian-born ice dancer. Competing for the United States with his skating partner, Molly Cesanek, he is the 2021 Lake Placid Ice Dance International bronze medalist and has competed on the Grand Prix series.

Ivan Khobta is a Ukrainian pair skater. With his skating partner, Violetta Sierova, he is the 2023 World Junior bronze medalist and a four-time silver medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series. Competing as seniors, they are the 2022 Ice Challenge bronze medalists and 2021 Ukrainian national champions.

Violetta Ruslanivna Sierova is a Ukrainian pair skater. With her skating partner, Ivan Khobta, she is the 2023 World Junior bronze medalist and a four-time silver medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series. Competing as seniors, they are the 2022 Ice Challenge bronze medalists and 2021 Ukrainian national champions.

References

  1. https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/researchprize/winners2013 (Retrieved 14 Feb. 2022)
  2. https://escholarship.org/content/qt139693wt/qt139693wt.pdf (Retrieved 14 Feb. 2022)
  3. http://ukrweekly.com/archive/2012/The_Ukrainian_Weekly_2012-49.pdf (Retrieved 14 Feb. 2022)
  4. "Matej Silecky's Story - HSS Back in the Game". Back in the Game - Hospital for Special Surgery. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  5. "2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships scores, results". NBC Sports. 2022-01-09. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  6. US Figure Skating Championships (Pairs Skating Kate and Matej) , retrieved 2024-03-08
  7. Dancing on Ice (Netherlands) (Reality-TV), Tommie Christiaan, Elske DeWall, Roy Donders, SBS6, 2019-12-07, retrieved 2024-03-08{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. https://www.kijk.nl/programmas/dancing-on-ice (Retrieved 14 Feb. 2022)
  9. Hub, Nepal Trek (2020-02-21). "Ice Hockey and Skating in Gokyo Lake Nepal". Nepal Trek Hub. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  10. Krushelnycky, Askold (2020-05-12). "Ukrainians uprooted as children by World War II recall their journeys of survival". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  11. "An Interview with Matej Silecky, director of Baba Babee Skazala: Grandmother Told Grandmother". NewJerseyStage.com. 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  12. "Matej Silecky | Additional Crew, Director, Actor". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-05-12.