John Zimmerman (figure skater)

John Zimmerman

Ina and Zimmerman in 2001.
Personal information
Full name John Luther Zimmerman IV
Country represented United States
Born (1973-11-26) November 26, 1973
Birmingham, Alabama
Residence Hackensack, New Jersey
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Partner Kyoko Ina
Former partner Brie Teaboldt
Stephanie Stiegler
Former coach Tamara Moskvina
Igor Moskvin
Peter Burrows
Former choreographer Alexander Zhulin
Artur Dmitriev
Skating club Birmingham FSC
Retired 2002

John Luther Zimmerman IV (born November 26, 1973) is an American professional pair skater. With skating partner Kyoko Ina, he is the 2002 World bronze medalist and a three-time U.S. national champion. They also competed at the 2002 Olympics. Zimmerman is now a coach.

Personal life

Zimmerman was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He has two older sisters. He married Italian skater Silvia Fontana on August 28, 2003.[1] Their daughter, Sofia Zimmerman, was born on April 2, 2012 at Northwest Medical Center in Coconut Creek, Florida.[2]

Zimmerman also works as a model, and has been seen in photo shoots for Barneys New York and various designers.

Zimmerman and Fontana appeared on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in 2004, and made appearances for Am/FAR, amongst other charities. In 2003, an access bridge at his alma mater, Homewood High School, was named after him.

Career

Zimmerman started skating at age 3 at a mall. He briefly partnered with Brie Teaboldt for the 1994/1995 season. Then he paired with Stephanie Stiegler from 1995 through 1998, and won the bronze medal at the 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships while being coached by Peter Oppegard. Their partnership ended in 1998 due to injuries.[3]

Zimmerman teamed up with Kyoko Ina. Initially, they were coached by Peter Burrows and Mary Lynn Gelderman in Monsey, New York and they also commuted to Stamford, Connecticut to work with Tamara Moskvina.[3] They later trained under Mosvkina and Igor Moskvin in Hackensack, New Jersey.[4]

Ina and Zimmerman won the bronze medal at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships. In 2003, they turned professional and began skating on Stars on Ice.

Zimmerman competed in the January 2006 FOX television program "Skating with Celebrities", where he partnered with FOX broadcaster Jillian Barberie. They finished in second place.

Zimmerman covered figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics, being featured as Yahoo's special guest expert correspondent on the Games in Turin.[5] He later competed in a new ABC skating series "Thin Ice," aired on March 19, 2010, paired with Shae-Lynn Bourne, a world champion Canadian ice dancer. They finished in second place, winning a total of $50,000. They skated to "Closer" by Ne-Yo and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga.

Zimmerman coaches at Coral Gables in Coral Springs, Florida with Silvia Fontana.[6] Their students include Haven Denney / Brendon Frazier.[6]

Programs

(with Ina)

Season Short program Free skating
2001–2002
[4]		 Shine On You Crazy Diamond
by Roger Waters, Pink Floyd 		Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
by Sergei Rachmaninov
2000–2001
[7]		 Truman Show Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
by Sergei Rachmaninov

Results

With Kyoko Ina

Ina and Zimmerman perform a "detroiter".
Results[4][7]
International
Event 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02
Olympics 5th
Worlds 9th 7th 7th 3rd
Four Continents 2nd 3rd
Grand Prix Final 5th 4th
GP Cup of Russia 3rd 4th
GP Lalique 2nd 4th 3rd 2nd
GP Skate America 5th 5th 4th 2nd
GP Skate Canada 2nd
GP Sparkassen 2nd
National
U.S. Champ. 2nd 1st 1st 1st
GP = Grand Prix

With Stephanie Stiegler

Results[7]
International
Event 1995–1996 1996–1997
World Championships 15th
CS Trophée Lalique 6th
CS Skate America 3rd
National
U.S. Championships 4th 3rd
CS = Champions Series (later Grand Prix)

With Brie Teaboldt

Event 1994–1995
U.S. Championships 12th

References

  1. ↑ "Five favorite things with Fontana and Zimmerman". Ice Network. 2011-11-01.
  2. ↑ Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (2012-04-11). "The Inside Edge". Ice Network.
  3. 1 2 Mittan, J. Barry (1998). "Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman". Archived from the original on January 11, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "Kyoko INA / John ZIMMERMAN: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 2, 2002.
  5. ↑ "Turin 2006 Winter Olympics - Expert Archive". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on 2006-04-29.
  6. 1 2 Rutherford, Lynn (May 17, 2013). "Change of scenery serves Denney, Frazier well". IceNetwork.
  7. 1 2 3 "Kyoko INA / John ZIMMERMAN: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 20, 2001.

External links

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