Naomi Lang
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Naomi Lang (born December 18, 1978 in Arcata, California, U.S.) is an American ice dancer.
Lang is the first Native American female athlete to participate in the Olympic Winter Games. She is a member of the Karuk tribe by her father's heritage. Her mother is Leslie Dixon. Lang represents the American Academy Figure Skating Club.
Lang was a ballet dancer in Eureka. She started to dance with the age of 3 and continued with ballet dancing to the age of 15. Her interest in figure skating developed after seeing an "Ice Capades" performance at the age of 8. Lang began dance with John Lee, winning the 1995 U.S. Novice title and the 1996 U.S. Junior silver medal.
In 1996, she began skating with Peter Tchernyshev and found fast success. They first won the U.S. Championships in 1999, and won the title the next four years in a row. They also won two Four Continents Championships (2000, 2002) and placed as high as 8th at the World Championships (2000, 2003). They placed 11th at the 2002 Olympics. After the 2002 World Championships, they switched coaches from Alexander Zhulin to Nikolai Morozov.
The team continued to compete in the 2003 season, but was forced to withdraw at the U.S. Championships due to the re-injury of Lang's Achilles tendon. Soon afterwards they retired from competition. Lang lives with the Ukrainian ice acrobat Vladimir Besedin. The couple has a daughter, Lillia Ashlee Besedin, born in 2004.
Lang and Tchernyshev have continued to skate together and have appeared in several ice shows since 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Results with Peter Tchernyshev
[edit] Olympic Winter Games
- 2002 – 11th place
[edit] World Championships
[edit] Four Continents Championships
[edit] U.S. Championships
- 1998 – 3rd place
- 1999 – 1st place
- 2000 – 1st place
- 2001 – 1st place
- 2002 – 1st place
- 2003 – 1st place
- 2004 – withdrawn due to Lang's injury (2nd place after compulsory dance)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Navigation
1999: Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz | 2000: Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev | 2001: Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz | 2002: Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev | 2003: Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz | 2004-2006: Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto |