Emily Samuelson

Emily Samuelson
Samuelson / Bates in 2008.
Personal information
Full name	Emily Samuelson
Country represented	United States
Born	(1990-05-14) May 14, 1990 Southfield, Michigan
Home town	Novi, Michigan
Residence	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Former partner	Todd Gilles Evan Bates
Coach	Yuri Chesnichenko Yaroslava Nechaeva
Former coach	Igor Shpilband Marina Zueva
Choreographer	Tom Dickson Christopher Dean
Former choreographer	Marina Zueva Yuri Chesnichenko Yaroslava Nechaeva
Skating club	Ann Arbor FSC
Training locations	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Former training locations	Canton, Michigan
Began skating	1995
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	181.66 2008 World Juniors
Comp. dance	35.11 2008 World Juniors
Original dance	59.48 2009 Four Continents
Free dance	89.90 2009 Four Continents
Medal record Figure skating Ice dancing Competitor for the  United States Four Continents Championships Bronze 2009 Vancouver Ice dancing World Junior Championships Gold 2008 Sofia Ice dancing Junior Grand Prix Final Silver 2007–2008 Gdansk Ice dancing Silver 2006–2007 Sofia Ice dancing

Emily Samuelson (born May 14, 1990) is an American ice dancer. With former partner Evan Bates, she is a 2010 Olympian, the 2009 U.S. silver medalist, the 2009 Four Continents bronze medalist, and the 2008 World Junior Champion. She later skated with Todd Gilles.

Personal life

Emily Samuelson was born in Southfield, Michigan and lived in Europe for a time when she was a child due to her father's job.^[1] She currently lives and trains in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She graduated from Novi High School in spring of 2008. She is a senior at the University of Michigan.^[2]

Samuelson was selected for the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Scholastics Honors Team.^[3]

Early years

Emily Samuelson began skating at age five after being inspired by a skater she saw while vacationing with her family in Switzerland.^[2] She competed in single skating through the Intermediate level and tested up to the Novice level in the USFSA testing structure.^[1] When she was nine, her coach, Karen Lingenfelter, recommended that she try ice dancing, and Sameulson briefly paired up with Lingenfelter's son Kurt and competed with him a local competition.^[1]

Partnership with Bates

Juvenile to novice

Samuelson began competing with Evan Bates at the Juvenile level in 2000 after they were paired up by their coach Gary Clark.^[1] In the 2000–2001 season, competing on the Juvenile level, they won the pewter medal at their regional championship. This qualified them for the 2000–2001 U.S. Junior Championships, where they won the bronze medal.

Moving up to the intermediate level in the 2001–2002 season, they won the silver medal at their regional championship. At the 2001–2002 U.S. Junior Championships, they won the intermediate national title.

In the 2002–2003 season, they moved up to the novice level. They competed internationally for the first time through the North American Challenge Skate program. They placed 10th on the novice level at the event in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They won the pewter medal at their regional championship to qualify for their sectional championship. At their sectional championship, they placed 6th and did not qualify for the 2003 U.S. Championships.

Remaining on the novice level in the 2003–2004 season, they won their regional championship to qualify for their sectional championship, where they won the silver medal. This qualified them for the 2004 U.S. Championships on the novice level. At nationals, they won the bronze medal. Their placement at nationals earned them a trip to the Estonia International Ice Dancing Championships on the novice level, where they won the silver medal.

In the 2004–2005 season, competing in their third season as novices, Samuelson & Bates won the silver medal at their regional championship and won their sectional championship to qualify for the 2005 U.S. Championships. At nationals, they won the novice title.

Junior career

In the 2005–2006 season, Samuelson and Bates moved up to the junior level. Their made their debut on the ISU Junior Grand Prix. At the 2005–2006 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Slovakia, they placed 6th in the compulsory dance, 10th in the original dance, and 6th in the free dance to place 8th overall. At the event in Sofia, Bulgaria, they placed 5th in all three segments of the competition and overall. They won their sectional championship to qualify for the 2006 U.S. Championships, where they won the silver medal on the junior level. This medal qualified them for a trip to the 2006 World Junior Championships, where they placed 10th.

In the 2006–2007 season, they remained on the junior level. They competed on the 2006–2007 ISU Junior Grand Prix. At their event in Mexico, they won all three segments of the competitions and won the gold medal overall. At their event in Taipei, they placed second in the compulsory dance and won the original and free dances to win the gold medal overall. These medals qualified them for the Junior Grand Prix Final. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, they placed second to training mates Madison Hubbell & Keiffer Hubbell.

Qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final had given them a bye to the 2007 U.S. Championships. Competing again against the Hubbells, Samuelson & Bates won the junior national title. They were placed on the team to the 2007 Junior Worlds. At the World Junior Championships, they were in second place going into the free dance. However, they were forced to withdraw from the competition in the middle of their free dance due to injury. Samuelson fell shortly into the program, and Bates, in an effort to avoid colliding with her head, leaped over her and landed on Samuelson's left hand, and wound up severing the tendon in her middle finger.^[2][4] Their withdrawal, combined with the placement of the other American teams, meant the US would only have two entries to the 2008 Junior Worlds.

Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates perform the Viennese Waltz compulsory dance at the 2007–2008 Junior Grand Prix event in Lake Placid, New York, United States.

In the 2007–2008, Samuelson and Bates remained juniors internationally, but moved up to the senior level nationally. They began their season on the 2007–2008 ISU Junior Grand Prix. Skating with a minor knee injury at their first Junior Grand Prix event, in Lake Placid, Samuelson and Bates won all three segments of the competition to win the gold medal overall. At their second event, they won both the compulsory and original dances, but placed second in the free dance, to win the gold medal overall. These medals qualified them for the 2007–2008 Junior Grand Prix Final and also earned them a bye to the 2008 U.S. Championships. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, they placed 3rd in the compulsory dance and second in the original and free dances to win the silver medal overall. At the U.S. Championships, Samuelson and Bates made their senior national debut. They placed 4th in the compulsory and original dances. In the free dance, Samuelson and Bates fell during a lift that had been put into the program for the senior program due to the different requirements between junior and senior level free dances. They placed 6th in the free dance and won the pewter medal, continuing their medal streak at the U.S. Championships. Their placement at the event earned them a trip to the 2008 Junior Worlds. At the World Junior Championships, they won all three segments of the competition and won the title overall.^[5][6][7][8]

Senior career

In the 2008–2009 season, Samuelson and Bates moved up to the senior level internationally. Their first international competition of the season was the 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy. They placed second in the compulsory dance and won both the original and free dances to win the title overall. They made their senior Grand Prix debut at the 2008 Skate America, where they placed 5th in the compulsory dance, fourth in the original dance, and third in the free dance, to place fourth overall. At their second Grand Prix event, the 2008 NHK Trophy, they placed third in the compulsory dance and fourth in the original and free dances to win the bronze medal. At the 2009 U.S. Championships, they placed 2nd in all three segments of the competition, and won the silver medal overall.^[9] It was their sixth consecutive medal at the U.S. Championships. This medal qualified them for the teams to the 2009 Four Continents and the 2009 World Championships.^[10] At the Four Continents, they placed fourth in the compulsory dance and then third in the original and free dances to win the bronze medal overall.^[11] At the World Championships, they placed 13th in the compulsory dance, 11th in the original dance, and 9th in the free dance to place 11th overall.^[12]

Samuelson and Bates had an up and down season in 2009–10, failing to medal in their two Grand Prix appearances but finishing a respectable 11th at their first Olympics and 9th at Worlds. On April 28, 2010, they announced that they would be leaving long-time coaches Yuri Chesnichenko and Yaroslava Nechaeva to train with Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva in Canton, Michigan.^[13] In September 2010, Bates' Achilles tendon was lacerated by Samuelson as she came down from a lift.^[14] They missed the entire 2010–11 season as a result. In June 2011, it was reported that they had ended their partnership.^[15] On June 28, 2011, Samuelson and Bates confirmed they had split and were both looking for new partners.^[16]

Partnership with Gilles

On August 22, 2011, Samuelson announced that she would be skating with Todd Gilles.^[17] In September, they revealed they would train in Ann Arbor, Michigan, coached by Nechaeva and Chesnichenko with choreography by Tom Dickson and Christopher Dean.^[18][19] In November 2011, they competed in their first event together, the 2011 Cup of China, where they finished 8th. At the time, they had been skating together for approximately two months, and had had their programs choreographed one month earlier.^[20] Samuelson and Gilles confirmed the end of their partnership in June 2012.^[21]

Programs

With Gilles

Emily Samuelson / Todd Gilles in 2011.

With Bates

Samuelson / Bates perform their Let Yourself Go original dance at the 2008 Skate America

Competitive highlights

With Gilles

With Bates

Samuelson and Bates (center) on the 2008 World Juniors podium

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emily Samuelson.

• Emily Samuelson / Todd Gilles at the International Skating Union
• Emily Samuelson / Todd Gilles at Ice Network
• Emily Samuelson / Evan Bates: Official site (Archived)
• Emily Samuelson / Evan Bates at the International Skating Union
• Emily Samuelson / Evan Bates at Ice Network