Jennifer Kirk

For the New Zealand politician, see Jenny Kirk (politician).
Jennifer Kirk

Kirk in 2003.
Personal information
Country represented  United States
Born (1984-08-15) August 15, 1984
Height 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Former coach Ken Congemi, Frank Carroll, Richard Callaghan, Evy Scotvold, Mary Scotvold
Skating club SC of Boston
Retired September 7, 2005
ISU personal best scores
Combined total 178.77
2003 Skate America
Short program 58.68
2003 Skate America
Free skate 120.09
2003 Skate America

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

Early life

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

Career

Kirk grew interested in skating and began training with coaches Evy and Mary Scotvold at the age of 10[1] at the Skating Club of Boston. At 15, a piece of bone tore from her pelvis and jutted into her hip flexor.[3]

Kirk won gold at the 2000 World Junior Championships. In 2002, she captured the Four Continents title. After failing to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2002, she moved to the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California, to train with Frank Carroll and Ken Congemi. 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.[1][4]

Kirk won the bronze medal at the 2004 Nationals. She also won bronze at the 2005 Four Continents.

On September 7, 2005, Kirk announced her retirement from competitive figure skating.[5] 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 US Figure Skating International Committee.

In the fall of 2012 Kirk and her colleague David Lease launched "The Skating Lesson", a podcast and website.[6] The two interview current and former skaters, coaches, choreographers and skating officials including Debi Thomas, Frank Carroll, Sandra Bezic, Alissa Czisny and Rudy Galindo. The web-series has garnered a following of thousands of figure skating fans with its weekly video interviews.

Personal life

In May 1999, Kirk's mother, Pat Harris, was diagonosed 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."[5] In 2009, she revealed her career-long struggle with eating disorders and mentioned that it had been a factor in her decision to retire.[7][8] She also stated that disordered eating was very common among skaters but not enough was being done to address the problem.[9][10]

Results

International
Event 1997–98 1998–99 1999-00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05
Worlds WD1 18th 17th
Four Continents 5th 1st 3rd
Cup of Russia 10th
NHK Trophy 6th 5th
Skate America 4th 2nd
Skate Canada 6th
Sparkassen 4th
Trophée Lalique 3rd
International: Junior
Junior Worlds 1st
JGP Final 2nd
JGP Japan 1st
JGP Netherlands 4th
National
U.S. Champ. 3rd N. 3rd J. 7th 4th 5th 5th 3rd 4th
Levels: N. = Novice; J. = Junior
GP = Grand Prix; JGP = Junior Grand Prix; WD = Withdrew

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2004–2005 Chicago
by John Kander and Fred Ebb 		Beatles concerto
2003–2004 Chicago
by John Kander and Fred Ebb 		Die Fledermaus
by Johann Strauss		 Chicago
by John Kander and Fred Ebb
2002–2003 The Princess Diaries soundtrack
by John Debney		 ABBA medley
Die Fledermaus
by Johann Strauss		 "Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)"
by Celine Dion
2001–2002 "Puttin' on the Ritz"
by Irving Berlin
and
"Moonlight Serenade"
by Glenn Miller		 Danse Macabre
by Camille Saint-Saëns		 "Only Hope"
by Mandy Moore
2000–2001 Evita
by Andrew Lloyd Webber		 The Nutcracker Suite
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky		 "Colors of the Wind"
from Pocahontas
by Vanessa L. Williams
1960s medley
by The Angels
1999–2000 Evita
by Andrew Lloyd Webber		 Ever After soundtrack
by George Fenton		 "Don't Rain on My Parade"
by Barbra Streisand
"American Pie"
by Don McLean

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jennifer Kirk: Online Interview". goldenskate.com. November 10, 2003. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  2. ↑ Mittan, Barry (January 9, 2003). "Jennifer Kirk: Gymnastics Background Strengthens Kirk's Skating". GoldenSkate. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  3. ↑ Kirk, Jennifer (June 27, 2009). "Preventing Pain in Figure Skating". True/Slant.
  4. ↑ Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (October 30, 2008). "The Inside Edge with Sarah and Drew". icenetwork.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "2004 U.S. Bronze Medalist Jennifer Kirk Announces Retirement From Competitive Figure Skating". U.S. Figure Skating. September 7, 2005.
  6. ↑ The Skating Lesson's about page
  7. ↑ Kirk, Jennifer (July 5, 2009). "Skating’s not-so-secret Shame". True/Slant. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  8. ↑ Kirk, Jennifer (July 8, 2009). "The Aftermath". True/Slant. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  9. ↑ Coker, Lesleyann (January 20, 2010). "Jenny Kirk on Figure Skating's Eating Disorder Epidemic (Part I)". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  10. ↑ Coker, Lesleyann (January 21, 2010). "Jenny Kirk on Figure Skating's Eating Disorder Epidemic (Part II)". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 23, 2010.

External links

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