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
Medal record Representing  China Pairs' Figure skating World Championships 2003 Washington D.C. Pairs Four Continents Championships 2001 Salt Lake City Pairs 2000 Osaka Pairs

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] Their second daughter, Eva Zimmerman, was born on June 2, 2013.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[4] They later trained under Mosvkina and Igor Moskvin in Hackensack, New Jersey.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] Their students include Haven Denney / Brendon Frazier.^[7]

Programs

(with Ina)

Results

With Kyoko Ina

Ina and Zimmerman perform a "detroiter".

With Stephanie Stiegler

With Brie Teaboldt

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Zimmerman.

• Official Figure Skating Site
• Official Site
• Kyoko Ina / John Zimmerman at the International Skating Union