Matthew Savoie
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| Personal Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country: |  United States |
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| Residence: | Peoria, Illinois | |
| Height: | 175 cm | |
| Coach: | Linda Branan | |
| Skating Club: | Illinois Valley FSC | |
| ISU Personal Best Scores | ||
| Short + Free Total: | 206.67 | 2006 XX Olympics |
| Short Program: | 75.64 | 2006 Four CC |
| Free Skate: | 137.52 | 2006 XX Olympics |
Matthew Savoie (born September 12, 1980, in Peoria, Illinois), is an American figure skater. He is a three-time US National bronze medalist, the 2006 Four Continents bronze medalist and a member of the 2006 Olympic team.
[edit] Biography
Matthew Savoie first gained prominence when he won the gold medal as a junior at the 1997 United States Figure Skating Championships. He went on to place in the top five at every U.S. Figure Skating Championships between 1999 and 2006, winning bronze medals in 2001, 2004, and 2006 and pewter medals in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2005.
He has won bronze medals at the Junior Grand Prix Final, the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, and the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. He has represented the United States three times at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Savoie was the first alternate to the 2002 Olympic team. He earned a chance to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics team by finishing third at US Nationals. Savoie finished seventh overall in Torino, with two solid skates.
Savoie was raised in Peoria, Illinois, and trained there with coach Linda Branan throughout his career. He has also worked with coach Gene Hefron and choreographer Tom Dickson.
Savoie is rare among elite skaters for his commitment to higher education. He graduated summa cum laude from Bradley University in 2002, with a major in political science and a minor in biology. He went on to earn his master's degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005 and received the AICP Outstanding Graduate Student Award for 2005. He was admitted to the law school at Cornell University in 2005, but obtained a deferral for a year to focus on making the Olympic team. He joined the program in September 2006. While Savoie has not given up his Olympic eligibility, he does not plan to compete during the 2006-07 season and will focus instead on law school.
In the summer of 2006, Savoie was appointed the athlete representative to the singles and pairs technical committees of the International Skating Union. [1]
[edit] Competitive highlights
| Event | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 7th | ||||||||||
| World Championships | 12th | 16th | 11th | ||||||||
| Four Continents | 4th | 5th | 5th | 3rd | |||||||
| U.S. Championships | 4th N. | 1st J. | 11th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 3rd | 4th | 3rd |
| Grand Prix Final | 3rd | ||||||||||
| Skate Canada International | 3rd | 5th | |||||||||
| Cup of China | 8th | 7th | |||||||||
| Skate America | 5th | 6th | 3rd | ||||||||
| Bofrost Cup | 3rd | 3rd | |||||||||
| NHK Trophy | 9th | ||||||||||
| Cup of Russia | 3rd | 4th | 5th | ||||||||
| World Junior Championships | 4th | 3rd | |||||||||
| ISU Junior Grand Prix Final | 3rd | 6th | |||||||||
| China Junior International | 4th | ||||||||||
| Grand Prix St. Gervais | 2nd | 3rd | |||||||||
| Pokal der Blauen Schwerter | 1st | ||||||||||
| Gardena Winter Trophy | 1st |
- N = Novice level; J = Junior level
[edit] External links
- Matthew Savoie at the United States Figure Skating Association
- Matthew Savoie at the International Skating Union biography page
