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ROBIN FLOYD BLANKENSHIP, RN memphisplasticsurgery.com | Pierre Robin Syndrome craniofacial.net | "Our Hike" - Robin's story ourhike.com | Elk City, Oklahoma Eye Dr. Robin Smith, O.D. | BVA Advanced Eye Care bva20-20.com |
Robin Szolkowy (born 17 July 1979) is a German pair skater. With partner Aliona Savchenko, he is the 2008 & 2009 World Champion, the 2007 World Bronze Medalist, the 2007-2009 European Champion, the 2008 Grand Prix Final Champion, and a six-time (2004-2009) German National Champion. Savchenko & Szolkowy scored the first 10.0 ever given by a judge under the ISU Judging System[1]. As of December 2009[update], Savchenko & Szolkowy are ranked first in the world[2].
[edit] Personal lifeSzolkowy was born in Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany. His mother, a nurse, met his father, a Tanzanian medical doctor, when the latter was a student in Greifswald. Although Robin has seen photos of his father, the two have met in march 2008 in Vienna.[3] Szolkowy began skating when he was 4 years old. Originally a singles skater, he switched to pairs when he was 16. [edit] Career[edit] Early careerSavchenko is Szolkowy's third skating partner. His first was Johanna Otto, followed in 1997 by Claudia Rauschenbach, daughter of 1980 Olympic gold medalist Anett Pötzsch and niece of 1984 Olympic and 1988 Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt.. Rauschenbach and Szolkowy won the German Junior National pair title three times and the 2001 senior German National pair title, but never placed higher than ninth at Junior Worlds. Their coach was Monika Scheibe. [edit] Partnership with SavchenkoAfter Rauschenbach retired, Szolkowy was unable to find a new skating partner for a year and a half. During this forced hiatus, he participated in synchronized skating in an effort to maintain some of his skills. In May 2003, Szolkowy's coach, Ingo Steuer, brought Savchenko, the 2000 World Junior Pair Champion (with Stanislav Morozov), from her native Ukraine to Chemnitz, Germany for what would be a successful try-out with Szolkowy. Three months later, Savchenko relocated to Germany; the pair began training in earnest and won their first major competition, the 2004 German Nationals, little more than five months later. In 2004, during their first season together, Savchenko and Szolkowy won the German National pair title. The two made their international debut as a team at the start of the 2004-2005 season. They again won the German National pair title, placed fourth at 2005 European Figure Skating Championships with 158.73 points and sixth at the 2005 World Figure Skating Championships earning 169.02 points. [edit] 2005-2006 seasonDuring the 2005-2006 season, the pair earned their first ISU Grand Prix gold medal, at Skate Canada, where they won both the short program and free skate to score a total of 175.60 points. They won the bronze medal Grand Prix Final, scoring 180.10 points. Savchenko and Szolkowy won their third German National title. They placed second at 2006 European Figure Skating Championships receiving a total of 188.08 points, 7.79 behind Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin. Savchenko was given the German citizenship on December 29, 2005. That allowed the pair to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, where they finished sixth with 180.15 points. They also placed sixth at 2006 World Figure Skating Championships some weeks later, where they earned 170.08 points overall. [edit] 2006-2007 seasonThe next season, Savchenko and Szolkowy placed third at the 2006 Cup of China and won the 2006 Cup of Russia. getting qualified to the 2006-2007 Grand Prix Final, held in Saint Petersburg, where they finished second earning a tottal of 180.67 points, 22.52 behind Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who won gold. In January 2007, they won their fourth German National pair title. Savchenko and Szolkowy also won their first European pair title in the 2007 European Figure Skating Championships, becoming the first German pair skaters to win a European title in 12 years, since their coach, Ingo Steuer, won Europeans with his partner, Mandy Wötzel, in 1995,[4]. They won the short program with 65.38 points, even if Savchenko fell in the throw triple flip. In the free skate they set new personal bests for their earning 134.01 points skating to the soundtrack of the film The Mission[5]. The team also got a new personal best for combined total scoring 199.39 points overall, finishing 19.78 ahead of silver medalists Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov. In the 2007 World Championships, held in March 2007, Savchenko and Szolkowy earned their first World Championship medal, a bronze. they earned a new personal best for their short program of 67.65 points, placing second in that segment of the competition. They finished third in the free skate with a score of 119.74 points. Overall they scored 187.39 points, 16.11 points behind gold medalists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. At the end of the 2006-2007 season, Savchenko and Szolkowy ranked third on the International Skating Union's World Standings.[6] [edit] 2007-2008 seasonAt the beginning of the 2007-2008 season, Savchenko and Szolkowy competed in the 2007 Skate Canada, in the 2007 Cup of Russia and in the 2007 NHK Trophy, getting gold in all of those but the Cup of Russia in which they placed second to Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao. At the 2007-2008 Grand Prix Final in December 2007, Savchenko and Szolkowy scored 72.14 in the short program, setting a new world record[7], and a season's best of 127.09 points in the free skate to win the Pair title with 199.23 overall. At the end of 2007, they were ranked first in the World Pair standings.[6] In January 2008, Savchenko and Szolkowy went to the 2008 European Figure Skating Championships with the aim to reclaim their title, which they did. They finished first in both short scoring 70.36 points and in the long program setting a new season's best 132.03, scoring 202.39 points overall, a new personal best in their total segment score. They won their second European title by a whopping 32.98 point margin lead over silver medalists Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov. The team moved on to the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships, held in Gothenburg, Sweden. They placed second in the short program with 72.00 points, 2.36 points behind Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China. Even though they commited some mistakes in the free skate, they won that segment with a score of 130.86 points, 6.74 ahead of Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, who placed second in the long program. Overall they achieved a new personal best of 202.86 points to win their first World Championship title finishing 5.04 points ahead of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, who won the silver medal. [edit] 2008-2009 seasonSavchenko and Szolkowy began the 2008-2009 season competing in the 2008 Skate America and in the 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard winning both of their Grand Prix events. However, they finished third in the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Final, in which they had a season's best of 70.14 in the short program but placed third in the long program with a score of 114.95. Overall they earned 185.09 points to finish 6.40 points behind gold medalists Pang Qing & Tong Jian. Late in January 2009, they went to the 2009 European Figure Skating Championships as the defenders of the title, like they did in the previous season. Savchenko and Szolkowy managed to get their third consecutive European title, placing second in the short program with a score of 66.64 points, 2.98 behind Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov. Anyhow, they performed a breathtaking free skate getting a season's best of 132.43, placing first in that segment of the competition. They won the competition overal with a score of 199.07 points, 16.30 points ahead of silver medalists Yuko Kawaguchi & Alexander Smirnov. Competing in the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships as defending champions, Savchenko and Szolkowy tallied a personal best 72.30 points in the short program to take the lead by a margin of 3.36 points over Yuko Kawaguchi & Alexander Smirnov. They also won the free skate, earning 131.18 points in that segment of the competition. A throw triple salchow on the last beat of their music in the long program ensured victory. They finished with a combined total of 203.48 points, another personal best, and won by almost 17 points over silver medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, who scored 186.52 points overall.[8] They were the first German pair since Marika Kilius and Hans Jürgen Bäumler (1963 and 1964) to successfully defend a World Championship title. [edit] 2009-2010 seasonThey competed in the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy finishing first in both short program with a score of 72.80 points, 13.24 ahead of the rest of the teams, and free skate earning 113.19 points. They won the gold medal with 185.99 points. For the 2009–2010 Grand Prix season, they had been assigned to 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard and the 2009 Skate Canada. At the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard, they placed first in the short program with a new personal best score of 72.98 points, leading by 6.1 points over Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov, but commited a few mistakes in the free skate to be in fourt place in that segment of the competition with 101.44. Overall they won the bronze medal with 174.42 points, 18.51 behind gold medalists Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov. At the 2009 Skate Canada they won the short program improving their personal best earning 74.16 points, leading the rest of the field by 8.36 points. They also won the free skate with a score of 132.55 points, placing first overall with 206.71 points, 21 ahead of Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov. As a result, they set a new world record for pairs' combined total under the ISU Judging System[9]. This was also the first time a judge gave a 10.0 under the Code of Points[10]. They changed their 2009-2010 season's free skate of You'll Never Walk Alone and decided to skate to the soundtrack of Out of Africa during the rest of the season. Their placements in their two 2009–2010 Grand Prix events qualified them for the 2009-2010 Grand Prix Final that was held in Tokyo, Japan, in December 2009. They placed second in the short program with 73.14 points, 2.22 behind Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo. However, they finished fourth in the free skate with 127.24 points. They won the bronze medal overall with 200.38 points, 13.87 behind Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo. [edit] Public life and endorsementsThey have toured in multiple ice shows all around the world, including the 2009 Ice All Stars, held in South Korea and headlined by Kim Yu-Na. They have also participated in shows that were located in Davos, Oberstdorf and Ingolstadt. [edit] Programs(with Savchenko)
[edit] Competitive highlights(with Savchenko)
(with Rauschenbach)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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