From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
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.
Zimmerman was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He has two older sisters. He married Italian skater Silvia Fontana on on August 28, 2003. Their daughter, Sofia Zimmerman, was born on April 2, 2012 at Northwest Medical Center in Coconut Creek, Florida.
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.
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.
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. They later trained under Mosvkina and Igor Moskvin in Hackensack, New Jersey.
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. 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. Their students include Haven Denney / Brendon Frazier.
No comments:
Post a Comment