John Baldwin (figure skater)

Infobox Figure skater
title= John Baldwin


caption= Rena Inoue and John Baldwin
country= USA
dateofbirth= birth date and age|1973|10|18
residence= Santa Monica, California
height= convert|175|cm|ftin|abbr=on
weight=
partner= Rena Inoue
formerpartner=Tristan Colell
coach= Peter Oppegard
skating club= All Year FSC
retired =
combined total= 183.17
combined date= 2006 Worlds
SP score= 61.73
SP date= 2007 Four Continents
FS score= 122.27
FS date= 2006 Worlds

John Baldwin, Jr. (born October 18, 1973 in Dallas, Texas) is an American figure skater. He currently competes in pairs figure skating with Rena Inoue, his partner both on and off the ice. They are two-time U.S. national champions.

Career

Baldwin comes from a family of skaters. His father, John Baldwin Sr, competed as a single skater in the 1960s. His brother Don Baldwin competed in singles as well. John Baldwin was originally a single skater. His best finish at Nationals as a senior was 9th in 1995.

His father pressured Baldwin to skate with Inoue, who had moved to America. Eventually Baldwin teamed up with her.

Baldwin and Inoue were the first pair to successfully perform a throw triple Axel in competition at the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They made Olympic history by landing it again during their short program at the 2006 Winter Games.

Baldwin and Inoue earned the gold medal at the 2006 Skate America event after winning the short program and placing second in the free skate. They won the silver medal at Skate Canada the next week; and finally took the silver at Trophee Eric Bompard one week later. They officially qualified for the Grand Prix Final at the conclusion of the pair's event at the NHK Trophy competition, the last competition in the Grand Prix.

Baldwin and Inoue sat out the Grand Prix season in 2007 but returned for the U.S. Nationals in 2008. At the conclusion of their free skate, Baldwin got down on his knee and proposed to Inoue. [ [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20174124,00.html Olympic Skaters Get Engaged on Ice] ] [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20080127-9999-1s27zeigler.html Baldwin wins Inoue's heart with proposal] ] The pair ended up in second place overall.

Inoue and Baldwin have been assigned to the 2008 Skate America and the 2008 NHK Trophy for the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Season.

Competitive highlights

Pairs

(with Inoue)

* N = Novice level; J = Junior level

References

*

External links

* [http://www.inoueandbaldwin.com/ Official site]
*usfsa name | category=AthletePairBio | id=18340 | name=John Baldwin
*isu name | id=00005328 | name=John Baldwin
* [http://www.usoc.org/26_43025.htm John Baldwin's U.S. Olympic Team bio]

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