Jamie Salé | |||||||||||||
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Salé and Pelletier compete at the 2002 Grand Prix Final
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Personal information | |||||||||||||
Country represented | Canada | ||||||||||||
Born |
Calgary, Alberta |
April 21, 1977 ||||||||||||
Residence | Edmonton, Alberta | ||||||||||||
Height | 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||
Partner | David Pelletier | ||||||||||||
Former partner | Jason Turner | ||||||||||||
Former coach |
Jan Ullmark Richard Gauthier |
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Former choreographer | Lori Nichol | ||||||||||||
Skating club | CPA St-Leonard | ||||||||||||
Retired | 2002 | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jamie Rae Salé (born April 21, 1977) is a Canadian pair skater. With partner David Pelletier, she is a 2002 Olympic Champion and the 2001 World Champion. Salé & Pelletier's Olympic gold medal was shared with the Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal.
Salé was born in Calgary, Alberta. She competed first as a singles skater, winning the novice bronze medal and placing 8th in junior ladies at the Canadian Championships. In 1994, Salé won the short program and finished with the bronze medal in the junior event at the Canadian Championships. That same year, she achieved her biggest success to date by winning the senior bronze medal with her pairs partner, Jason Turner. They were named to the 1994 Canadian Olympic team and placed 12th at the Lillehammer Olympics. They placed 16th at the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan, but ended their partnership that August.
Salé returned to singles skating. She placed 5th at the 1995 Canadian Championships, but struggled with injuries which caused her to withdraw from the 1997 Championships. Salé returned in 1998 and skated a strong short program, but was only able to land one of five planned triples in her long program and placed 6th.
Salé had a tryout with David Pelletier in the summer of 1996, but it did not lead to a partnership. After her moderate success in singles, she decided to give pairs one last shot. Coach Richard Gaulthier, who was helping Pelletier find a partner, suggested Salé. He and Pelletier went to Edmonton in February 1998 to try out with Salé again. "The first time we grabbed hands, it was just great," said Pelletier, and by the next month Salé had moved to Montréal to skate with Pelletier.