John Curry
| John Curry | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | John Anthony Curry |
| Country represented | United Kingdom |
| Born |
9 September 1949 Birmingham, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | 15 April 1994 (aged 44) Binton, Warwickshire, England |
| Former coach |
Carlo Fassi, Gustav Lussi, Arnold Gerschwiler |
| Retired | 1976 |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's figure skating | ||
Representing  United Kingdom
|
||
 |
1976 Innsbruck | Singles |
John Anthony Curry, OBE (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. He was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating.
Curry was born on 9 September 1949 in Birmingham, England. He was educated at Solihull School, an Independent School in the West Midlands followed later by St Andrews, an independent boarding school in Somerset. As a child, Curry wanted to become a dancer, but his father disapproved of dance as an activity for boys, so instead at the age of 7 he began to take figure skating lessons.
For the first several years, Curry's involvement with skating was rather casual. Curry's father died when he was 15; he then moved to London to study with Arnold Gerschwiler, who coached him to his first British title in 1971. In 1972, Curry found an American sponsor who enabled him to study in the United States with Gus Lussi and Carlo Fassi.
Fassi coached Curry to European, World, and Olympic titles in 1976.
Curry was the flag bearer at the 1976 Winter Olympics for Great Britain. He was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1976.
As an amateur competitor, Curry was noted for his ballet-like posture and extension, and his superb body control. Along with Canadian skater Toller Cranston, Curry was responsible for bringing the artistic and presentation aspects of men's figure skating to a new level. At the peak of his competitive career, Curry was also accomplished both at compulsory figures and the athletic (jumping) aspects of free skating. Curry's skating was unusual in that his jumps were performed counter-clockwise but most of his spins (except flying spins) were performed clockwise.
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Wikipedia