John Nicks

John Nicks
Personal information
Full name	John Allen Wisden Nicks
Country represented	Great Britain
Born	(1929-04-22) April 22, 1929 (age 87)
Former partner	Jennifer Nicks
Medal record Representing  United Kingdom Pairs' Figure skating World Championships 1953 Davos Pairs 1952 Paris Pairs 1951 Milan Pairs 1950 London Pairs European Championships 1953 Davos Pairs 1952 Vienna Pairs 1951 Zürich Pairs 1950 Oslo Pairs

John Allen Wisden Nicks (born April 22, 1929) is a British figure skating coach and former pair skater. With his sister and pairs partner, Jennifer Nicks, he is the 1953 World champion. As a coach, his skating pupils have included Peggy Fleming, pairs team Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Kristi Yamaguchi, Sasha Cohen, and Ashley Wagner.

John Nicks, the son of a sporting goods store owner, grew up in Brighton, England. He is the brother of Jennifer Nicks.

Nicks moved to the United States in the 1960s and was briefly an undocumented alien but received his green card a few weeks later. He married American former ice dancer Yvonne Littlefield. He became a U.S. citizen around 2008.

John Nicks began skating at age 10 or 11 after his father – who knew nothing about skating but wanted to sell skating equipment – put him in skates in order to learn more about them.

John and Jennifer Nicks competed initially as singles skaters but agreed to train together in pair skating upon the request of the British association, which promised to support them. They made their first Olympic appearance at the 1948 Winter Olympics, where they finished 8th. Recalling the competition in a January 2013 interview, John Nicks said, "it was snowing so much they had to stop the skating after every three skaters to clear the snow." He was impressed by the American skaters at the event, in particular Dick Button – this would later influence his decision to come to the United States.

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