Gary Beacom (born February 23, 1960) is a Canadian figure skater, choreographer and author. He is the 1983 and 1984 Canadian silver medalist and finished 11th at the 1984 Winter Olympics. Beacom won the 2016 World Figure Championship on black ice held in Toronto, Ontario and became the first Canadian to win the title with World Figure Sport. He expanded the knowledge and art of skating with his epic Creative Figure now called the Beacom Blossom in his honor.
| Gary Beacom | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 23, 1960 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country | Canada |
| Retired | 1985 |
Career
editBeacom began skating at the age of six. In 1983 and 1984, he won the silver medal at the Canadian Championships behind Brian Orser. He finished 11th at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and 10th at the 1984 World Championships. In the latter part of his amateur competitive career, he coached himself while studying full-time for a university degree.
Beacom approached his free skating programs "as an experiment in physical properties"[1] and explored, in his skating, potentials for movements on the ice with figure skates. He developed unique movements, including different types of changes in weight and reversals than traditional skating movements. He executed unusual entries into spins and double and triple jumps. His programs included a greater variety of jumps with unusual take-offs, which were often intentionally landed on two feet, unique spin positions that demonstrated difficult balance and control, and "complex passages of edge and footwork impossible for anyone else to duplicate".[1] Ellyn Kestnbaum states that Beacom approached skating as a scientific endeavor and valued "the process of exploration" over the aesthetic value of his skating.[1]
In his professional career, Beacom specialized in unusual moves, notably in his performance to Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man. He won the 1988 World Professional Championships. Beacom trains figure skaters and competes at ISU adult competitions.
In 2016, Beacom returned to world class competition. His skating was epic at the 2016 World Figure Championship on black ice held in Toronto, Ontario. Beacom became the first Canadian to win the 2016 World Figure Championship title with World Figure Sport. He expanded the knowledge and art of skating with his unforgettable Creative Figure now called the Beacom Blossom in his honor.
As of 2017, Beacom organized Gary Beacom Blade Master Seminars. He has performed his program to Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" more than 300 times all over the world. He has worked as a choreographer based in Oberstdorf, Germany and Tokyo, Japan.[2] Gary Beacom wanted to be an ice skater because he thought ice skating would be an interesting sport to try out.
Personal life
editBeacom graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in physics and philosophy.
As a Canadian citizen, Beacom protested against United States income tax. In 2003, he wrote a book about this titled Apology.[3]
Competitive highlights
edit| International | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 77–78 | 78–79 | 79–80 | 80–81 | 81–82 | 82–83 | 83–84 | 84–85 | 2016 |
| World Figure Championship
(World Figure Sport) |
1st | ||||||||
| Winter Olympics | 11th | ||||||||
| World Champ. | 13th | 10th | |||||||
| Skate America | 6th | ||||||||
| Skate Canada | 9th | 7th | |||||||
| Moscow News | 5th | 2nd | |||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 3rd | ||||||||
| Prague Skate | 4th | ||||||||
| St. Gervais | 3rd | ||||||||
| National | |||||||||
| Canadian Champ. | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | ||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c Kestnbaum, Ellyn (2003). Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. Middleton, Connecticut: Wesleyan Publishing Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-8195-6641-1.
- ^ Elfman, Lois (June 5, 2014). "Beacom finds inspiration at Oberstdorf competition". IceNetwork.com.
- ^ Beacom, Gary (2003). Apology. Alpha Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0971758537.