Charles Allen White Jr. (born October 24, 1987) is an American former competitive
ice dancer
Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...
. With partner
Meryl Davis
Meryl Davis (born January 1, 1987) is a former competitive American ice dancer. With partner Charlie White, she is the 2014 Olympic champion, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2011, 2013) World champion, five-time Grand Prix Final ...
, he is the
2014 Olympic Champion, the
2010 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (
2011,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
) World champion, five-time
Grand Prix Final champion (2009–2013), three-time
Four Continents champion (2009, 2011, 2013) and six-time
U.S. national champion (2009–2014). They also won a bronze medal in the team event at the
2014 Winter Olympics.
Davis and White teamed up in 1997 and they are currently the longest-lasting dance team in the United States. They are the first American ice dancers to win the World title, as well as the first Americans to win the Olympic title. At the
2006 NHK Trophy, they became the first ice dancing team to receive level fours on all their elements.
Personal life
White was born in the Detroit suburb of
Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236.
Royal Oak is located along t ...
,
the son of Jacqui and Charlie White Sr.
He attended
Roeper School in
Birmingham, Michigan
Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103.
History
The area comprising what is now the ...
from nursery school through high school where he played violin
in the school string quartet and was involved with the student government. White graduated in 2005. He later enrolled at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, studying political science.
He formerly competed as an
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
player and helped his team to a state championship.
He has asthma.
White lives in
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In 2010, his then-girlfriend, ice dancer
Tanith Belbin
Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin (born July 11, 1984) is a Canadian-American ice dancer and Olympic program host for NBC Sports. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Be ...
, retired from competition and moved to Michigan to be with him.
Belbin and White became engaged in June 2014, and were married on April 25, 2015.
In 2017, their son was born.
Career
Early career
White began skating at age five.
He originally competed as both a single skater and an ice dancer. As a single skater, he won the bronze medal at the
2004 U.S. Championships on the Novice level, and competed internationally on the junior level. He quit skating singles following the 2005–06 season in order to focus on ice dancing.
He began ice dancing when he was seven at his coach's advice, who hoped it would smooth out White's skating.
He was partnered with Meryl Davis in 1997, by Seth Chafetz.
In 2009, Davis said: "Charlie and I grew up 10 minutes apart from each other. Our parents are best friends. We've grown together and know each other so well."
In their first season together, Davis/White won the silver medal at th
Junior Olympicsin the Juvenile division. In 1999-00, they won gold at the Junior Olympics on the intermediate level. In the 2000–01 season, they qualified for the
2001 U.S. Championships, placing 6th as Novices. In 2001-02, they won the silver medal as novices and then moved up to the junior level. In the 2002-03 season, they did not win a medal at either of their two
Junior Grand Prix
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
assignments and placed 7th at the
2003 U.S. Championships in their junior debut.
Junior career
In the 2003–04 season, Davis/White won their sectional championship and then won the junior silver medal at
Nationals. This earned them a trip to the
2004 Junior Worlds, where they placed 13th.
In the 2004–2005 season, Davis/White won two bronze on the
ISU Junior Grand Prix
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
series. However, White broke his ankle before Sectionals and so Davis/White were unable to qualify for the
2005 U.S. Championships. Their season ended there.
In the 2005–06 season, Davis/White medaled at both their
Junior Grand Prix
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
events and placed second at the
Junior Grand Prix Final. They won the junior national title at the
2006 U.S. Championships and then won the bronze medal at the
2006 Junior Worlds. Following that season, Davis aged out of Juniors. They lost some training time after White broke his ankle at a hockey tournament in 2006.
Senior career
Post-competitive career
Davis and White continue to perform together in ice shows and White has also worked on television as an ice dancing commentator. On February 23, 2017, they confirmed that they would not return to competition.
Programs
Competitive highlights
Singles career
Detailed results
(with Davis)
''Dancing with the Stars''
On March 4, 2014, White was announced as one of the contestants on the
18th season of ''
Dancing with the Stars'' paired with professional dancer
Sharna Burgess
Sharna May Burgess (born 21 June 1985) is an Australian ballroom dancer who is best known for being a professional partner and troupe member on the ABC series '' Dancing with the Stars''. She is the winner of season 27 of American televisio ...
. He competed against his very own skating partner,
Meryl Davis
Meryl Davis (born January 1, 1987) is a former competitive American ice dancer. With partner Charlie White, she is the 2014 Olympic champion, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2011, 2013) World champion, five-time Grand Prix Final ...
, who was also cast to take part on the 18th season of the show.
Despite receiving high scores and praise from the judges week to week, White and Burgess were eliminated during the season's semifinals, finishing in 5th place.
''Dancing with the Stars'' performances
1Score given by guest judge
Robin Roberts.
2For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up" week, White did not perform with Sharna Burgess and instead performed with
Peta Murgatroyd
Peta Jane Murgatroyd (born 14 July 1986) is a New Zealand-born Australian and American professional Latin dancer. She performed in the international tour of the dance production ''Burn the Floor'', including its Broadway run. She is best known f ...
.
3Score given by guest judge
Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough (; born July 20, 1988) is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leavin ...
.
4Score given by guest judge
Donny Osmond.
5Score given by guest judge
Redfoo
Stefan Kendal Gordy (born September 3, 1975), better known by his stage name Redfoo, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, record producer and DJ best known for being part of the musical duo LMFAO, and for their hit songs " Pa ...
.
6Score given by guest judge
Ricky Martin
Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...
.
7Score given by guest judge
Abby Lee Miller
Abigale Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American television personality who founded the Abby Lee Dance Company, which appeared on the reality television series ''Dance Moms'' for eight seasons.
On June 27, 2016, Miller pleaded guilty ...
.
8Score given by guest judge
Kenny Ortega
Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films '' Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', ''High School Musical'', '' Michael Jackson's T ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Meryl Davis / Charlie White at
IceNetwork
*
*
*
- 1998 Juvenile silver medalists
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Charlie
1987 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Royal Oak, Michigan
American male ice dancers
Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in figure skating
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in figure skating
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in figure skating
Season-end world number one figure skaters
Season's world number one figure skaters
University of Michigan alumni