Gretchen Donlan (born November 18, 1993) is an American former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With partner

Andrew Speroff Andrew Speroff (born May 19, 1988) is an American former pair skater. With partner Gretchen Donlan, he is the 2013 Ondrej Nepela Trophy champion, 2013 Ice Challenge champion, and 2012 U.S. national pewter medalist. Personal life Born in New J ...

, she is the 2013

Ondrej Nepela Trophy The Nepela Memorial ( sk, Memoriál Ondreja Nepelu), formerly known as the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in 2013–15 & 2017 and the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition. Named after 1972 Olympic champ ...

champion, 2013

Ice Challenge The Icechallenge (formerly known as the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen or Leo Scheu Memorial) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Grazer Eislaufverein and sanctioned by the Austrian Figure Skating association and the ...

champion, and 2012 U.S. national pewter medalist. In July 2014, Donlan teamed up with

Nathan Bartholomay Nathan Bartholomay (born May 18, 1989) is an American pair skater. With his former partner Deanna Stellato-Dudek, he is the 2018 Ondrej Nepela Trophy silver medalist, the 2018 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national bron ...

Career

Early years

Donlan was coached by Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson from the fourth grade. Until 2009, she competed in

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and won the U.S. national title on the intermediate level in 2007.

Partnership with Speroff

Donlan and

were paired together in spring 2009 by coach Bobby Martin. She had two stress fractures in her back for two seasons. The pair made their international debut at the

2010 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy took place between September 23 and 26, 2010 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf.http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100925&content_id=15065688&vkey=ice_news The competition is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germ ...

where they finished 4th. They were 8th at the 2011 U.S. Championships. Donlan/Speroff won the pewter medal at the 2012 U.S. Championships. The next season, they received a Grand Prix assignment, the

2012 Skate America The 2012 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington on October 19� ...

, and finished 6th. The pair took the silver medal at the 2012

. In the 2013–14 season, Donlan/Speroff won gold medals at two international events, the 2013

and 2013

Partnership with Bartholomay

In July 2014, Donlan teamed up with

. In late October, he underwent surgery to repair a disc and remove bone spurs in his ankle, causing the pair to withdraw from their first assignment, the

2014 CS Ice Challenge The 2014 Ice Challenge was a senior international figure skating competition held in November 2014 at the Liebenauer Eishalle in Graz, Austria. It was part of the 2014–15 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's ...

. They placed seventh at the 2015 U.S. Championships and concluded their first season with gold at the

International Challenge Cup The International Challenge Cup (formerly the Ennia Challenge Cup and the Aegon Cup) is an annual figure skating competition generally held during the last week in February, up till the 2021 edition held in The Hague, Netherlands. Since the 2022 ...

. In the 2015–16 season, Donlan/Bartholomay appeared at two Challenger Series events, placing fifth at the 2015 U.S. Classic and sixth at the

. They withdrew from their Grand Prix assignment, the

2015 Skate America The 2015 Progressive Skate America was the first event of six in the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ...

, after Donlan fell ill with a severe flu. She developed

labyrinthitis Labyrinthitis is inflammation of the labyrinth – a maze of fluid-filled channels in the inner ear. Vestibular neuritis is inflammation of the vestibular nerve – the nerve in the inner ear that sends messages related to motion and position t ...

in her right ear, resulting in

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

that kept her off the ice for three months and forced the pair to withdraw from the 2016 U.S. Championships. The pair announced the end of their partnership in March 2016. They were coached by Jim Peterson in

Ellenton, Florida Ellenton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,129 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...

Personal life

Donlan began attending

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in autumn 2012. She is a premed student majoring in chemistry.

Programs

With Bartholomay

With Speroff

Competitive highlights

''GP:

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

; CS: Challenger Series''

Pairs career with Bartholomay

Pairs career with Speroff

Singles career

References

External links

*
Gretchen Donlan / Andrew Speroff
at IceNetwork
Official website of Donlan / Speroff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donlan, Gretchen 1993 births American female pair skaters Living people Figure skaters from Boston 21st-century American women 20th-century American women