Johnny Johns (born August 9, 1951) is an American

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

coach and former competitor. Competing in ice dancing with Mary Campbell, he became the 1973 national champion and finished 6th at the 1973 World Championships. Competing as a

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

Melissa Militano Melissa Mary Militano (married name: Warkmeister; born April 26, 1955 in Rockville Centre, New York) is an American former competitive figure skater who competed as a single skater and pair skater. As a pair skater, she won the U.S. Figure Skati ...

, he became a two-time (1974 and 1975) U.S. national champion and finished 6th at the 1975 World Championships.

Personal life

Johns was born on August 9, 1951. He is from the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

area. For a number of years he split his time between skating and

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

in the early 1970s.

Skating career

Competitive

Johns began learning to skate as a family activity when he was eight years old. He learned how to do jumps in both directions and also developed a very smooth stroking style. When his coach left the Detroit area, Johns began to work with

Ronald Ludington Ronald Ludington (September 4, 1934 – May 14, 2020) was an American figure skating coach and pair skater. With Nancy Rouillard Ludington, he was the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist, 1959 World bronze medalist, and a four-time U.S. national cham ...

, who insisted that he give up on baseball and concentrate of skating year-round. Ludington was responsible for pairing him up first with Mary Karen Campbell in dance, and then with Laurie Johnson in pairs. Johns and Mary Campbell became the 1973 national champions in

ice dancing 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 ...

. They competed together at three World Championships, achieving their highest placement, 6th, in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

. He and

won the U.S. national pairs' title in 1974 and 1975. They placed 8th at the 1974 World Championships and 6th in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Post-competitive

Johns coached at the Detroit Skating Club for 27 years before moving to the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in

Canton, Michigan Canton, officially the Charter Township of Canton, is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 98,659. Canton Township is Michigan's second most-populated townshi ...

in 2006. He coached

Marcy Hinzmann Marcy Hinzmann-Simpson (born May 26, 1982) is an American former competitive pair skater. With Aaron Parchem, she is the 2006 U.S. national silver medalist and competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Personal life Marcy Hinzmann was born May 26, 1 ...

Aaron Parchem Aaron Parchem (born June 6, 1977) is an American former pair skater. He competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics with partner Marcy Hinzmann. Personal life Aaron Parchem was born June 6, 1977, in Columbus, Ohio. He was adopted by Al and Georga Par ...

to the Olympics and Danielle Hartsell / Steve Hartsell to a World Junior title. He has also coached

Brooke Castile Brooke Castile (born May 31, 1986) is an American former competitive pair skater. With Benjamin Okolski, she is the 2008 Four Continents bronze medalist, 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and 2007 U.S. national champion. Personal life Castile ...

/ Ben Okolski and

Tessa Virtue Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With ice dance partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017) ...

Scott Moir Scott Patrick Moir OLY ( ; born September 2, 1987) is a Canadian retired ice dancer and coach. With ice dance partner Tessa Virtue, he is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2010, ...

. In January 2019, he relocated to the Hertz Arena in

Estero, Florida Estero is a village in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,939. During the 2010 census, Estero was an unincorporated community, or census-designated place, the population at that time was 22,612. Est ...

Results

Men's singles

Pairs with Johnson and Benenson

Pairs with Militano

Ice dancing with Campbell

References

Skatabase: 1970s Pairs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Johnny American male pair skaters American male ice dancers American figure skating coaches People from Wayne County, Michigan Living people 1951 births