John Allen Wisden Nicks (born 22 April 1929) is a British

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

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 his sister,

Jennifer Nicks Jennifer Mary Nicks (13 April 1932 – 21 August 1980) was a British pair skater. She competed with brother John Nicks. In 1953, the two won Great Britain's only World and European titles in pair skating, after having placed fourth at the 195 ...

, he is the 1953

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. As a coach, his skating pupils have included Peggy Fleming, pairs team

Tai Babilonia Tai Reina Babilonia (born September 22, 1959) is an American former pair skater. Together with Randy Gardner, she won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships and five U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1976–1980). The pair qualified for ...

and Randy Gardner,

Kristi Yamaguchi Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former figure skater. In ladies' singles, Yamaguchi is the 1992 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1991 and 1992), and the 1992 U.S. champion. In 1992, she became the first ...

Paul Wylie Paul Stanton Wylie (born October 28, 1964) is an American figure skater, and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist in men's singles skating. Personal life Paul Stanton Wylie was born on October 24, 1964 in Dallas, Texas to Bob Wylie (a geophysicist ...

Sasha Cohen Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is a retired American figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion. S ...

Rory Flack Rory Flack (Flack-Mitchell) (born April 28, 1969) is a professional African American Figure Skater and former competitor. She is the first African American woman to perform a back flip on the ice (in 1991) and in 1994 she became the first Africa ...

and

Ashley Wagner Ashley Elisabeth Wagner (born May 16, 1991) is an American former figure skater. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medali ...

Personal life

Nicks, the son of a sporting goods store owner, grew up in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He is the brother of

. Nicks moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the 1960s with his wife Denise, son Christopher and daughter Carolyn and was briefly an undocumented immigrant but received his

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

a few weeks later. He married American former ice dancer

Yvonne Littlefield Yvonne Littlefield is an American former ice dancer. Skating with Peter Betts, she won the ice dance title at the 1962 United States Figure Skating Championships. She had previously won the Bronze medal at the 1960 U.S. Championships skating w ...

. He became a U.S. citizen around 2008.

Career

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 competed initially as singles skaters but agreed to train together in

pair skating 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 ...

upon the request of the British association, which promised to support them. They made their first Olympic appearance at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

, where they finished 8th. Recalling the competition in a January 2013 interview, John 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 Richard Totten Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating analyst. He is a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive World champion (1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to h ...

– this would later influence his decision to come to the United States. The Nicks siblings won the first of their four World medals, silver, at the 1950 World Championships. They won World bronze the next two seasons and competed at their second Olympics in 1952, where they finished 4th. The pair won gold at the 1953 World Championships in

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alps, Alpine resort town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, muni ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. John said, "We were skating outdoors back then, and the temperature was, like, 28 degrees during a practice. It was so cold that I remember when I was taking off my boots that my laces were frozen." The siblings retired from competition after the event. John moved to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, where he skated in shows and began coaching, but moved back to England in 1960 and eventually on to Canada, coaching in

Trail, British Columbia Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Landing, and the name was short ...

. Following the February 1961 crash of

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Br ...

, which killed the entire US figure skating team, he received four offers of a coaching job in the United States and agreed to coach at a rink in

Paramount, California Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 54,098, down from 55,266 at the 2000 census. Paramount is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area and is bo ...

owned by Frank Zamboni. He first appeared at the U.S. Championships as a coach in 1965. As of 2012, Nicks coaches in

Aliso Viejo, California Aliso Viejo (Spanish for "Old Sycamore") is a city in the San Joaquin Hills of southern Orange County, California. It had a population of 47,823 as of the 2010 census, up from 40,166 as of the 2000 census. It became Orange County's 34th city on ...

. He has coached over 1,200 skaters during his career. In April 2013, he said he would no longer travel but would still coach Ashley Wagner at the Aliso Viejo Ice Palace. Nicks was inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ...

in 2000. He appeared as a judge on the 2006 FOX television program '' Skating with Celebrities''. His students have included: * Peggy Fleming * Angela Nikodinov * Jo Jo Starbuck / Kenneth Shelley *

/ Randy Gardner *

Tiffany Chin Audrey Tiffany Chin (born October 3, 1967) is an American figure skating coach and former competitor. She is a two-time World bronze medalist (1985–1986), a two-time Skate America champion (1983, 1986), and the 1985 U.S. national champion. P ...

*Dana Graham /

Christopher Bowman Christopher Nicol Bowman (March 30, 1967 – January 10, 2008) was an American figure skater. He was a two-time World medalist (silver in 1989, bronze in 1990), the 1983 World Junior champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion. He compete ...

* Natasha Kuchiki *

Jenni Meno Jenni N. Meno (born November 10, 1970 in Westlake, Ohio) is an American former competitive pair skater. With her husband Todd Sand, she is the 1998 World silver medalist, a two-time World bronze medalist (1995, 1996), and a three-time U.S. na ...

Todd Sand Todd Sand (born October 30, 1963) is an American pair skater. With his wife Jenni Meno, he is the 1998 World silver medalist, a two-time World bronze medalist (1995, 1996), and a three-time U.S. national champion (1994–96). With his previous ...

Rudy Galindo Val Joe "Rudy" Galindo (born September 7, 1969) is an American former competitive figure skater who competed in both single skating and pair skating. As a single skater, he is the 1996 U.S. national champion, 1987 World Junior Champion, and 199 ...

Naomi Nari Nam Naomi Nari Nam (born July 6, 1985) is an American former competitive figure skater who competed in both single skating and pair skating. As a single skater, she was the 1999 U.S. national silver medalist. As a pair skater, she was the 2006 Skate ...

(since June 2011) *

Michael Christian Martinez Michael Christian "Mikee" Martinez (born November 4, 1996) is a Filipino Olympic figure skater. He is the 2015 Asian Figure Skating Trophy champion, a two-time Triglav Trophy champion and has won one ISU Challenger Series medal, silver at the 20 ...

* Michael Novales *

Competitive highlights with Nicks

References

External links

Brighton and Hove
- John and Jennifer Nicks {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicks, John 1929 births Living people Sportspeople from Brighton American figure skating coaches British male pair skaters British emigrants to the United States Olympic figure skaters of Great Britain Figure skaters at the 1948 Winter Olympics Place of birth missing (living people) Figure skaters at the 1952 Winter Olympics World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists