Matthew Blackmer (born December 12, 1991 in

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 census. It is home ...

) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

turned

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 former pairs partner

Britney Simpson Britney Simpson (born May 5, 1996) is an American pair skater. With current partner Matthew Blackmer, she is the 2011 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2012 U.S. Junior silver medalist and the 2013 U.S. Junior Champion. With former ...

, he is the 2011 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2012 U.S. Junior silver medalist and the 2013 U.S. Junior Champion. He also skated with ice dancer

Alexandra Aldridge Alexandra Aldridge (born May 7, 1994) is an American ice dancer. With former partner Daniel Eaton, she is the 2014 Four Continents bronze medalist, a two-time (2012, 2013) World Junior bronze medalist, the 2012 JGP Final bronze medalist, and ...

Personal life

Blackmer began skating at the age of 12, having switched over from

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. Blackmer is a graduate of

Lake Orion High School Lake Orion High School is a public secondary school located in Orion Township, Michigan, United States. It is a part of Lake Orion Community Schools. "Once a dragon, always a dragon." - Jeff Heath Athletics State Championships * 1925 - Boys' B ...

Lake Orion, Michigan Lake Orion ( ) is a village in the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 2,973 at the 2010 census. "Lake Orion" can refer to either the village or the much larger Orion Township, of wh ...

Career

Blackmer started out with Silver Blades, which is a figure skating club in Findlay, Ohio.

Partnership with Simpson

Blackmer teamed up with Simpson in February 2011 after his previous partner, Kaitlin Budd, quit. He moved from Michigan to Colorado Springs to train with Simpson under coach Dalilah Sappenfield. In the 2011–2012 season, Simpson and Blackmer won gold at their first Junior Grand Prix event, 2011 JGP Poland, and silver at their second event, 2011 JGP Estonia. They won the bronze medal at the 2011–2012 Junior Grand Prix Final. They competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and finished 10th. On December 2, 2013, Simpson and Blackmer announced the end of their two-year partnership; both expressed an interest to compete with new partners.

Partnership with Aldridge

On July 31, 2015, IceNetwork announced that Blackmer had teamed up with ice dancer

, though they had teamed up two months prior. They began work with coaches

Anjelika Krylova Anjelika Alexeyevna Krylova (russian: Анжелика Алексеевна Крылова; born 4 July 1973) is a Russian retired Ice dancing, ice dancer. With partner Oleg Ovsyannikov, she is the 1998 Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, ...

Pasquale Camerlengo Pasquale Camerlengo (born 14 April 1966) is an Italian former competitive ice dancer who is now a coach and choreographer. With Stefania Calegari, he won gold medals at Skate America, Skate Canada, and the International de Paris, and placed fift ...

, and Natalia Annenko-Deller, him moving to Detroit Skate Club in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

from

Broadmoor Skating Club The Broadmoor Skating Club is a figure skating club based in Colorado Springs, Colorado that has long been a major training center for the sport of figure skating. Founded in 1939, it was originally known as the Pikes Peak Skating Club, and was ...

in Colorado. He passed sixteen dance tests in one week in order to compete with her. Their first competition together was the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, where they placed third in the senior category, finishing fourth in the short dance and third in the free. They finished ninth at the 2016 United States National Championships. On September 13, 2016, Blackmer and Aldridge announced the end of their one-year partnership; Aldridge looks to continue competing with a new partner while Blackmer decided to retire from competition.

Programs

With Aldridge

With Simpson

Competitive highlights

With Simpson

References

External links

*
Britney Simpson / Matthew Blackmer
at Icenetwork {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmer, Matthew American male pair skaters 1991 births Living people People from Findlay, Ohio