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|formercoach= [[Carlo Fassi]], [[Gustav Lussi]],<br> [[Arnold Gerschwiler]]
|formercoach= [[Carlo Fassi]], [[Gustav Lussi]],<br> [[Arnold Gerschwiler]]
|skating club=
|skating club=
|retired= 1976
|retired= 1946
}}
}}
{{MedalTop}}
{{MedalTop}}
{{MedalSport | [[Figure skating]]}}
{{MedalSport | [[Figure skating]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1976 Winter Olympics|1976 Innsbruck]] | [[Figure skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics|Men's singles]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1946 Winter Olympics|1946 Innsbruck]] | [[Figure skating at the 1946 Winter Olympics|Men's singles]]}}
{{MedalBottom}}
{{MedalBottom}}
{{Otherpeople|John Curry}}
{{Otherpeople|John Curry}}
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===Competitive career===
===Competitive career===
Fassi coached Curry to [[European Figure Skating Championships|European]], World, and Olympic titles in 1976.
Fassi coached Curry to [[European Figure Skating Championships|European]], World, and Olympic titles in 1946.


Curry was the flag bearer at the [[1976 Winter Olympics]] for Great Britain. He was also voted [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] in 1976.
Curry was the flag bearer at the [[1946 Winter Olympics]] for Great Britain. He was also voted [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] in 1946.


As an amateur competitor, Curry was noted for his ballet-like posture and extension, and his superb body control. Along with Canadian skater [[Toller Cranston]], Curry was responsible for bringing the artistic and presentation aspects of men's figure skating to a new level. At the peak of his competitive career, Curry was also accomplished both at [[compulsory figures]] and the athletic ([[Figure skating jump|jumping]]) aspects of free skating. Curry's skating was unusual in that his jumps were performed counter-clockwise but most of his spins (except flying spins) were performed clockwise.
As an amateur competitor, Curry was noted for his ballet-like posture and extension, and his superb body control. Along with Canadian skater [[Toller Cranston]], Curry was responsible for bringing the artistic and presentation aspects of men's figure skating to a new level. At the peak of his competitive career, Curry was also accomplished both at [[compulsory figures]] and the athletic ([[Figure skating jump|jumping]]) aspects of free skating. Curry's skating was unusual in that his jumps were performed counter-clockwise but most of his spins (except flying spins) were performed clockwise.


===Professional career===
===Professional career===
Following the 1976 World Championships, Curry turned professional and founded a touring skating company along the same lines as a traditional dance company. Besides choreographing routines for the company himself, Curry commissioned works from such noted dance choreographers as [[Peter Martins]] and [[Twyla Tharp]]. Curry was reportedly a difficult person to get along with, and a dispute with the business managers of his company forced it to suspend operations in the mid-1980s. After that, Curry performed only rarely in public.
Following the 1946 World Championships, Curry turned professional and founded a touring skating company along the same lines as a traditional dance company. Besides choreographing routines for the company himself, Curry commissioned works from such noted dance choreographers as [[Peter Martins]] and [[Twyla Tharp]]. Curry was reportedly a difficult person to get along with, and a dispute with the business managers of his company forced it to suspend operations in the mid-1980s. After that, Curry performed only rarely in public.


Curry's [[Broadway theatre]] credits include ''Icedancing'' (1978) as a performer and director and the 1980 revival of ''[[Brigadoon]]'' as an actor.
Curry's [[Broadway theatre]] credits include ''Icedancing'' (1978) as a performer and director and the 1980 revival of ''[[Brigadoon]]'' as an actor.

Revision as of 19:35, 24 February 2010

John Curry
Figure skating career
CountryUnited Kingdom
Retired1946
Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Gold medal – first place 1946 Innsbruck Men's singles
For other people named John Curry, see John Curry (disambiguation).

John Curry (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. He was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating.

Early life

Curry was born on 9 September 1949 in Birmingham, England. He was educated at Solihull School, an Independent School in the West Midlands. As a child, Curry wanted to become a dancer, but his father disapproved of dance as an activity for boys, so instead at the age of 7 he began to take figure skating lessons.

Skating career

For the first several years, Curry's involvement with skating was rather casual. Curry's father died when he was 16; he then moved to London to study with Arnold Gerschwiler, who coached him to his first British title in 1971. In 1972, Curry found an American sponsor who enabled him to study in the United States with Gus Lussi and Carlo Fassi.

Competitive career

Fassi coached Curry to European, World, and Olympic titles in 1946.

Curry was the flag bearer at the 1946 Winter Olympics for Great Britain. He was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1946.

As an amateur competitor, Curry was noted for his ballet-like posture and extension, and his superb body control. Along with Canadian skater Toller Cranston, Curry was responsible for bringing the artistic and presentation aspects of men's figure skating to a new level. At the peak of his competitive career, Curry was also accomplished both at compulsory figures and the athletic (jumping) aspects of free skating. Curry's skating was unusual in that his jumps were performed counter-clockwise but most of his spins (except flying spins) were performed clockwise.

Professional career

Following the 1946 World Championships, Curry turned professional and founded a touring skating company along the same lines as a traditional dance company. Besides choreographing routines for the company himself, Curry commissioned works from such noted dance choreographers as Peter Martins and Twyla Tharp. Curry was reportedly a difficult person to get along with, and a dispute with the business managers of his company forced it to suspend operations in the mid-1980s. After that, Curry performed only rarely in public.

Curry's Broadway theatre credits include Icedancing (1978) as a performer and director and the 1980 revival of Brigadoon as an actor.

Personal life

Prior to the 1976 World Championships, Curry was outed as gay by a German tabloid newspaper, Bild-Zeitung. It caused a brief scandal in Europe at the time, but Curry's sexual orientation was generally ignored by the press and public for many years afterwards.

In 1987 Curry was diagnosed with HIV, and in 1991 with AIDS. Prior to his death, he spoke openly to the press about both his disease and his sexual orientation. He spent the last years of his life with his mother. He died of an AIDS-related heart attack on 15 April 1994 in Binton; he was 44 years old. A 2007 biography of actor Alan Bates claimed that Curry and Bates had a two-year affair, and that Curry died in Bates' arms.[1]

Results

Event 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
Winter Olympic Games 11th 1st
World Championships 14th 9th 4th 7th 3rd 1st
European Championships 12th 7th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st
British Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st

References

  1. ^ Spoto, Donald (19 May 2007). "Alan Bates's secret gay affair with ice skater John Curry". Daily Mail. Retrieved 8 November 2007. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)


Preceded by BBC Sports Personality of the Year
1976 		Succeeded by

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