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Meryl Davis

Davis & White at the 2008 Four Continents Championships
Personal information
Full name:	Meryl Davis
Country represented:	United States
Date of birth:	January 1, 1987 (1987-01-01) (age 23)
Place of birth:	Royal Oak, Michigan
Home town:	West Bloomfield, Michigan
Height:	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Partner:	Charlie White
Coach:	Igor Shpilband Marina Zoueva
Former coach:	Seth Chafetz
Choreographer:	Igor Shpilband Marina Zoueva
Skating club:	Arctic FSC
ISU personal best scores
Combined Total:	215.74 2010 Winter Olympics
Comp. Dance:	41.47 2010 Winter Olympics
Original Dance:	67.08 2010 Winter Olympics
Free Dance:	107.19 2010 Winter Olympics

Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Competitor for the  United States
Silver	2010 Vancouver	Ice dancing

Meryl Davis (born January 1, 1987) is an American ice dancer. With partner Charlie White, she is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, the 2009 & 2010 U.S. national champion, the 2009 Four Continents champion, the 2009 Grand Prix Final champion and the 2008 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist. Davis and White teamed up in 1997 and they are currently the longest lasting dance team in the United States. At the 2006 NHK Trophy, they became the first ice dancing team to earn level fours on all their elements.^[1]

As of January 2010, they were ranked 2nd in the world^[2]. At the 2010 United States Figure Skating Championships, they were nominated to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics^[3]. They won the silver medal in the ice dancing event.

Personal life

Meryl Davis was raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan. She lives and attends school in Ann Arbor, Michigan and trains in Canton, Michigan.

In June, 2005, Davis graduated from Wylie E. Groves High School. She was a member of the National Honor Society and, upon graduation, received the Phi Beta Kappa Society award. She attends the University of Michigan, where she is majoring in cultural anthropology and is an active member of the sorority Delta Delta Delta.

Career

Davis began skating at age five so that she would be able to skate on a local lake in the winter. She started out as a single skater, but began doing ice dance at age eight. She got as high as Midwestern sectionals in novice ladies before quitting singles to focus on ice dancing. ^[4]

She was teamed up with Charlie White by her coach, Seth Chafetz^[4] The duo immediately experienced success. In 1997 (their first year as partners) they won the silver medal at the Junior Olympics in the Juvenile division. They qualified for Nationals for the first time in the 2000–2001 season, placing 6th as Novices. The next season they won the silver medal as novices and then moved up to Junior. They did not win a medal at either of their two Junior Grand Prix assignments and placed 7th at Nationals in their junior debut.

In the 2003–2004 season, they won their sectional championship and then won the silver medal at Nationals. This earned them a trip to the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where they placed 13th.

In the 2004–2005 season, Davis and White did very well internationally on the Junior circuit, winning two bronze medals. However, White broke his ankle before Sectionals and so Davis and White were unable to qualify for Nationals. Their season ended there.

In the 2005–2006 season, they came back strong. They medaled at both their Junior Grand Prix events and placed second at the Junior Grand Prix Final. They won the Junior National Title and then won the bronze medal at the Junior Worlds. Following that season, Davis aged out of Juniors.

In the 2006–2007 season, they made their debut both nationally and internationally as seniors. They placed 4th at both their Grand Prix assignments. At the 2006 NHK Trophy, they became the first team to earn all level fours on their elements. At Nationals, they won the bronze medal at the senior level, qualifying them for the World Team. They are the first team since Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto to go directly from winning the Junior national title to making the World team.

At Worlds, Davis and White placed 7th, the highest debut placement for an American team at Worlds since 1980.^[5]

Davis and White placed 4th at the 2007 Skate America and then went on to win their first Grand Prix medal at the 2007 Trophee Eric Bompard. They completely revamped their Eleanor Rigby free dance before Nationals due to its poor reception. They won the silver medal at Nationals, one spot up from the previous season.

In the 2008–2009 season, Davis and White won their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2008 Skate Canada. In their second assignment, the 2008 Cup of Russia, they placed third in the compulsory dance, then eighth in the original dance. After placing second in the free skate, they moved up to win the bronze medal, which together with the gold from Skate Canada was enough to qualify them for their first Grand Prix Final. At the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Final, they won the bronze medal.

At the 2009 National Championships, they won the event after reigning champions Belbin and Agosto withdrew due to injury. They won by a 20 point margin over silver medalists Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates.

In February 2009, they won the ice dance title at Four Continents, placing second in both the compulsory and original dance behind training mates Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir but winning the free dance.^[6]

At the 2009 World Championships they placed 4th. They placed third in both the original and free dance portions, they lost too much ground in the compulsory to overcome training mates Virtue and Moir for the bronze. Only .04 points separated 3rd from 4th.

They competed at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy, finishing first in all the segments of the competition. Overall they won the gold medal with a score of 200.46 points, 30.87 ahead of silver medalists Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski.

They won the 2009 Rostelecom Cup and the 2009 NHK Trophy, which qualified them for the 2009-2010 Grand Prix Final. At the Grand Prix Final, they won the original dance and placed second in the free dance to win the title overall, becoming the first American ice dancers to do so^[7]. At the 2010 National Championships, Davis and White beat former training partners Belbin and Agosto, the first time they'd ever done so, and led through all portions of the competition.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver they placed second to Canadian's Virtue & Moir, winning Silver.

Programs

Davis & White perform their Beyond the Sea exhibition at the 2006 Skate Canada International.

Competitive highlights

(with White)

Post-2004

Pre-2004

• N = Novice level; J = Junior level

References

External links

• Official website
• Meryl Davis at the United States Olympic Committee.