Benjamin Okolski (born November 12, 1984) is an American former pair skater. With Brooke Castile, he is the 2008 Four Continents bronze medalist, 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and 2007 U.S. national champion.
| Benjamin Okolski | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Castile and Okolski in 2008. | |||||||||||||||
| Full name | Benjamin Okolski | ||||||||||||||
| Born | November 12, 1984 Tucson, Arizona | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Arctic FSC | ||||||||||||||
| Began skating | 1993 | ||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2010 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
editBenjamin Okolski was born in Tucson, Arizona.[1] He initially studied engineering at Washtenaw Community College.[2] After obtaining a master's degree in accounting from the University of Michigan, he became an auditor at Deloitte.[3]
Career
editOkolski began skating at age eight and began pairs at twelve with his sister, Colleen.[4] He teamed up with Brooke Castile after the 2002 U.S. Championships.[5][4] They won two bronze medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series. They placed 7th at their first Four Continents in 2005. Following the 2006 U.S. Championships, Castile and Okolski changed coaches to Johnny Johns and Marina Zueva at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in Canton, Michigan.[4] They won the 2007 U.S. Championships,[6] earning them the right to compete at 2007 Four Continents, where they were 5th, and then to make their World debut, where they finished 12th.
In the 2007–08 season, Castile and Okolski were assigned to 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy, 2007 Skate America, and 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard, but withdrew from all three due to injury.[4][7] They won bronze at the 2008 U.S. Championships and went on to win a bronze medal in their third Four Continents appearance. They finished 11th at their second World Championships.
In 2008–09, they also withdrew from their Grand Prix assignments, 2008 Cup of China and 2008 Cup of Russia, due to injury.[7][8] They finished 5th at the 2009 U.S. Championships.
In the 2009–10 season, Castile and Okolski were 6th at 2009 Skate America. Their 4th-place finish at the 2010 U.S. Championships meant they did not make the U.S. team to the 2010 Winter Olympics. They announced their retirement from competitive skating in May 2010.[9]
Programs
edit(with Castile)
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 [1][2] |
|
|
| 2008–09 [2] |
|
|
| 2007–08 [10][4] |
|
|
| 2006–07 [11] |
|
|
| 2004–06 [12][2] |
|
|
| 2003–04 [13] |
|
|
Competitive highlights
editGP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Colleen Okolski
edit| National | ||
|---|---|---|
| Event | 2001 | 2002 |
| U.S. Championships | 4th N | 5th N |
| N = Novice level | ||
With Brooke Castile
edit| International[14] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 02–03 | 03–04 | 04–05 | 05–06 | 06–07 | 07–08 | 08–09 | 09–10 |
| Worlds | 12th | 11th | ||||||
| Four Continents | 7th | 5th | 3rd | |||||
| GP Bompard | 6th | WD | ||||||
| GP Cup of China | WD | |||||||
| GP Cup of Russia | 8th | WD | ||||||
| GP Skate America | WD | 6th | ||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 1st | WD | 4th | |||||
| International: Junior[14] | ||||||||
| Junior Worlds | 9th | |||||||
| JGP Bulgaria | 4th | |||||||
| JGP China | 5th | |||||||
| JGP France | 3rd | |||||||
| JGP Japan | 3rd | |||||||
| JGP United States | 6th | |||||||
| National[2] | ||||||||
| U.S. Champ. | 6th J | 2nd J | 7th | 8th | 1st | 3rd | 5th | 4th |
| J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Brooke Castile / Benjamin Okolski". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)- "Earlier versions". Archived from the original on April 13, 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- "Earlier versions". Archived from the original on April 13, 2008.
- ^ Elfman, Lois (January 12, 2017). "Okolski hungers for success in business world". IceNetwork.com.
- ^ a b c d e Walker, Elvin (October 1, 2007). "Organization Works for US Pairs Champs". Golden Skate.
- ^ Mittan, Barry (December 12, 2005). "Castile and Okolski Show Promise". SkateToday.
- ^ "Kids' Questions". U.S. Figure Skating. May 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ a b "Daisuke Takahashi Pulls Out of Cup of China; Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski Also Withdraw". IFS Magazine. November 5, 2008. Archived from the original on August 2, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
- ^ "Castile and Okolski pull out of Cup of Russia because of injury". ESPN. Associated Press. November 18, 2008. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Castile and Okolski Announce Retirement from Competitive Figure Skating". U.S. Figure Skating. May 13, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
- ^ "Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 6, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 17, 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 17, 2004.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "Competition Results: Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014.
External links
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