James Hernandez (figure skater)
James Hernandez | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Country represented | ![]() |
Born | London, England | 15 October 2001
Home town | Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England |
Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) |
Partner | Phebe Bekker |
Former partner | Emily Rose Brown |
Coach | Nicholas Buckland, Penny Coomes, Zhanna Palagina |
Former coach | James Young |
Choreographer | Penny Coomes, Nicholas Buckland, Chellie Fig |
Former choreographer | Maurizio Margaglio, Mark Hanretty |
Skating club | Guildford Figure Skating Club |
Training locations | Aston, Pennsylvania, United States |
Began skating | 2006 |
ISU personal best scores | |
Combined total | 159.55 2022 JGP Czech Republic |
Short dance | 65.19 2022 JGP Czech Republic |
Free dance | 94.68 2022 JGP Poland I |
James Hernandez (born 15 October 2001) is an English ice dancer who represents Great Britain. With his current skating partner, Phebe Bekker, he is a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix silver medalist, the 2021 British junior national champion, and finished in the top 10 at the 2022 World Junior Championships. Bekker/Hernandez are the first British ice dance team to win a medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit.[1]
With his previous partner Emily Rose Brown, Hernandez was the 2020 British junior national champion.
Personal life
Hernandez was born on 15 October 2001 in London, England. He began learning to skate at age 4, and credited his sister with his initial interest in the sport.[2]
As of 2022, he is currently in a relationship with the 2014 Olympic team event bronze medalist and two-time U.S national champion Gracie Gold.[3]
Career
Early years with Brown
Hernandez formed an ice dance partnership with Emily Rose Brown in advance of the 2015–16 season, and together they won gold at the 2016 British Novice Championships after training together for six months at Slough Ice Rink with coach Phillip Poole. This earned them their first international assignment, to the Bavarian Open's advanced novice competition, where they placed fourth.[4][5]
In their first two international junior seasons, Brown/Hernandez won consecutive silver medals at the British junior championships, and three appearances on the ISU Junior Grand Prix, in addition to a number of small international competitions.[5]
2019–20 season: Junior national gold
In advance of the season, Brown and Hernandez began training in Philadelphia with retired British dance champions Nicholas Buckland and Penny Coomes. After placing tenth and eleventh at their two Junior Grand Prix assignments, they won gold at the British junior championships for the first time. They called this "an incredible feeling for both of us."[2] After participating in a number of other minor junior internationals, they were assigned to compete at the 2020 World Junior Championships. Qualifying to the free dance, they finished in thirteenth position.[5]
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown opted to retire from competitive skating.[6]
2021–22 season: Debut of Bekker/Hernandez
In January of 2021, Hernandez announced a new partnership with Phebe Bekker. The two trained with his previous coaches Coomes and Buckland in Philadelphia.[7][6]
Bekker/Hernandez made their international debut as a team on ISU Junior Grand Prix at the 2022 JGP Slovenia in late September. They were tenth in both segments of competition to place tenth overall. At their second assignment, the 2022 JGP Poland, Bekker/Hernandez placed eighth in the rhythm dance and seventh in the free dance to finish finally in eighth place.[8]
In November, Bekker/Hernandez won their first junior national title at the 2021 British Championships, leading silver medalists Bushell/Lapsky by nearly 30 points. Bekker said of the win, "After such a relatively short time together, we are delighted to win our first British title."[9] Due to their placement at nationals, Bekker/Hernandez were named to the British team for the 2022 World Junior Championships in Tallinn. Before Junior Worlds, Bekker/Hernandez were assigned to the Egna Dance Trophy where they finished seventh. Competing in Tallinn, Bekker/Hernandez were tenth in the rhythm dance and eleventh in the free dance to place tenth overall.[8]
2022–23 season
Beginning the new season at British Ice Skating's new Britannia Cup event, Bekker/Hernandez won gold.[8] On the Junior Grand Prix, Bekker/Hernandez won the silver medal at the 2022 JGP Czech Republic.[10][1] They won a second silver medal at the 2022 JGP Poland I, in the process becoming the first British dance team to qualify for a Junior Grand Prix Final.[11]
Programs
With Bekker
Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance |
---|---|---|
2022–2023 [12] |
|
|
2021–2022 [13] |
|
|
With Brown
Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance |
---|---|---|
2019–2020 [14] |
|
Competitive highlights
JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Bekker
International: Junior [8] | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 21–22 | 22–23 | |||||
Junior Worlds | 10th | ||||||
JGP Final | TBD | ||||||
JGP Czech Republic | 2nd | ||||||
JGP Poland | 8th | 2nd | |||||
JGP Slovenia | 10th | ||||||
Britannia Cup | 1st J | ||||||
Egna Dance Trophy | 7th J | ||||||
National | |||||||
British Champ. | 1st J | ||||||
TBD = Assigned Levels: J = Junior |
With Brown
International: Junior [5] | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | |||
Junior Worlds | 13th | ||||||
JGP Austria | 11th | ||||||
JGP Croatia | 7th | 11th | |||||
JGP Estonia | 15th | ||||||
JGP Russia | 10th | ||||||
JGP Slovakia | 7th | ||||||
JGP Slovenia | 10th | ||||||
Bavarian Open | 6th J | 8th J | |||||
Golden Spin | 4th J | ||||||
Halloween Cup | 5th J | ||||||
Mentor Toruń Cup | 4th J | ||||||
NRW Trophy | 14th J | 4th J | |||||
Volvo Open Cup | WD | ||||||
National | |||||||
British Champ. | 2nd | 2nd | 1st J | ||||
Sheffield IJS | 2nd J | ||||||
WD = Withdrew Levels: J = Junior |
Detailed results
ISU personal bests highlighted in bold.
With Bekker
Junior results
2022–23 season | ||||
Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
December 8–11, 2022 | 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final | TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, 2022 | 2022 JGP Poland I | 3 64.17 |
2 94.68 |
2 158.85 |
Aug. 31 – Sept. 3, 2022 | 2022 JGP Czech Republic | 2 65.19 |
2 94.36 |
2 159.55 |
August 26–28, 2022 | 2022 Britannia Cup | 1 55.09 |
1 86.37 |
1 141.46 |
2021–22 season | ||||
Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
April 13–17, 2022 | 2022 World Junior Championships | 10 56.63 |
11 81.53 |
10 138.16 |
February 4–6, 2022 | 2022 Egna Trophy | 4 61.56 |
8 82.78 |
7 144.34 |
January 20–26, 2020 | 2021 British Championships | 1 60.51 |
1 87.52 |
1 148.03 |
Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, 2021 | 2021 JGP Poland | 8 50.84 |
7 80.57 |
8 131.41 |
August 28–31, 2019 | 2021 JGP Slovenia | 10 50.24 |
10 78.23 |
10 128.47 |
With Brown
2019–20 season | ||||
Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
March 2–8, 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | 12 57.10 |
13 84.65 |
13 141.75 |
January 7–12, 2020 | 2020 Mentor Toruń Cup | 3 61.56 |
5 93.26 |
4 154.61 |
December 4–7, 2019 | 2020 Golden Spin of Zagreb | 4 61.50 |
3 90.08 |
4 151.58 |
Nov. 28 – Dec. 1, 2019 | 2020 British Championships | 1 60.78 |
1 93.16 |
1 153.90 |
October 17–20, 2019 | 2019 Halloween Cup | 5 51.44 |
6 79.36 |
5 130.80 |
September 26–28, 2019 | 2019 JGP Croatia | 12 51.52 |
11 77.04 |
11 128.56 |
September 11–14, 2019 | 2019 JGP Chelyabinsk | 9 52.12 |
11 72.57 |
10 124.69 |
2018–19 season | ||||
Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
October 3–6, 2018 | 2018 JGP Ljubljana | 9 50.88 |
11 68.90 |
10 119.78 |
August 22–25, 2018 | 2018 JGP Bratislava | 7 51.13 |
10 75.17 |
7 126.30 |
August 10–12, 2018 | 2018 NRW Trophy | 2 53.58 |
4 70.63 |
4 124.21 |
July 30 – Aug. 3, 2018 | 2018 IJS Sheffield | 2 38.17 |
2 76.13 |
2 114.30 |
2017–18 season | ||||
Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
January 26–31, 2018 | 2018 Bavarian Open | 4 46.60 |
11 58.13 |
8 104.73 |
Nov. 28 – Dec. 4, 2017 | 2018 British Championships | 2 45.05 |
2 69.14 |
2 114.19 |
September 27–30, 2017 | 2017 JGP Croatia | 10 45.58 |
7 65.10 |
7 110.68 |
Aug. 30 – Sept. 2, 2017 | 2017 JGP Austria | 15 34.90 |
9 58.67 |
11 93.57 |
2016–17 season | ||||
Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
January 26–31, 2018 | 2017 Bavarian Open | 7 46.28 |
7 76.94 |
6 122.90 |
Nov. 29 – Dec. 4, 2016 | 2017 British Championships | 2 37.44 |
2 72.46 |
2 109.90 |
November 4–6, 2016 | 2016 NRW Trophy | 10 42.80 |
16 55.70 |
14 98.50 |
Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, 2016 | 2016 JGP Estonia | 15 39.24 |
14 56.81 |
15 96.05 |
References
- ^ a b "Bekker and Hernandez secure GB's first Junior Grand Prix Ice Dance medal". British Ice Skating. September 5, 2022.
- ^ a b "Emily Rose Brown & James Hernandez on their junior career and life off ice". Anything GOEs. October 3, 2022.
- ^ NicMcCarvel, Nick. "Gracie 3.0: Olympian Gold eyes 'big goals' in continued comeback". Olympics.
- ^ Stevens, Rob (March 7, 2016). "British Champions Emily Rose Brown and James Hernandez aim at youth Olympics". Slough Observer.
- ^ a b c d "Emily Rose BROWN / James HERNANDEZ: Competition Results". International Skating Union. March 7, 2020.
- ^ a b UK News on Ice (January 27, 2021). "So today, to offset some of the current doom and gloom, we will attempt to lift your spirits by bringing you news of an exciting new GB ICE DANCE partnership..." Facebook.
- ^ Bekker, Phebe (January 17, 2021). "As a new year begins, James and I are so excited to announce our new partnership" (Instagram).
- ^ a b c d "Phebe BEKKER / James HERNANDEZ: Competition Results". International Skating Union. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ Rice, Liam (January 27, 2021). "Wolsey Hall Oxford student takes junior ice skating crown". Oxford Mail.
- ^ "Newcomers dominate at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava (CZE)". International Skating Union. September 5, 2022.
- ^ "Shimada (JPN) scores second Junior Grand Prix victory". International Skating Union. October 3, 2022.
- ^ "Phebe BEKKER / James HERNANDEZ: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ "Phebe BEKKER / James HERNANDEZ: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022.
- ^ "Emily Rose BROWN / James HERNANDEZ: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Retrieved September 9, 2022.