Matthew Savoie

Matt Savoie
Savoie in 2003.
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	(1980-09-12) September 12, 1980
Residence	Boston, Massachusetts
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Former coach	Linda Branan
Former choreographer	Tom Dickson
Former skating club	Illinois Valley FSC
Began skating	1989
Retired	2006
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	206.67 2006 Olympics
Short program	75.64 2006 Four Continents
Free skate	137.52 2006 Olympics
Medal record Men's Figure skating Representing United States Four Continents Championships 2006 Colorado Springs Men's singles Grand Prix Final 2000–2001 Tokyo Men's singles World Junior Championships 2000 Oberstdorf Men's singles Junior Series Final 1997–1998 Lausanne Men's singles

Matthew Savoie (born September 12, 1980, in Peoria, Illinois), is an American former competitive figure skater. He is a three-time U.S. bronze medalist, the 2006 Four Continents bronze medalist, and competed at the 2006 Olympics.

Skating career

Matthew Savoie first gained prominence when he won the gold medal on the junior level at the 1997 U.S. Championships. He went on to place in the top five at every U.S. Nationals between 1999 and 2006, winning bronze medals in 2001, 2004, and 2006 and pewter medals (fourth place) in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2005.^[1]

Savoie won bronze medals at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, the Grand Prix Final, and the World Junior Championships. He represented the United States three times at the World Championships.^[2]

Savoie was the first alternate to the 2002 Olympic team. In 2004, he underwent knee surgery due to parallel tendonitis.^[3] By winning the bronze at the 2006 U.S. Championships, Savoie earned a chance to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics.^[4] He finished seventh overall.

Savoie was raised in Peoria, Illinois, and trained there with coach Linda Branan throughout his career.^[5] He also worked with coach Gene Heffron, choreographer Tom Dickson, and modern dance teacher Kathy Johnson.^[5][6]

In July 2006, Savoie was appointed as the athlete representative to the Single & Pair Skating Technical Committee of the International Skating Union.^[7] He completed a four-year term.

Personal life and post-competitive career

Savoie graduated from Peoria High School (Peoria, Illinois) in 1998.^[5] He graduated summa cum laude from Bradley University in 2002, with a major in political science^[1] and a minor in biology. He went on to earn his master's degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005 and received the AICP Outstanding Graduate Student Award for 2005.^[1] He was admitted to the law school at Cornell University in 2005, but obtained a deferral for a year to focus on making the Olympic team. He joined the program in September 2006,^[6] where he also served as secretary of the LAMBDA (LGBT) Law Students Association.^[8] Savoie graduated in 2009, and began work as an associate in the law firm of Choate Hall & Stewart. Then, in 2014, the U.S. Figure Skating Association Championships were conducted in Boston, and Savoie attended for the first time since his Olympic year. There, he reconnected with coaches and old friends. Within months, he was turning in his notice at the law office and accepting a position on the coaching staff of the prestigious Skating Club of Boston. This year, one of his skaters, Curran Oi, competed in the men’s national championships. ^[9]

Savoie married attorney Brian Boyle on October 7, 2012 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.^[10]

Programs

Competitive highlights

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthew Savoie.

• Matthew Savoie at U.S. Figure Skating
• Matthew Savoie at the International Skating Union