Mark Ladwig (born May 6, 1980) is an American former competitive pair skater. He is best known for his partnership with Amanda Evora, with whom he competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics, placing tenth. They won bronze at an ISU Grand Prix event, the 2010 Cup of Russia, and two U.S. national silver medals. He later skated with Lindsay Davis for one season.

Personal life Mark Ladwig was born in Fargo, North Dakota to Carol and John, a medical technician and a doctor respectively, and grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota with two siblings, Todd and Erin. He married his wife, Janet, in August 2006. A boy named Holden Everett was born September 13, 2009. A second son, Felix Rye Ladwig, was born July 1, 2014.

Career Ladwig skated with Kelsey Sollom until 1999 in Moorhead, Minnesota and then with Keri Blakinger while at the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club in Newark, Delaware. He volunteered at the 2002 Winter Olympics and worked in Salt Lake Olympic Square.

In June 2002, Ladwig began skating with Amanda Evora. They finished 12th in their debut at the U.S. Championships and fifth at their first ISU Championship, the 2005 Four Continents. In 2007, Ladwig began serving on the U.S. Figure Skating Athletes Advisory Committee. He was the pairs vice-chair of the 2008–09 Athletes Advisory Committee.

2009–10 was a breakthrough season for Evora/Ladwig. They took second at the U.S Championships, their best finish at the event, which led to their selection for the US Olympic team. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, they beat their previous personal best by a sizable margin, and finished tenth, making them the top US pair at the Olympics. They later competed at Worlds for the first time in their career, and finished in ninth place.

During 2010–2011 season, Evora/Ladwig were assigned to compete at Cup of China where they finished fifth (151.66 pts) and later earned their first Grand Prix medal, a bronze, at Rostelecom Cup, with a season's best of 110.27 and total score of 162.85. Evora/Ladwig repeated at US Nationals earning their second silver medal, and were selected to compete at Four Continents and Worlds. At Four Continents, Ladwig's left skate heel broke during the short program, but he and Evora were able to resume the program within the allowed three minutes after Canadian Rudi Swiegers lent his own boot to Ladwig. Ladwig was able to repair his skate prior to the free skate, and the pair went on to finish sixth overall. Evora/Ladwig were noted for their longevity as a pair, which is rare in U.S. pair skating. Their partnership ended when Evora retired from competitive skating on April 10, 2012.

Ladwig was elected to the USOC AAC in 2012. In May, he announced that he had teamed up with Lindsay Davis. Davis/Ladwig competed at two Grand Prix events and won the pewter medal at the 2013 U.S. Championships. They confirmed the end of their partnership in February 2013.

Programs

With Davis Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2012–2013 Beethoven's 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys Angels & Demons by Hans Zimmer Too Close by Alex Clare

With Evora Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2011–2012 The Man I Love by George Gershwin Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel Reverie by Claude Debussy 2010–2011 The Mask of Zorro by James Horner Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini 2009–2010 Portuguese Love Theme (from Love Actually) by Craig Armstrong Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff 2008–2009 Santorini by Yanni Pas De Deux (from The Nutcracker) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Your Song (from Moulin Rouge!) performed by Ewan McGregor 2007–2008 Stray Cat Strut by the Stray Cats and Brian Setzer Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel Reverie by Claude Debussy 2006–2007 Black Magic Woman by Santana West Side Story 2005–2006 Hotel California by the Eagles Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev 2004–2005 Theme for the Common Man by Aaron Copland Butterfly Suite by Vanessa-Mae 2003–2004 Smokie Joe's Cafe Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Competitive highlights

With Davis International Event 2012–13 GP NHK Trophy 6th GP Skate Canada 7th U.S. Classic 5th National U.S. Championships 4th

With Evora International Event 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 Olympics 10th Worlds 9th 11th Four Continents 5th 6th 6th GP Bompard 4th GP Cup of China 4th 7th 5th 4th GP Cup of Russia 3rd GP Skate America 9th 4th 5th GP Skate Canada 8th 7th Nebelhorn 5th 3rd Golden Spin 1st National U.S. Champ. 12th 10th 5th 7th 4th 5th 4th 2nd 2nd 3rd

References

External links