 |
| David Pelletier |
|
| David Pelletier, at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, standing on the medals podium. Unfortunately, Sale and Pelletier placed 2nd, which caused MUCH controversy. |
| David Pelletier was born on November 22, 1974, in Sayabec, Quebec. He spent his childhood in Lachine, Quebec, although he trained as a young skater in Boucheville with coaches Josee Picard and Eric Gilles. Pelletier has competed at the national level as both a pairs skater and a single skater and has achieved international success in pairs, when he represented Canada with partner Allison Gaylor at the 1995 World championships. David's first pairs partner was Julie Laporte. Together, Julie and David were Canadian novice and junior champions, and they placed 7th at the world junior championships in 1992. Following the 1993 Canadian championships, David split with Julie, and got together with Allison Gaylor. Allison and David trained in Boucheville, where they had the opportunity to work with Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur. The young pairs team arrived on the national scene when they skated a near flawless long program that brought the crowd to their feet at the 1995 Canadian championships. Their outstanding performance earned Allison and David the opportunity to represent Canada at the world championships in Birmingham, England. At the national championships, David also competed in the senior mens event, and placed a surprising 2nd after the mens short program. In his first year as a senior, David was stunned with the prospect of representing Canada in two events at the upcoming |
| world championships. David's strength was his technical skill though he did not have a consistent triple axel. However, with a few technical mistakes in the long program, David's marks for presentation were not enough to hold his position and he slipped to 4th place in the event. Allison and David traveled to the world championships in Birmingham, England one month after their outstanding performance at the national championships. Allison and David finished 15th at their first senior world championships. Following their experience at the world championships, Allison and David returned home to begin training for the next season, Unfortunately, the momentum from the previous year did not continue and the pair struggled throughtout the early season. After a 12th place finish at NHK, their only pre-season international that year, Allison and David returned to Canada to rechoreograph their long program before their next competition: the Canadian championships. Allison and David entered the 1995 national championships, not as a favourite with a chance to win the event, but as a team that appeared to be struggling. Allison and David were 5th after the short program and they needed a strong performance in the long program if they had any hope of returning to the world championships. In the long program, Allison struggled throughout the performance with her jumps and she was forced to stop the performance when the lace on her boot came off the hook. Allison and David finished 5th in the event. Shortly after the Canadian championships, Allison Gaylor and David Pelletier ended their partnership and David set out in search of a new partner. David was quickly paired off with a young, 15-year old skater from Quebec - Caroline Roy. They were an awkward match because of the age difference between the skaters and also because Caroline was not a pairs skater. In just one and a half years, Caroline learned all the pair elements and the team qualified for the 1998 Canadian championships in Hamilton, Ontario. The Canadian championships was, unfortunately, a very difficult event for David - regardless of what happened on the ice. One week before the event, David's former pairs partner, Julie Laporte, was tragically killed in an automobile accident while traveling to a skating carnival in Quebec. Oddly and coincidentally, the 1998 Canadian championships were being held in the very same building where Julie and David had won their national junior championship. At this event, Caroline and David had a strong skate, but placed 6th overall in the pairs event. Feeling unhappy and unfulfilled, David ended his partnership with Caroline Roy after the national championships and he decided to take some time away from the sport before setting out in search of yet another partner. David did find his life long Pairs partner... her name is Jamie Sale. This biography is coprighted from Preethi, at http://www.geocities.com/manochaca/s_pindex.html |