Simon Shnapir

Simon Shnapir (born August 20, 1987) is an American former competitive pair skater. With Marissa Castelli, he is the 2013 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2009 World Junior bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion (2013 & 2014). The pair won a bronze medal in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics. After their split in May 2014, Shnapir teamed up with DeeDee Leng and competed in the 2014–15 season.

Simon Shnapir
Castelli and Shnapir atop the medal podium at the 2013 U.S. Championships
Born	(1987-08-20) August 20, 1987 (age 37) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Hometown	Sudbury, Massachusetts
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Partner	DeeDee Leng, Marissa Castelli, Tanya Aziz, Courtney Gill
Coach	Robert Martin, Carrie Wall, Mark Mitchell
Skating club	SC of Boston
Began skating	1993
Retired	June 30, 2015
Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Team Four Continents Championships 2013 Osaka Pairs U.S. Championships 2013 Omaha Pairs 2014 Boston Pairs World Team Trophy 2013 Tokyo Team World Junior Championships 2009 Sofia Pairs

Personal life

Shnapir was born to Jewish parents, both chemical engineering graduates, in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.^[1] He arrived in the United States with his family when he was 16 months old.^[2] After living in Brighton, Boston for a few years, the family moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts.^[1]

Shnapir graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in 2005, and went on to major in marketing at Emerson College.^[3][4]

Career

Shnapir began learning to skate in 1993.^[5] Early in his pairs career, he skated with Tanya Aziz and Courtney Gill. Bobby Martin became his coach in around 2000.^[6]

Partnership with Castelli

Shnapir and Marissa Castelli teamed up in April 2006 and began training together in earnest in June.^[2][7] They trained in Boston, coached by Bobby Martin, Carrie Wall (technical), Mark Mitchell (in-betweens, polishing), and Peter Johansson (throws).^[3] Castelli broke Shnapir's nose once while they were practicing the twist.^[8]

Castelli/Shnapir qualified for the 2008 Junior Grand Prix Final and placed sixth. The pair won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships.

In the 2009–10 season, Castelli was off the ice for a month after a collision with an Italian skater resulting in 15 stitches to her inner thigh.^[7] The pair placed tenth on the senior level at the 2010 U.S. Championships and were sent to the 2010 Four Continents Championships where they also finished tenth.

In 2012, Castelli/Shnapir split up for a month but decided to recommit to their partnership.^[9] They won gold at the 2012 Ice Challenge and then won bronze, their first Grand Prix medal, at the 2012 NHK Trophy.^[10] They won their first national title at the 2013 U.S. Championships.^[9] They were assigned to the 2013 Four Continents and won the bronze medal.

Castelli/Shnapir won their second national title at the 2014 U.S. Championships and were named in the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in February in Sochi, Russia. They won a bronze medal in the team event and placed 9th in the pairs event. In March, Castelli/Shnapir finished 11th at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. They announced the end of their partnership on May 7, 2014.^[11][12]

Partnership with Leng

On May 28, 2014, the Associated Press reported that Shnapir had teamed up with DeeDee Leng.^[13] They were coached by Bobby Martin and Carrie Wall at the Skating Club of Boston.^[6] For the 2014-2015 Grand Prix season, they were assigned to Rostelecom Cup and NHK Trophy.^[14] After having placed 6th and 8th at these competitions, respectively, Leng and Shnapir placed 8th at the 2015 U.S. Championships.^[15]

In April 2015, Leng suffered a season-ending concussion during a practice session.^[16] On June 30, 2015, Shnapir announced his retirement from competitions.^[17] In November 2016, he became the director of the high performance program at the Skating Club of Boston.^[18]

Programs

With Leng

Season	Short program	Free skating
2014–2015 [5]	Carmina Burana by Carl Orff performed by Edvin Marton choreo. by Julie Marcotte	Miss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schönberg performed by Sean Alderking choreo. by Julie Marcotte

With Castelli

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2013–2014 [19]	Black Magic Woman Smooth by Santana choreo. by Julie Marcotte	Skyfall by Thomas Newman choreo. by Julie Marcotte	Royals by Lorde Feeling Good performed by Michael Bublé
2012–2013 [20][21]	Stray Cat Strut by Brian Setzer Orchestra Pink Panther by Henry Mancini choreo. by Julie Marcotte	Payadora by Julian Plaza choreo. by Julie Marcotte	Feeling Good performed by Michael Bublé
2011–2012 [22]	Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov
2010–2011 [23]	Money by Pink Floyd For the Love of Money by the O'Jays	Avatar by James Horner
2009–2010 [7][24]	Prelude Quadukka-l-Mayyas by Jesse Cook	Freedom Battle by Michael W. Smith Elizabeth: The Golden Age by A. R. Rahman, Craig Armstrong
2008–2009 [25]	Survivor: Guatemala by Russ Landau Wild Dogs The Gathering Ancient Voices of Guatemala	Gladiator by Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard
2007–2008 [7]	Battle Without Honor or Humanity (from Kill Bill Vol. 1) by Tomoyasu Hotei	Gladiator by Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard
2006–2007 [7]	Mon Enfant by George Winston	Salome by Richard Strauss

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Leng

International[15]
Event	2014–15
GP NHK Trophy	6th
GP Rostelecom Cup	8th
National[26]
U.S. Championships	8th

With Castelli

International[27]
Event	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14
Olympics								9th
Worlds							13th	11th
Four Continents				10th			3rd
GP Bompard				7th
GP NHK Trophy						7th	3rd	4th
GP Skate America					6th		5th	6th
GP Skate Canada					4th
Ice Challenge							1st
Nepela Memorial						4th
U.S. Classic								4th
International: Junior[27]
Junior Worlds			3rd
JGP Final			6th
JGP Czech Rep.			4th
JGP Estonia		10th
JGP United Kingdom			4th
National[7]
U.S. Champ.	9th N	3rd N	3rd J	10th	5th	5th	1st	1st
East. Sectionals	4th N	1st N		1st
Team events
Olympics								3rd T
World Team Trophy							1st T 5th P
Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior T = Team result; P = Personal result; Medals awarded for team result only.

See also

• List of select Jewish figure skaters
• List of Jewish Olympic medalists

References

1. Cohen, Rachel (January 30, 2014). "US Olympic pairs skater Shnapir returns to Russia". Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015.
2. Mittan, Barry (January 8, 2009). "Castelli and Shnapir Top U.S. Pairs in Junior Grand Prix series". SkateToday. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
3. Walker, Elvin (January 3, 2013). "Door wide open for Castelli and Shnapir". Golden Skate.
4. "Simon | Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir | Official Website". Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
5. "Dee Dee LENG / Simon SHNAPIR: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015.
6. Brannen, Sarah S. (June 4, 2014). "Leng, Shnapir set sights on 2018 Olympic Games". IceNetwork.com.
7. "Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014.

   • "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved 2012-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
   • "U.S. Figure Skating Bio for Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir". Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
8. Schwartz, Jason (January 2014). "Q&A: Simon Shnapir & Marissa Castelli". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
9. Clarke, Liz (January 26, 2013). "U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Simon Shnapir and Marissa Castelli win pairs; Maryl Davis and Charlie White dominate ice dancing". Washington Post.
10. Pave, Martin (December 6, 2012). "Figure skaters Shnapir and Castelli having a breakout season". Boston Globe.
11. "Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir End Partnership". U.S. Figure Skating. May 7, 2014. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
12. Rosewater, Amy (May 8, 2014). "Castelli, Shnapir get off 'emotional roller coaster'". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
13. "Leng joins Olympian Shnapir as pair". Associated Press. May 28, 2014. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
14. "2014-15 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Pairs" (PDF). July 22, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2014.
15. "Competition Results: Dee Dee LENG / Simon SHNAPIR". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
16. Rosewater, Amy (February 8, 2016). "Concussions in figure skating: How to treat them". IceNetwork.com.
17. "Two-time U.S. pairs champion Shnapir retires" (Press release). U.S. Figure Skating. June 30, 2015.
18. Elfman, Lois (February 23, 2017). "Shnapir brings high performance program to SCOB". IceNetwork.com.
19. "Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014.
20. "Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
21. Rutherford, Lynn (January 15, 2013). "Road to Omaha: Door open for Castelli, Shnapir". IceNetwork.com.
22. "Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
23. "Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
24. "Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 20, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
25. "Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
26. "Dee Dee Leng & Simon Shnapir". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016.
27. "Competition Results: Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014.

External links

Media related to Simon Shnapir at Wikimedia Commons

• "Official website of Castelli and Shnapir". Archived from the original on August 27, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) at Figure Skaters Online