TURIN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 21: Sasha Cohen of the United States embraces her coach John Nicks after she performed during the women’s Short Program of the figure skating during Day 11 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 21, 2006 at Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)
John Nicks, an Olympic pairs’ figure skater and world champion who became a coach of many Olympians, has died at age 87, according to U.S. Figure Skating.
“The skating community has lost a tremendous ambassador with the passing of John Nicks,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said in a statement. “John helped shape generations of American figure skating and his influence extended well beyond the champions he coached. He earned the deep respect of the skating community through a lifetime of dedication to his athletes and to the sport. We are grateful for all he gave to U.S. Figure Skating, and our thoughts are with his wife, Yvonne, his son, Christopher, and the many skaters, colleagues and friends mourning his loss.”
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Nicks and younger sister Jennifer competed as British pairs’ figure skating team at the Olympics in 1948 (eighth place) and 1952 (fourth place). They also won four consecutive World Championships medals from 1950 through 1953, including gold in 1953 when the event was held outdoors in Davos, Switzerland.
“My sister was much better at it than I was!” Nicks said in 2013 when recalling his early days on the ice, according to Icenetwork.com. “We started improving, and then we went to London to skate. You have to remember that there was a war going on at that time, so skating wasn’t the most important thing going on in the world.”
Nicks served for the National Service from 1948-50 with the Royal Sussex Regiment and then the Royal Middlesex Regiment.
Nicks moved to Los Angeles in 1961 and coached many U.S. Olympians over five decades, becoming known as “Mr. Nicks” with a dry wit within the skating community.
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“Anytime I have a little disappointment, I have to remind myself of my body of work,” Nicks said in 2013, according to Ice Network. “I also feel very lucky to have survived this long. I was talking to someone at the rink the other day about health insurance, and I realized that I have taught more than 1,200 students over 51 years and only missed 13 days because of sickness. I am such a supporter of teaching figure skaters. I keep track of them, and most of them seem to get along very well in their lives. Skating is such a great sport for young people, so I don’t do that. I don’t look back. I always look ahead.”
His pupils included Peggy Fleming (whom Nicks coached before she became an Olympic gold medalist in 1968), 1979 World pairs’ champions Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, 2006 Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen and 2014 Olympic team bronze medalist Ashley Wagner.
“Mr Nicks, you were a champion maker,” Wagner posted on Wednesday. “I will forever be grateful for my time with you, the lessons learned and the athlete that you transformed me into. You made me understand that I had to skate for the person sitting in the last row, at the top of the arena. You made me a performer, a skater who learned to care so much more about the total package, instead of just the jumps.
“Thank you for making me a champion, I would not be where I am today if it were not for you. Thank you for all of the moments and memories in figure skating you helped construct. The performances and standing ovations you were responsible for constructing. The history that you made.
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“A champion maker, a legend, and a man who was larger than life. Rest in peace.”
Nicks was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1993 and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000.
The John Nicks Pairs Challenge, an international pairs’ figure skating competition, has been annually since 2021 in the U.S.
“I’ve always understood that any success I’ve had is really because of the young skaters I’ve had,” Nicks said, according to Ice Network. “Without talented skaters, you can be the finest coach, but you can’t have success, so I’ve been very lucky.”
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