Kevin van der Perren

Infobox Figure skater
title = Kevin van der Perren


caption =
country= BEL
dateofbirth= birth date and age|1982|8|6
residence= Ninove, Belgium
height= convert|176|cm|ftin|abbr=on
weight= convert|65|kg|lb|abbr=on
partner=
coach= Silvie de Rijcke
skating club= KSC Heuvelkouter
retired =
combined total = 216.02
combined date = 2008 World
SP score = 72.83
SP date = 2007 Grand Prix Final
FS score = 145.78
FS date = 2008 World

Kevin van der Perren (born August 6, 1982 in Ninove, Belgium) is a Belgian figure skater. He is the six time Belgian national champion. Van der Perren was the flag bearer for Belgium at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He is married to British skater Jenna McCorkell. [ [http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Ice-skating-champ-ties-the.4095908.jp Ice skating champ ties the knot] accessed June 16, 2008]

Career

Van der Perren first dreamed of being a figure skater after a traveling ice show came to his town to perform. Although his parents wanted him to play soccer and he was teased by his classmates at school, he refused to give up his dream of being an elite figure skater.

Van der Perren was a two-time silver medalist at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships. A hip injury he suffered after the 2006 Winter Olympics forced him to withdraw from the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships. Van der Perren considered not going to the 2007 European Championships, but in the end he participated and finished on the podium, after edging Sergei Davydov by .07 for the bronze. This made him the first Belgian singles skater to win a medal at Europeans since 1947. [ [http://goldenskate.com/articles/2006/012707_m.shtml 2007 European Championships: Men's Highlights] accessed June 16, 2008]

In the 2007-2008 season, Van der Perren was assigned to Skate Canada and the Trophee Eric Bompard as his Grand Prix events. He finished second at Skate Canada, where he won the free skate, and fourth at Trophee Eric Bompard, qualifying him for the Grand Prix Final. He then finished 6th at the Grand Prix Final and 5th at Europeans. At the 2008 Worlds, Van der Perren finished 9th in the SP and 3rd in the LP for 6th place overall. He underwent hip surgery shortly afterwards but plans to compete in the 2008-2009 season.

In June 2008, Kevin changed his coach from Vera Vandecaveye to Sylvie de Rycke.

Trivia

At the 2002 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, in which Van der Perren won the silver medal, he was the first skater to land a three jump combination consisting of triple salchow-triple toe loop-triple loop. He included this combination in his free program until the end of the 2003-2004 season.

At the 2005 World Figure Skating Championships, he completed a triple flip-triple toe loop-triple loop combination in his free program, although he touched down with his hand on the final jump. Van der Perren landed this combination again at the 2008 Worlds, this time cleanly. [ [http://www.isu.org/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,4844-128590-19728-18885-283685-3787-4771-layout160-129898-news-item,00.html ISU : 2008 World Figure Skating Championships Full Story] accessed June 16, 2008] .

Van der Perren is the first Belgian skater to land a quadruple jump (toe-loop) in competition.

Programs

Competitive highlights

References

External links

* [http://www.kevinvdperren.com/ Official Website]
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