Jenna McCorkell (born 15 September 1986) is a former

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

from Northern Ireland. She is an eleven-time

British national A British national, or United Kingdom national, is a person who possesses a type of British nationality. This includes anyone who is a: * British citizen * British Overseas Territories citizen * British Overseas citizen * British subject (as defi ...

champion (2003–05; 2007–14) and won seven senior international medals, including gold at the

Ondrej Nepela Memorial The Nepela Memorial ( sk, Memoriál Ondreja Nepelu), formerly known as the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in 2013–15 & 2017 and the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition. Named after 1972 Olympic champ ...

and

Ice Challenge The Icechallenge (formerly known as the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen or Leo Scheu Memorial) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Grazer Eislaufverein and sanctioned by the Austrian Figure Skating association and the ...

. She placed as high as eighth at the European Championships (2008) and 14th at the World Championships (2010, 2012), and competed at two Winter Olympics (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...

, 2014).

Personal life

McCorkell was born on 15 September 1986 in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, Northern Ireland. She married Belgian skater

Kevin van der Perren Kevin van der Perren (born 6 August 1982) is a Belgian former competitive figure skater. He is the 2007 & 2009 European bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix medalist, and an eight-time (2000–2004, 2007, 2011, 2012) Belgian national champi ...

in May 2008. The couple lives in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and have a son named Ben, born in 2019.

Career

McCorkell trained in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, coached by Margaret McAllister and Yuri Bureiko, until the end of the 2001–02 season. In the 2002–03 season, she moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

where she was coached by Bureiko. McCorkell competed three times, from 2002 to 2004, at the World Junior Championships, placing as high as 11th in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

. She made her senior World and European Championships debut also in 2003. Following the 2005–06 season, McCorkell moved to Liedekerke, Belgium where she was coached by Vera Vandecaveye. McCorkell achieved her career-best European Championships result, 8th, in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. After the 2007–08 season, she rejoined Juri Bureiko and was also coached by Silvie De Rijcke. Her best Worlds finish, 14th, came in

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gath ...

. McCorkell changed coaches in April 2011. She decided to train with coach Simon Briggs in

Ninove Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger of ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. McCorkell had a torn abductor muscle at the end of 2012. In February 2014, McCorkell competed at her second

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were hel ...

. Ranked 25th in the short program, she did not advance to the free skate in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia. At the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, McCorkell qualified for the free skate but withdrew due to a hamstring injury.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix''

2001–present

1996–2000

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCorkell, Jenna British female single skaters People from Coleraine, County Londonderry Living people 1986 births Olympic figure skaters of Great Britain Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Figure skaters from Northern Ireland