Mathew Gates (born June 29, 1975) is a British-American former competitive

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

. With Eve Chalom, he is the 1996 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist and a two-time (1997, 1999) U.S. national silver medalist. He has medaled seven consecutive times at the US National Championships from Novice to Senior level. Gates is a two-time World competitor and member of Team USA. Gates is a World/International level Coach and Choreographer.

Personal life

Gates was born June 29, 1975, in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He moved to the United States in 1992. He is married to Kelly Gates, who is a former professional figure skater, figure skating coach, and a Registered Nurse. They have two children, and reside in North Carolina, US.

Career

Gates started skating as a singles skater in England before focusing on ice dancing. As a young child, he trained as a gymnast. Gates was coached by Elizabeth Coates in England before he relocated to the U.S. to train at the Detroit Skating Club.

Partnership with Chalom

Gates teamed up with American skater Eve Chalom in 1992, following a tryout in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

arranged by Coates. They decided to represent the United States. The duo trained at Detroit Skating Club with Igor Shpilband. After winning national titles on the novice level in 1993 and on the junior level in 1995, the duo took bronze at the 1996 U.S. Championships in their first season as seniors. In the 1996–97 season, Chalom/Gates were awarded silver at the 1996 Nebelhorn Trophy and debuted on the Champions Series (later known as the Grand Prix series). They also won silver at the 1997 U.S. Championships and were assigned to the 1997 World Championships in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, where they placed 17th. Chalom/Gates were ineligible for the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

because he was not yet an American citizen. They finished fourth at the 1998 U.S. Championships. They were coached by Coates and

Igor Shpilband Igor Yuryevich Shpilband (, born July 14, 1964) is an American ice dancing coach and former competitor for the Soviet Union. He is the 1983 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, World Junior champion with former partner Tatiana Gladkova. P ...

until the end of the 1997–98 season and then switched to

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal ...

and Warren Maxwell in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

. In their final season together, Chalom/Gates won their

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

national silver medal and finished 17th at the 1999 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland. Chalom/Gates skated professionally in numerous ice shows, and were invited to perform for the Champions on Ice Tour.

Later career

In January 2002, Gates tried out with Emilie Nussear on the advice of a coach, Tatiana Tarasova. Nussear/Gates won the silver medal at the 2002 Karl Schäfer Memorial and placed 5th at the 2003 U.S. Championships. They were coached by Tarasova, Nikolai Morozov, and Maia Usova in

Newington, Connecticut Newington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. Located south of downtown Hartford, Newington is an older, mainly residential suburb located in Greater Hartford. As of 2023, t ...

. Gates began working as a coach and choreographer by 2000. In 2001, Gates won the PSA Choreographer award for “William Tell Overture” program for best men's performance - Michael Weiss. Since then, Gates has coached and choreographed for skaters from beginner through National, World & Olympic level. Former students/choreograph students include: Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, Zachary Donohue, Nikolaj Sorensen, Cathy Reed, Chris Reed, Anna Zadorozhniuk, Sergei Verbillo, Maxim Bolotin Olga Orlova,

Tanja Kolbe Tanja Kolbe (born 7 September 1990) is a German former competitive ice dancer. With Stefano Caruso, she won seven international medals and two German national silver medals. They placed eighth at the 2013 European Championships and competed a ...

, Stefano Caruso, Avonley Nguyen,

Michael Weiss Michael Weiss may refer to: Sports * Michael Weiss (figure skater) (born 1976), American former figure skater * Michael Weiss (swimmer) (born 1991), American swimmer * Michael Weiss (triathlete) (born 1981), Austrian triathlete and cyclist * Michae ...

, Katarina Delcamp, Maxwell Gart, Kristin Fraser, Igor Lukanin, Collin Brubaker, Charlene Guignard,

Marco Fabbri Marco Fabbri (born 2 February 1988) is an Italian ice dancer. With his skating partner, Charlène Guignard, he is a two-time World Figure Skating Championships, World medalist, a two-time European Figure Skating Championships, European champion (2 ...

Alexandra Zaretsky Alexandra "Sasha" Zaretsky (, , , ) (born December 23, 1987) is an Israeli retired ice dancer. With her brother Roman Zaretsky, she is the 2009 Skate America bronze medalist, 2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, a three-time Nebelhorn Trophy me ...

Roman Zaretsky Roman Zaretsky (, , ; born December 4, 1983) is an Israeli retired ice dancer. With his sister, Alexandra Zaretsky, he is the 2009 Skate America bronze medalist, 2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, a three-time Nebelhorn Trophy medalist, and ...

, Mark Hanretty Molly Cesanak, Annabelle Morozov Nikolas Wamsteeker Maxim Naumov, Haley Sales Alina Milevska, Melissa Gregory,

Denis Petukhov Denis Alexandrovich Petukhov (; born October 6, 1978) is a retired Russian-American ice dancer. With his wife Melissa Gregory, he is the 2005 Four Continents silver medalist, a 2006 United States Olympic team member, and a four-time (2004– ...

, Emily Zhang, Ting Cui, Isabella Tobias, Ashley Foy, Benjamin Blum, Irina Movchan Corenne Bruhns, among others. Former coaching partners include Nikolai Morozov (Hackensack, NJ) Shae-Lynn Bourne, Svetlana Kulikova, Dmitry Palamarchuk (Connecticut) and Natalia Mishkutinok (Dallas, TX) Current coaching partner,

(Charlotte, NC) Gates is an ISU Technical Specialist. Gates currently coaches in Charlotte, NC and operates Elite Skating Academy / Elite Training Program. Gates travels to choreograph for international skaters throughout the US and Europe.

Programs

With Chalom

With Nussear

Results

''GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix''

With Chalom

With Nussear

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Mathew 1975 births American male ice dancers English emigrants to the United States Living people Sportspeople from Hitchin 20th-century American sportsmen