Benjamin Okolski (born November 12, 1984) is an American former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With Brooke Castile, he is the 2008 Four Continents bronze medalist, 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and 2007 U.S. national champion.

Early life and education

Benjamin Okolski was born in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. He initially studied engineering at

Washtenaw Community College Washtenaw Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Ann Arbor Charter Township, Michigan.University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, he became an auditor at Deloitte.

Career

Okolski began skating at age eight and began pairs at twelve with his sister, Colleen. He teamed up with Brooke Castile after the 2002 U.S. Championships. They won two bronze medals on the

ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international figure skating competition, junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded ...

series. They placed 7th at their first

Four Continents Europeans in the 16th century divided the world into four continents: Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. Each of the four continents was seen to represent its quadrant of the world—Africa in the south, America in the west, Asia in the east, a ...

in 2005. Following the 2006 U.S. Championships, Castile and Okolski changed coaches to Johnny Johns and

Marina Zueva Marina Olegovna Zoueva or Zueva (; born 9 April 1956) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Representing the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman, she placed 5th at the 1977 World Championships and ...

at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in

Canton, Michigan Canton Township (commonly known simply as Canton) is a charter township in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Canton is located roughly west of downtown Detroit, and e ...

. They won the 2007 U.S. Championships, earning them the right to compete at 2007 Four Continents, where they were 5th, and then to make their World debut, where they finished 12th. In the 2007–08 season, Castile and Okolski were assigned to 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy,

2007 Skate America The 2007 Skate America was the first event of six in the 2007–08 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania on October 25–28. M ...

, and

2007 Trophée Eric Bompard 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

, but withdrew from all three due to injury. They won bronze at the 2008 U.S. Championships and went on to win a bronze medal in their third

appearance. They finished 11th at their second

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. In 2008–09, they also withdrew from their Grand Prix assignments, 2008 Cup of China and

2008 Cup of Russia The 2008 Cup of Russia was the fifth event of six in the 2008–09 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Megasport Arena in Moscow on November 20–23. Medals were award ...

, due to injury. They finished 5th at the 2009 U.S. Championships. In the 2009–10 season, Castile and Okolski were 6th at

2009 Skate America The 2009 Skate America was the fifth event of six in the 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, on 12–15 November. ...

. Their 4th-place finish at the 2010 U.S. Championships meant they did not make the U.S. team to the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. They announced their retirement from competitive skating in May 2010.

Programs

(with Castile)

Competitive highlights

''GP:

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

With Colleen Okolski

With Brooke Castile

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okolski, Benjamin American male pair skaters Living people 1984 births Sportspeople from Tucson, Arizona Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists Michigan Wolverines athletes 21st-century American sportsmen Washtenaw Community College alumni