Gregory Merriman (born 3 October 1988), also known as Greg Merriman, is an Australian 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 partner Danielle O'Brien, he is a six-time Australian senior national champion and three-time junior national champion. They have competed at the

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 ...

and

Four Continents Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The ISU est ...

since 2008, and have competed at three World Junior Championships. They became the first Australian ice dancers to reach the free dance at a

and the second Ice Dance couple from Australia to compete at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held i ...

Career

Merriman teamed up with Danielle O'Brien, who also skated at the Canterbury Olympic Ice Rink, in April 1998. They were coached by Australian ice dancing champion Monica MacDonald in Sydney, Australia. In the 2009–10 season, they trained with former World champion

Victor Kraatz Victor Kraatz, (born April 7, 1971) is a Canadian former ice dancer. In 2003, he and his partner, Shae-Lynn Bourne, became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship. Personal life Born on April 7, 1971, in West Berlin ...

and Maikki Kraatz. O'Brien/Merriman withdrew from the

2009 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy was held between September 23 and 26, 2009 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It served as the final Olympic qualifier to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skati ...

, the final qualifying opportunity for the 2010 Winter Olympics, due to Merriman's diagnosis of pericarditis, a viral infection in the sac surrounding the heart. In the 2010–11 season, O'Brien/Merriman began training part-time in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

under coaches

Anjelika Krylova Anjelika Alexeyevna Krylova (; born 4 July 1973) is a Russian retired ice dancer. With partner Oleg Ovsyannikov, she is the 1998 Olympic silver medalist and two-time (1998, 1999) World champion. She currently works as a coach and choreographer ...

, two-time World champion, and

Pasquale Camerlengo Pasquale Camerlengo (born 14 April 1966) is an Italian former competitive ice dancer who is now a coach and choreographer. With Stefania Calegari, he won gold medals at Skate America, Skate Canada, and the International de Paris, and placed fift ...

. They relocated to Detroit to train there full-time in late 2011. Although Merriman's heel of his boot separated during the preliminary round at the 2012 World Championships, they placed eighth out of 23 couples and qualified for the short dance, where they placed 20th and qualified for the free. O'Brien/Merriman became the first Australian team to qualify for the free dance at a World Championships. They finished 20th overall. In 2012–13, O'Brien/Merriman finished 7th at the US International Classic, 4th at the

2012 Ondrej Nepela Memorial The Nepela Memorial () is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted in Bratislava, Slovakia, by the Slovak Figure Skating Association (). The competition debuted in 1993 and is ...

, 8th at the 2012 NRW Trophy and 4th at the 2012 Ice Challenge. In January 2013, they became the first Australian ice dancers to medal at an International event when they took bronze at the

Toruń Cup Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

in Poland. In February, O'Brien/Merriman competed at the 2013 Four Continents Championships where they finished with a personal best placement of eighth. They did not qualify for the 2013 World Championships due to new TES requirements. The

2013 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 26–28, 2013 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf. It is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany and is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain. Medals were awarded in men's and ladies' singles, pa ...

was the last chance to qualify for the Olympics; O'Brien/Merriman finished sixth and earned a place for Australia in the Olympic ice dancing event. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, they advanced to the free dance and finished 20th. They retired from competition on April 11, 2014.

Programs

(with O'Brien)

Results

(with O'Brien)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merriman, Gregory Australian male ice dancers 1988 births Living people Figure skaters from Sydney Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Australia Sportsmen from New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportsmen