Peter Liebers (born 16 April 1988) is a German former competitive

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, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He is the 2015 Winter Universiade champion, the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist, the 2012 Ice Challenge champion, and a six-time German national champion. He placed eighth 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 ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

and as high as sixth at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

(2014 and 2015).

Personal life

Peter Liebers was born on 16 April 1988 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He is the son of Mario Liebers and the younger brother of Martin Liebers, both of whom competed internationally in figure skating. He speaks German and English. In the summer of 2014, he married German former competitive figure skater Denise Zimmermann. On May 1, 2015, Zimmermann gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Emil.

Career

Early years

Liebers began skating in 1994. He won the 2002 German junior national title and competed in four seasons of 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. He finished 13th at the 2006 World Junior Championships but, while practicing following the event, he broke his left leg when he hit a rut in the ice. As a result, he missed the 2006–07 season and had a metal insert in his leg until March 2007, returning to the ice in May.

2007–08 to 2012–13

In 2008, Liebers finished 13th in his debut at the

and 32nd 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 ...

. The next season, he competed at two senior Grand Prix events and won his first German senior national title. In the 2010–11 season, Liebers won bronze at the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy and competed at two Grand Prix events. He finished 11th at the 2011 Europeans and 15th at the 2011 Worlds. In June 2011, Liebers broke his

sacrum The sacrum (: sacra or sacrums), in human anatomy, is a triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part of the pelvic cavity, ...

while working on a new program in Toronto, Canada. He won the silver medal at the 2011 NRW Trophy and bronze at the 2012 Coupe Internationale de Nice. Liebers finished tenth at the 2013 European Championships and eleventh at the 2013 World Championships. It was the best World result of his career and qualified a spot for Germany in men's singles at the

2013–14 season

Liebers placed a career-best sixth at the 2014 European Championships in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In February 2014, he was training six to seven hours a day. At the Olympics in

, he represented Germany in the team event short program and then finished eighth in the separate men's event. In March, he competed in Saitama, Japan at the 2014 World Championships, where he placed 14th.

2014–15 season

Having fallen and broken his left shoulder while working on a modified spin, Liebers underwent an operation in the second half of August 2014. Estimated to lose up to eight weeks following the operation, he withdrew from the

2014 Cup of China Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

. He later withdrew from his second Grand Prix assignment, the 2014 NHK Trophy, and the German Championships. In January 2015, he took bronze at the Toruń Cup and finished sixth at the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. The following month, he won gold at the

Winter Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, having climbed from fourth in the short program to finish ahead of Takahiko Kozuka and Artur Gachinski.

2015–16 season

Liebers began his season on the

ISU Challenger Series The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...

(CS), placing 5th at the 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy. He dropped out of his next CS event, the

2015 Finlandia Trophy The 2015 Finlandia Trophy was a senior international figure skating competition in the 2015–16 figure skating season, 2015–16 season. A part of the 2015–16 ISU Challenger Series, the 20th edition of the annual event was held on October 9– ...

, due to an adductor strain and later withdrew from his GP assignments, the

2015 Skate Canada International The 2015 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta on October 30 ...

and the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, and the German Championships for the same reason. On 20 December 2015, the

Deutsche Presse-Agentur Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (abbreviated as dpa; ) is a German news agency founded in 1949. Based in Hamburg, it has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agen ...

reported that Liebers had ended his season, the injury being more serious than initially thought. As a result of a gap in the

acetabulum The acetabulum (; : acetabula), also called the cotyloid cavity, is a wikt:concave, concave surface of the pelvis. The femur head, head of the femur meets with the pelvis at the acetabulum, forming the Hip#Articulation, hip joint. Structure The ...

, caused by a fall, he underwent an arthroscopic operation on 23 February 2016 and was expected to rest for six weeks.

Programs

Competitive highlights

Seasons: 2007–2008 to present

Seasons: 1999–2000 to 2005–2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liebers, Peter German male single skaters 1988 births Living people Figure skaters from Berlin Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Germany Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games gold medalists for Germany Competitors at the 2015 Winter Universiade 21st-century German sportsmen