Ricky Cockerill (born 26 October 1978) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. He is a seven-time New Zealand national champion and competed in the free skate at five

Four Continents Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) is an annual figure skating competition. The International Skating Union established it in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-African and non-European countries with a similar competit ...

Life and career

Cockerill was born on 26 October 1978 in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, and was educated at

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

. Cockerill trained as a figure skater in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand;

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia; and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia. He represented New Zealand in a number of international competitions including three world championships and five Four Continents Championships. He is the first, and to this day the only New Zealand figure skater to complete all triple jumps as well as triple-triple combinations. After retiring from sport in 2005, Cockerill completed an economics degree at

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

and moved to London to pursue a career in finance. There he began his career with Barclays Bank PLC and worked for three years in the corporate banking division at Barclays' head office in

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lo ...

. In 2010, he moved to Moscow to work for Barclays Russia. Cockerill moved back to New Zealand in 2014 together with his wife. He now works as a business broker in Dunedin and helps his wife to run a new dance studio. He is a happy father of 2 girls.

Sporting results

References

External links

* New Zealand figure skaters 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Dunedin New Zealand sportsmen People educated at Otago Boys' High School 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people {{figure-skating-bio-stub