Todd Eric Waggoner (born December 24, 1965) 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 Gillian Wachsman, he is the 1985

NHK Trophy The NHK Trophy is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Japan Skating Federation. The first NHK Trophy was held in 1979 in Tokyo. When the ISU launched the Champ ...

champion, 1985

Skate America Skate America is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The first Skate America was in held in 1979 in Lake Placid, New York, as a test event fo ...

bronze medalist, and 1986 U.S. national champion. The pair competed at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

, placing fifth, and at three

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 ...

, placing as high as fourth.

Skating career

Early in his career, Waggoner competed with his sister,

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

. They moved from Chicago to Delaware to train with

Ronald Ludington Ronald Ludington (September 4, 1934 – May 14, 2020) was an American figure skating coach and pair skater. With Nancy Rouillard Ludington, he was the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist, 1959 World bronze medalist, and a four-time U.S. national cha ...

. The pair placed fourth on the junior level at the 1984 U.S. Championships. Waggoner teamed up with Gillian Wachsman in the autumn of 1984. In their first season together, they took the bronze medal at the U.S. Championships. The following season, the pair won bronze at the

1985 Skate America The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, gold at the

1985 NHK Trophy The NHK Trophy is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Japan Skating Federation. The first NHK Trophy was held in 1979 in Tokyo. When the ISU launched the Champion ...

, and then gold at the 1986 U.S. Championships ahead of

Jill Watson Jill Marilynn Watson (born March 29, 1963, in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American retired pair skater and coach. With her partner Peter Oppegard, she is the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist and a three-time U.S. national champion. Watson was init ...

Peter Oppegard Peter Allen Oppegard (born August 23, 1959) is an American retired pair skater and coach. With his partner Jill Watson, he is the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist and a three-time U.S. national champion. In May 2022, Oppegard was suspended for ...

. They were assigned to their first

and finished seventh. The pair was coached by Pauline Williams. After winning silver at the 1988 U.S. Championships, Wachsman/Waggoner were selected to represent the United States at the

. The pair placed fifth in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. Their final amateur competition was the 1988 World Championships where they placed fourth. They retired in order to focus on their educations.

Personal life and aviation career

Waggoner was born on December 24, 1965, in

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County Illinois, United States. A northwestern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. His father worked for

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

. During his skating career, Waggoner worked as a waiter and landscaper and took flying lessons. After studying at

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, United States. It is the largest accredited university system specializing in ...

, he flew cargo aircraft for the Delaware National Guard and then became a jet pilot for United Airlines. He lives in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

and is married to American former

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 ...

, Kristan Lowery, with whom he has 3 sons, Eric, Kyle, and Drew.

Results

With Gillian Wachsman

With Jan Waggoner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waggoner, Todd 1965 births American male pair skaters Olympic figure skaters for the United States Figure skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Living people Sportspeople from Arlington Heights, Illinois 20th-century American sportsmen