Davis and White Win 2011 SKATING Magazine Readers' Choice Skater of the Year Award
Colorado Springs, Colo. (Aug. 1, 2011) - U.S. Figure Skating and SKATING magazine announced today that World ice dancing champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White have won
the 2011 Readers' Choice Award for Skater of the Year (Michelle Kwan Trophy). The honor goes to an ice dancing team for just the second time in the award’s 23-year history (Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, 2005).
“It’s such an honor to receive SKATING magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award,” Davis said. “Looking back on the season, Charlie and I could not have asked for anything more. To receive recognition
from the readers of SKATING is yet another reason we will be able to look back on the 2010–11 season with pride.”
Davis and White, both students at the University of Michigan, finished ahead of Alissa Czisny, the Haydenettes and the ICE’Kateers.
The longest-tenured ice dancing team in the United States, having skated together since 1997, Davis and White capped an undefeated season by becoming the first U.S. ice dancing team to win the gold medal at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships. In addition to their win in Moscow, the team earned titles at Skate America, NHK Trophy, ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and U.S. Championships.
“For Meryl and me to be chosen as the readers’ choice this year fills me with pride and is humbling at the same time,” White said.
The full title of the award is the “Readers’ Choice Skater(s) of the Year, Michelle Kwan Trophy.” The trophy is scheduled to be presented to Davis and White at the 2012 U.S. Championships in San Jose, Calif. Each spring, SKATING magazine readers are asked to vote for the eligible skater in any discipline whom they believe is most deserving of the award, based on the accomplishments of the past season. The Michelle Kwan Trophy, which represents both the sport of figure skating and SKATING magazine, is a one-of-a-kind crystal sculpture designed by Crystal Signatures of Pennsylvania.
The Readers' Choice Award is given annually by SKATING magazine, the official publication of U.S. Figure Skating. Voting was open to the public on www.usfigureskating.org, with results becoming
final on July 15.
Renee Felton
U.S. Figure Skating Media Relations
20 First Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
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– U.S. Figure Skating –
U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States
Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 680 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and more than 1,000 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 180,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing
the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.