Tomáš Verner
Tomáš Verner ( born June 3, 1986 in Pisek, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech figure skater who starts in a single run. He is the European champion of 2008.
Biography
Verner started at the age of five years with the figure skating. He has an older brother, Miroslav, who has played at international level in the junior pairs figure skating competitions, and a younger sister, Katerina. He speaks his native language, German, English and some Russian. At twelve, he moved from his home town of Pisek to Prague in order to train at Vlasta Kopřivová can.
In 2002, Verner was first Czech champion and played his first European Championship, in which he finished in 14th place and his first world championship, in which he failed to qualify for the freestyle and was 26th. Verner trained in the high season in the " Hasa Hall " in Prague and in the "Ice Dome " in Oberstdorf and during the summer in addition Leppävirta in Finland. Besides Kopřivová he was doing training from Michael Huth. His choreographer at that time were Lori Nichol and Rostislav Sinizyn. The next four years Verner could not significantly improve. In 2006, he contested his first Olympic Games in Turin and finished it on the 18th Place.
The year 2007 brought abruptly Verner's breakthrough. For the first time ever he reached a one-digit placement at a European Championship and a World Cup. At the European Championships in Warsaw, he was once Vice-European Champion behind Brian Joubert. He even won the short program. At the World Championships in Tokyo Verner confirmed with the fourth place reached its performance. He had a quadruple toe loop - triple toe loop combination, and a further four times the toe loop.
2008, the now six-time Czech champion Verner became European Champion in Zagreb. 16 years earlier, with Petr Barna last a Czech to win this item. At the World Cup he was after the short program on a promising fourth place, but crashed with a disastrous freestyle, the 20th day of the competition, yet on the 15th rank from.
In December 2008, Verner was able to qualify for the first time for the Grand Prix Final. There he finished fourth. At the European Championships in 2009, he managed a personal best in the short program, but made several errors in the freestyle, which threw him back from second to sixth place in the overall standings. At the World Championships in Los Angeles, he was like two years ago, fourth.
In the 2009/10 season Verner had to suffer from the H1N1 virus, from which he could not recover properly for the entire season. He later criticized his coach that they let him go at all at the start. In the Czech Championships he had to Michal Brezina to defer. Verner finished sixth in the Grand Prix Final, and finished tenth at the European Championships in Vancouver in his second Olympic Games only the 19th Place. He then opted not to participate in the World Cup. There his compatriot Brezina was fourth.
Verner graduated in 2010 sports studies at the Charles University in Prague from.
Before the start of the 2010/11 season Verner changed his coach and went to Robert Emerson to Richmond Hill, near Toronto. Verner noticed that the new North American training methods a big change for him meant, because he is not accustomed to from Europe to constantly train complete runs of the program, but to do so only in the respective tournaments, two, three times. In addition to his coaches Verner changed his choreographers. Pasquale Camerlengo is now responsible for its programs. With the victory at the Cup of Russia, with a personal best in the freestyle, Verner won the first Grand Prix competition of his career. This earned him the qualification for the Grand Prix Final, where he finished fifth. A little later he won the Czech Championship in front of a weakened Michal Brezina injury. At the European Championship 2011 in Berne Verner reached after three years the podium. He won the bronze medal behind the Frenchman Florent Amodio and Brian Joubert. At the World Championships in Moscow, however, Verner could not confirm its upward trend and only reached the twelfth.
In autumn 2011, Verner was unable to attend the Grand Prix series due to back problems. In the Czech championships but he managed to Michal Brezina to keep behind and thus to secure his eighth national title. The European Championship, he finished in fifth place in the World Cup he could not at any time retrieve his performance opportunities and attended the 16th Place.
The 2012/13 season was disastrous for Verner. In his two Grand Prix competitions, he did not come on the last square. At the European Championships, he finished in eleventh place in the World Cup and the 21th Place. At the World Cup Freestyle him almost no jump element succeeded as planned.