Simon Shnapir facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Simon Shnapir
Castelli and Shnapir atop the medal podium at the 2013 U.S. Championships
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	(1987-08-20) August 20, 1987 (age 37) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Home town	Sudbury, Massachusetts
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Partner	DeeDee Leng, Marissa Castelli, Tanya Aziz, Courtney Gill
Coach	Robert Martin, Carrie Wall, Mark Mitchell
Choreographer	Julie Marcotte, Sheryl Franks, Carrie Wall, Robert Martin
Skating club	SC of Boston
Training locations	Boston
Began skating	1993
Retired	June 30, 2015
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	187.82 2014 Winter Olympics
Short program	67.44 2014 Winter Olympics
Free skate	120.38 2014 Winter Olympics

Simon Shnapir (born August 20, 1987) is an American former pair skater. He competed in figure skating with his partner, Marissa Castelli. Together, they won a bronze medal at the Four Continents Championships in 2013. They also earned a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in 2009. Simon and Marissa were two-time U.S. national champions in 2013 and 2014. They also won a bronze medal in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics. After their partnership ended in 2014, Simon teamed up with DeeDee Leng for one season.

About Simon Shnapir

Simon Shnapir was born in Moscow, which was then part of the Soviet Union. His parents were both chemical engineers. When he was about 16 months old, his family moved to the United States. They first lived in Brighton, Boston before settling in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Simon finished high school at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in 2005. He then went to Emerson College to study marketing.

Simon's Skating Journey

Simon started learning to skate in 1993. Early in his career as a pair skater, he skated with partners named Tanya Aziz and Courtney Gill. Around the year 2000, Bobby Martin became his coach.

Skating with Marissa Castelli

Simon and Marissa Castelli became skating partners in April 2006. They started training seriously in June of that year. Their main training location was in Boston. They had several coaches, including Bobby Martin, Carrie Wall, Mark Mitchell, and Peter Johansson. Once, Marissa accidentally broke Simon's nose during a practice session for a twist move!

Castelli and Shnapir competed in the 2008 Junior Grand Prix Final, where they finished sixth. They then won a bronze medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships.

During the 2009–10 season, Marissa had to take a month off from skating. She had a collision with another skater and needed 15 stitches in her leg. The pair placed tenth at the 2010 U.S. Championships. They also finished tenth at the 2010 Four Continents Championships.

In 2012, Simon and Marissa briefly stopped skating together for a month. However, they decided to continue their partnership. They won a gold medal at the 2012 Ice Challenge competition. Then, they earned their first Grand Prix medal, a bronze, at the 2012 NHK Trophy. They won their first national title at the 2013 U.S. Championships. After that, they competed at the 2013 Four Continents Championships and won a bronze medal.

Castelli and Shnapir won their second national title at the 2014 U.S. Championships. This win helped them get a spot on the U.S. team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. At the Olympics, they won a bronze medal in the team event. They finished 9th in the main pairs event. In March, they placed 11th at the 2014 World Championships in Japan. Simon and Marissa announced that they were ending their partnership on May 7, 2014.

Skating with DeeDee Leng

On May 28, 2014, it was announced that Simon had teamed up with DeeDee Leng. They trained with coaches Bobby Martin and Carrie Wall in Boston. For the 2014-2015 Grand Prix season, they competed at the Rostelecom Cup and NHK Trophy. They finished 6th and 8th at these events. Leng and Shnapir then placed 8th at the 2015 U.S. Championships.

In April 2015, DeeDee Leng got a concussion during practice. This injury meant she couldn't skate for the rest of the season. On June 30, 2015, Simon Shnapir announced that he was retiring from competitive skating. In November 2016, he became a director at the Skating Club of Boston.

Skating Programs

Figure skaters perform routines to music. These routines are called programs. Here are some of the programs Simon skated with his partners.

With Leng

With Castelli

Competition Results

Here are Simon Shnapir's results from various figure skating competitions.

With Leng

With Castelli

See also

• List of select Jewish figure skaters
• List of Jewish Olympic medalists