Jennifer Kirk

Jennifer "Jenny" Kirk (born Jennifer Anne Kirk on August 15, 1984 in Newton, Massachusetts) is a former American figure skater.

Jennifer is the 2000 World Junior champion and the 2002 Four Continents champion.

Career
Jennifer grew interested in skating and began training with coaches Evy & Mary Scotvold when she was 10 years old at the Skating Club of Boston. When she was 15 years old, a piece of bone tore from her pelvis and jutted into her hip flexor.

She won gold at the 2000 World Junior Championships and in 2002, she captured the Four Continents title.

At the 2002 World Championships, Jennifer placed 15th in the short program before withdrawing due to a hip injury.

Ahead of the 2002–03 season, Jennifer moved to the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California to train with Frank Carroll and Ken Congemi.

In addition to single skating, she also briefly dabbled in pair skating with Fedor Andreev in the summer of 2003, describing it as fun but challenging.

She won the bronze medal at the 2004 U.S. Championships.

The following season, Jennifer withdrew from her first Grand Prix assignment due to an injury. She placed 10th at the 2004 Cup of Russia and won bronze at the 2005 Four Continents.

On September 7, 2005, Jennifer announced her retirement from competitive figure skating. She moved to Boston, where she worked as a coach, but she later returned to Southern California.

Her decision to quit competitive skating the year before the Olympics was profiled on "Ice Diaries."

Post-Skating Career
Jennifer is a member of the U.S. Figure Skating International Committee.

In the fall of 2012, she and her colleague, David Lease, launched a website & podcast called "The Skating Lesson" where they interview current & former skaters, coaches, choreographers and skating officials.

The web-series has garnered a following of thousands of figure skating fans with its weekly video interviews.

Medal record
Four Continents Championships World Junior Championships Junior Grand Prix Final U.S. Championships
 * Gold medal: 1st place (2002 Jeonju)
 * Bronze medal: 3rd place (2005 Gangneung)
 * Gold medal: 1st place (2000 Oberstdorf)
 * Silver medal: second place (1999–2000 Gdansk)
 * Bronze medal: third place (2004 Atlanta)

Personal Life
Prior to taking up figure skating, Jennifer was a gymnast until she was 9 years old. She also studied ballet and once performed with the Boston Ballet.

In May of 1999, Jennifer's mother, Pat was diagnosed with breast cancer; she died in August of 2001. The loss of her mother was one of the reasons that Jennifer decided to retire.

In 2009, Jennifer revealed her career-long struggle with eating disorders and mentioned that it had been a factor in her decision to retire. She also stated that eating disorders was very common among skaters, but there was not enough was being done to address the problem.