Jason Brown (figure skater)

Personal life

Jason Brown was born December 15, 1994 in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Marla (Kell), is a television producer, and his father, Steven Brown, works for a lighting company. He has an older sister, Jordan, and a younger brother, Dylan. He is Jewish and celebrated his bar mitzvah in 2007.

Brown graduated from Highland Park High School and received the Ralph Potter Memorial Award for Exceptional Ability and Achievement and the President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. In 2013, he enrolled at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He plays piano.

Early years and junior career

Brown began skating at age three and a half when his mother enrolled him and his sister in Learn to Skate classes. Coached by Kori Ade since the age of five, he trained in various rinks in the Chicago area until April 2013. Since 2009, his programs have been choreographed mainly by Rohene Ward. Brown also skated pairs with Thea Milburn for three years.

At 11, Brown won the national juvenile title. He won the bronze medal on the novice level at the 2009 U.S. Championships. Competing on the junior level at the 2010 U.S. Championships, he placed second in the short program, 0.07 behind Max Aaron, and second to Joshua Farris in the long program. Brown's overall score was the highest and he won the national junior title.

During the 2010–11 season, Brown won the silver medal in his Junior Grand Prix debut in France and placed sixth in his second JGP event, in Japan. He finished 9th in his senior national debut at the 2011 U.S. Championships with an impressive performance despite not attempting a triple axel, which he had decided to put off due to a growth spurt. He was assigned to compete at the World Junior Championships where he finished 7th. Brown worked on the triple axel for the following season, while adapting to another growth spurt. He stopped wearing hinge boots.

Brown began the 2011–12 season by winning his first Junior Grand Prix event in Brisbane, Australia. He then won silver in Milan, Italy, to qualify for the final. In a December 2011 interview, Brown said he needed the triple axel to be competitive on the senior level and continued to work on it. He occasionally uses Dartfish, a computer imaging system, and a harness. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, Brown was second in both segments and won the gold medal overall. Brown was assigned to the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the bronze medal.

In 2012–13, Brown won gold and silver medals on the JGP series and qualified for his second JGP Final, where he finished fourth. He was sent to the 2013 World Junior Championships where he placed third in the short program and first in the free skate after landing two triple Axels for the first time in his career. Brown won the silver medal while fellow Americans Joshua Farris and Shotaro Omori took the gold and bronze medals respectively.

2013–14 season

In May 2013, Brown and his coach, Kori Ade, moved to the Colorado Sports Center in Monument, Colorado. His secondary coaches include Eddie Shipstad and Ryan Jahnke.

Brown won the silver medal in his senior international debut at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. On September 30, 2013, he was called up to replace reigning Olympic champion Evan Lysacek at Skate America after the latter withdrew due to injury. Brown finished 5th at the event, his first senior Grand Prix event. In November 2013, he competed at a GP event in Paris, the 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, and won the bronze medal. He also attracted much attention from the skating public and the French in particular, becoming a crowd favorite.

At the U.S. Championships in January 2014, Brown placed third in the short program and first in the free skate with his "Riverdance" program, which became a viral video garnering more than 4,000,000 hits. He won the silver medal and was named in the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In Sochi, while Jeremy Abbott skated the short program in the team event, Brown was assigned to the free program and placed fourth. He and team USA were awarded the bronze medal. In the singles event, he was in 6th place after the short program, but less than a point off third. He placed 11th in the free skate and finished 9th overall. At the end of the season, he performed in twelve Stars on Ice shows before returning to training.

2014–15 season

Brown began the 2014–15 season at the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series event, and won the gold medal after placing first in both programs. At 2014 Skate America, he came in second. He placed fifth at 2014 Rostelecom Cup with a personal best in the free skate of 159.24 points. His placements earned him 7th place in the Grand Prix series, just missing the cut for the final.

At the 2015 U.S. Championships, Brown won the short program with the second highest points in the U.S. Championships' history. He finished the free skating second and won his first U.S. title. Until then, he had not tried a quad jump in competition. At the 2015 Four Continents Championships, he tried a quad jump in the short program, placing ninth. In the free skate he set his personal best and finished sixth overall.

2015–16 season

Brown withdrew from the 2015 NHK Trophy due to a back injury. He returned to the ice two weeks later but the injury resurfaced and forced him to withdraw from the 2016 U.S. Championships. On January 22, NBC Sports reported that he had petitioned U.S. Figure Skating for a spot on the world team despite his inability to compete at the national championships. His petition cited his world ranking, international experience and competitive record. The USFSA denied his petition and named Adam Rippon, Max Aaron and Nathan Chen, who was later replaced by Grant Hochstein due to injury.

Brown ended his season at the 2016 Team Challenge Cup.

2016–17 season

At the 2016 Skate America, Brown placed third in the short program. During the free skate, he performed a quad toe which was deemed by the tech panel to be under-rotated, meaning that it received 70% of the base value. He finished second in the free skate, earning the silver medal behind Shoma Uno.

On December 16, 2016, Brown was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right fibula. He received the bronze medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.