Kevin Reynolds (figure skater)

Personal life

Reynolds was born July 23, 1990 in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Raised in Coquitlam, he was home schooled to accommodate his training schedule. He has a younger brother.

Early years

Reynolds began skating at age five and began training with coach Joanne McLeod when he was nine. He won the Canadian Nationals at the Juvenile level in 2001 and the novice level in 2003 at age 12. The next year, he was fourth at the junior level, giving him a spot on the junior national team. This earned him a spot to the Junior Grand Prix (JGP), where he placed 5th at his first event. At Nationals, he moved up to second place at the junior level.

2005–06 season

Reynolds placed 9th in his senior national debut, at the 2006 Canadian Championships. At the 2006 World Junior Championships, he finished 7th after landing a 4S in the free skate.

2006–07 season

In the 2006–07 season, Reynolds won a JGP event in Mexico and placed second in Taiwan. At the JGP Final, despite suffering from food poisoning, he won the bronze medal after landing his first 4T in competition.

2007–08 season

At the 2008 Canadian Championships, Reynolds landed a quad-triple-triple combination in his free program, the first Canadian to accomplish this. He is the second skater of three in the world, under the ISU Judging System, to land the combination in international competition, after Evgeni Plushenko and before Kevin van der Perren.

2008–09 season

In 2008–09, Reynolds finished fourth in both Grand Prix appearances and at the national championships. He was assigned at the last moment to compete at the Junior World Championships, where he came in 9th.

2009–10 season

Although Reynolds was not selected for the Canadian Olympic team, Skate Canada assigned him to the 2010 Four Continents Championships and the World Championships. At Four Continents, Reynolds led after the short program, and although he faltered in the free skate, the combined score was enough to earn him the bronze medal. At his first World Championships, Reynolds popped a jump in the short program, but earned the second highest technical score in the free skate portion of the event, finishing in 11th place overall.

2010–11 season

At the 2010 Skate Canada International, Reynolds became the first skater to ever land two quadruple jumps in a short program. Taking advantage of an off-season rule change allowing skaters to do both a solo quadruple jump and one in combination, Reynolds opened his program with a 4S-3T combo and later landed a solo 4T. The two elements netted him 26.32 points of his 80.09 total.

Reynolds was fourth at the Canadian Championships and was named to the Canadian team for Four Continents and as an alternate for the World Championships. He finished 11th at the 2011 Four Continents in February. In the short program he aggravated a hip injury from December and took time off following the competition but began training again when he was added to the Canadian team for the 2011 World Championships, replacing Shawn Sawyer who had dropped out. He finished 20th at the event.

2011–12 season

In 2011–12, Reynolds was selected to compete at two Grand Prix events. He was seventh in his first event, the 2011 Cup of China, and withdrew from his second event, the 2011 Trophée Éric Bompard. He took the silver medal at the 2012 Canadian Championships and was selected to represent Canada at the 2012 Four Continents and 2012 Worlds. He finished eighth at Four Continents and 12th at Worlds.

2012–13 season

During the 2012–13 season, Reynolds finished fifth and sixth, respectively, at his two Grand Prix events, the 2012 Cup of China and the 2012 NHK Trophy. He took the silver medal at the Canadian Championships for the second time. Reynolds was selected to represent Canada at the 2013 Four Continents and 2013 Worlds. He won gold at the Four Continents Championships. Following the event, a cyst ruptured in the back of his left knee. He finished 5th at the World Championships in London, Ontario, Canada.

2013–14 season

In the 2013–14 season, Reynolds withdrew from his two Grand Prix events due to skate boot problems. He took the silver medal at the 2014 Canadian Championships and was selected to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. At the Olympics, he helped Team Canada win the silver medal in the team event and finished 15th in the men's singles event. He finished the season with an 11th-place finish at the 2014 World Championships.

2014–15 season

In the 2014–15 season, Reynolds again withdrew from his two Grand Prix assignments due to injury and skate boot issues. He withdrew from the 2015 Canadian Championships after finishing 12th in the short program.

2016–17 season

Kevin returned to prominence in the 2016–17 season. It began with a silver medal at the Nepela Memorial and then he won bronze at the Skate Canada International: his first-ever Skate Canada medal. He met disappointment with a 12th-place finish at the Four Continents. Despite falling in the Short Program, he finished 2nd at the 2017 Canadian Championships allowing him to compete at the World Championships for the first time in three years where he finished 9th with a personal best in the free skate.

Elements

His favorite quad is the salchow, which he first landed at 15, and he has also practiced a quad loop.

Competitive highlights

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