Michael Parsons (figure skater)

Personal life

Michael Parsons was born October 3, 1995 in Wheaton, Maryland. He has two sisters, Rachel and Katie. He is majoring in biology at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland.

Early years

Parsons started learning to skate at age seven to play hockey but ultimately chose figure skating. He joined the Wheaton Ice Skating Academy in December 2003. Early in his ice dancing career, he skated with Kristina Rexford.

He teamed up with his sister, Rachel, in February 2010. They won gold on the novice level at the 2011 U.S. Championships and debuted on the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in September 2011, placing 9th in Gdańsk, Poland. After taking the junior pewter medal at the 2012 U.S. Championships, they represented the United States at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, placing 4th. They were also selected for the 2012 World Junior Championships in Minsk, Belarus, where they finished 15th.

Competing in the 2012–13 JGP series, the Parsons placed 6th in Linz, Austria, before taking bronze in Zagreb, Croatia.

2013–2014 season

The Parsons obtained silver at both of their 2013–14 JGP assignments, which took place in Košice, Slovakia, and Ostrava, Czech Republic. They qualified for the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where they placed sixth. The duo won bronze at the junior level at the 2014 U.S. Championships and capped off their season with an 8th-place finish at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2014–2015 season

The Parsons medaled at both their 2014–15 JGP assignments, receiving bronze in Aichi, Japan, and silver in Zagreb, Croatia. They finished as the first alternates for the JGP Final and won silver on the junior level at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Concluding their season, they placed fourth at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

2015–2016 season

During the 2015–16 JGP series, the Parsons were awarded gold in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Zagreb, Croatia. Competing in Barcelona, Spain, at their second JGP Final, the siblings took the bronze medal behind Lorraine McNamara / Quinn Carpenter and Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd, having placed second in the short dance and fifth in the free. At the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, they placed first in the short and second in the free, winning the silver medal behind McNamara/Carpenter.

2016–2017 season

Competing in their sixth JGP season, the Parsons were awarded gold in Yokohama, Japan, and Dresden, Germany, both times ahead of Russia's Anastasia Shpilevaya / Grigory Smirnov. In December 2016, they competed at the JGP Final in Marseille, France; ranked second in the short and first in the free, they won the title by a margin of 0.63 over Loboda/Drozd. The following month, the Parsons would win their first junior national title at the 2017 U.S. Championships, over 11 points clear of the field. The siblings would cap off their undefeated season by winning the 2017 World Junior Championships; similar to the 2016–17 JGP Final, the Parsons won the event overall after placing second in the short and first in the free, earning an even narrower victory of .56 ahead of Loboda/Drozd. The Parsons earned personal bests in their combined total and free dance scores at their fifth trip to the Junior Championships.

Programs

(with Rachel Parsons)

Competitive highlights

(with Rachel Parsons)

JGP: Junior Grand Prix