Jason Brown (figure skater)

Brown began skating at age three and a half when his mother enrolled him and his sister in Learn to Skate classes.[9][10] Coached by Kori Ade since the age of five,[5][11] he trained at various rinks in the Chicago area until April 2013.[10][12] Since 2009, his programs have been choreographed mainly by Rohene Ward.[10][13] Brown also skated pairs with Thea Milburn for three years.[9]

At 11, Brown won the national juvenile title.[14] 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,[15] and second to Joshua Farris in the long program.[16] Brown's overall score was the highest and he won the national junior title.[17]

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.[18][19] He was assigned to compete at the 2011 World Junior Championships, where he finished 7th. Brown worked on the triple Axel for the following season, while adapting to another growth spurt.[20] He stopped wearing hinge boots.[21]

Brown began his season with a win at his first Junior Grand Prix event, in Brisbane, Australia.[22][23] He then took silver in Milan, Italy, to qualify for the final. In a December 2011 interview, Brown said that he needed the triple axel to be competitive on the senior level and continued to work on it.[8] He occasionally used Dartfish, a computer imaging system, and a harness.[24] At the Junior Grand Prix Final, Brown was second in both segments and won the gold medal overall.[25] Brown was assigned to the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the bronze medal.

Brown won gold and silver medals on the JGP series and qualified for his second JGP Final, where he finished fourth. At the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, he placed eighth overall. 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.[26]

Jason Brown during the exhibition gala at the 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard

In May 2013, Brown and his coach, Kori Ade, moved to the Colorado Sports Center in Monument, Colorado.[12][27] His secondary coaches include Eddie Shipstad and Ryan Jahnke.[12][28]

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.[29] Brown finished fifth at the event, his first senior Grand Prix event. In November 2013, he competed at a Grand Prix 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 million hits. He won the silver medal and was named in the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.[30][31] 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.[1] In the singles event, he was in sixth place after the short program, but less than a point off third. He placed eleventh in the free skate and finished ninth overall.[32] At the end of the season, he performed in twelve Stars on Ice shows before returning to training.[33]

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.[34] He finished the free skating second and won his first U.S. title.[35][36] Until then, he had not tried a quad jump in competition.[37] At the 2015 Four Continents Championships, he tried a quad jump in the short program, placing ninth.[38] In the free skate he set his personal best and finished sixth overall.[39]

Brown placed fourth overall at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships, placing sixth in the short program and fifth in the free skate. At the 2015 ISU World Team Trophy, he placed second overall to contribute to Team USA's gold medal.

Brown began his season by winning the gold medal at 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy. At his first Grand Prix event of the season, 2015 Skate America, he won the bronze medal after placing eighth in the short program and third in the free skate. He then won the silver medal at 2015 CS Ice Challenge. Brown withdrew from the 2015 NHK Trophy due to a back injury.[40] He returned to the ice two weeks later but the injury resurfaced and forced him to withdraw from the 2016 U.S. Championships.[41] 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.[42][43]

Brown ended his season at the 2016 Team Challenge Cup. He placed second in the third short program group and second in the free skate. [27][44]

Brown began his season at 2016 Lombardia Trophy, where he won the silver medal after placing second in the short program and first in the free skate. At the 2016 U.S. International Classic, he won the gold medal after placing second in the short program and first in the free skate.

At the 2016 Skate America, Brown placed third in the short program.[45] During the free skate, he performed a quad toe which was deemed underrotated by the technical panel. He finished second in the free skate, earning the silver medal behind Shoma Uno.[46] He placed eighth in the short program and seventh in the free skate to place seventh overall at the 2016 NHK Trophy.

On December 16, 2016, Brown was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right fibula.[47][48][49] He received the bronze medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships.

He placed sixth overall at the 2017 Four Continents Championships after placing ninth in the short program and sixth in the free skate. At the 2017 World Championships, he placed seventh overall after placing eighth in the short program and seventh in the free skate.

At 2017 World Team Trophy Brown placed 6th overall to contribute to Team USA's bronze medal.

Brown began his season by winning the silver medal at 2017 Lombardia Trophy.

Brown won silver at the 2017 Skate Canada International, after placing third in the short program and second in the free skate. At the 2017 NHK Trophy, he ranked third in the short program but ended the competition in fourth place. As a result, he finished as the first alternate for the Grand Prix Final. Although he had tied with Jin Boyang at 22 points, Jin won the tiebreaker by scoring 3.34 points higher than Brown. After Jin's withdrawal, Brown was called up to compete at his first senior-level Grand Prix Final. He finished 6th at the event in Nagoya, Japan.

In January, Brown finished sixth at the 2018 U.S. Championships, after placing third in the short program and sixth in the free skate. U.S. Figure Skating named him as first alternate for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[50] He was assigned to the 2018 Four Continents Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. Ranked fourth in the short and third in the free, he won the bronze medal, achieving his first podium finish at a senior-level ISU Championship. After Adam Rippon withdrew from the 2018 World Championships, Brown, who was first alternate, declined U.S. Figure Skating's invitation and it was transferred to Max Aaron.[51][52]

In late May 2018, Brown announced his decision to leave his coaching team in Colorado and move to Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson, Karen Preston, and Lee Barkell at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Brown and Orser stated that Kori Ade would remain an influence on Brown's career.[53][54][55]

At his first event of the season, the 2018 CS Autumn Classic International, Brown placed third in the short program, fifth in the free program, and fourth overall. He placed eleventh in the short program at 2018 Skate Canada International, after underrotating and falling on his triple Axel and underrotating his triple Lutz-double toe loop combination. He fared better in the free skate, where he placed sixth, moving to sixth place overall.[56][57] At the 2018 Internationaux de France, he placed second overall after winning the short program with a then-personal best score of 96.41 and placing third in the free program. Competing at a second Challenger event, the 2018 CS Golden Spin, he won the gold medal after placing second in the short program and first in the free skate.

At the 2019 US Championships, he won the bronze medal after placing second in the short program and third in the free skate.[58]

At the 2019 Four Continents Championships, Brown placed sixth in the short program and moved up to fifth overall after placing fourth in the free program. In his free skate, Brown avoided popping his opening quad Salchow for the first time that season, though it was deemed underrotated and he stepped out of the landing.[59]

At the 2019 World Championships, he placed second in the short program a new personal best score of 96.81, winning a silver small medal.[60] He placed fourteenth in the free skate after a poor skate, and placed ninth overall at the event. He expressed satisfaction with his season overall.[61]

While traveling to a USFSA training camp in August 2019, the car Brown was traveling in was impacted by another vehicle, as a result of which Brown sustained a concussion. Restricted from training, Brown withdrew from the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.[62] He was cleared to compete at 2019 Skate America, his first Grand Prix of the season. Brown popped his planned triple Axel to a single in the short program, placing fourth in that segment.[63] In the free skate Brown performed all his jumps successfully other than doubling a planned triple loop, placing second in that segment to take the silver medal.[64] At the 2019 NHK Trophy, Brown placed eighth in the short program and fourth in the free skate to place fifth overall. Two weeks later he won the gold medal at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

Brown won the silver medal at the 2020 U.S. Championships after placing second in both segments. In the free skate he attempted a quad toe loop, which was downgraded but landed without program interruption.[65]

At the 2020 Four Continents Championships, Brown placed third in the short program with a clean skate, defeating several skaters who performed at least one quadruple jump.[66] In the free skate, Brown doubled an attempted quad toe loop, but landed all of his other jumps successfully, and placed second in the segment, moving into second place overall.[67] He was assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[68]

Brown was assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate Canada International, but the event was also cancelled as a result of the pandemic.[69]

As a result, Brown made his season debut at the 2021 U.S. Championships in Las Vegas, placing third in the short program with a clean skate. He remarked that in waiting to compete he had felt like "the racehorse that was in the gate to go out onto the race track."[70] In the free skate he fell on a quad toe loop that was also deemed underrotated and singled a planned triple Axel, placing fourth in that segment, but remained in third place overall and won the bronze medal. He was named to the America team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[71]