| Most Recent Results : | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Points | Finish | Year |
| 2009 World Championships | 235.97 | 3rd | 2009 |
| 2009 Europeans | 232.01 | 1st | 2009 |
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We have to compete on the ice, not outside with the journalists. [1]
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Brian Joubert (born September 20, 1984) is a French figure skater. He is the 2007 World Champion, a three-time European champion (2004, 2007 & 2009), a six-time French National champion, and the 2006 Grand Prix champion.
Latest News[]
- In the men's short program at the European Figure Skating Championships, Brian Joubert of France took a commanding 5.45-point lead over defending champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic. Joubert amassed a personal-best 86.90 points[2].
- Brian Joubert's sensational short program helped him win the Cup of Russia in Moscow on November 22, 2008, even with a less-than-stellar free skate[3].
Videos[]
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| Brian Joubert 2009 EURO | Brian Joubert 2004 Worlds The Matrix |
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| SSG 2008 Bercy 10 - Brian Joubert Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright | Brian Joubert 2008 World SP |
Trivia[]
- Joubert would like to participate in the off-road, cross-country, Paris-Dakar motor rally. [4]
Quotes[]
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There are a lot of good skaters. The Canadians are very strong, as is the US team, and Daisuke Takahashi from Japan. Any of these could win medals. It will be very difficult in Torino – plenty of good competitors to go around. But, I'm focused on myself and think about them much less than I used to. In past seasons I would think about what they were skating to, how they were doing at the competitions, who they were training with. Now I've found that it's much better for me to pay no attention to it. It doesn't matter what they do, what matters is that I do my job. If I do my job, I can win. [4]
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Life definitely cannot just be skating. I like it, but I have to do more so I don't lose my mind. Riding my motorcycle is fun, I like to take it out on the road. It's great that my closest friends and I get together every weekend and talk about everything but skating. We go bowling, play pool, race little cars, or just hang out at a pub and drink beer. They have zero interest in the sport, which is good for me because then we can just talk and laugh about other things and my mind doesn't wander back to skating. I can start the new week refreshed and my head is free. [4]
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Personal life[]
Joubert was born in Poitiers, France to Jean-Michel and Raymonde Joubert. He suffered a life-threatening illness at the age of 11 months, which led to the removal of one kidney.[5] Because of this illness, Joubert chose figure skating over more violent sports that he favored. He began skating at the age of four with his two older sisters. The siblings started out with Ice dancing, but Joubert became fascinated with the jumping aspect of singles skating and switched disciplines. [6]
Joubert has been considered somewhat of a heartthrob in his native country, France. This reputation has been contributed to by Joubert's short relationship with former Miss France, Lætitia Bléger.[6] He later brought a lawsuit against Bléger for 40,000 Euros for insinuating that he was homosexual and that their relationship was arranged to hide this.[7] Bléger and two magazines that published her allegations were ordered by a French court to pay a total of 17,000 Euros, and to publish the court ruling in one of the two magazines. [8][9]
Joubert is a sponsor for an association for children with Williams syndrome.[5] In March 13, 2006, Joubert published his biography, Brian Joubert: le Feu sur la Glace (Brian Joubert: the fire on ice), in French.[10]
Career[]
Joubert's first major international competition was the 2000 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where he placed 15th. He failed to qualify for the French team for Junior Worlds for the next year: because of this, the then-president of the French Ice Sports Federation, Didier Gailhaguet, entered Joubert in the 2001 Top Jump competition, where he placed second.[11] The 2000-2001 season was the only season Joubert spent on the international junior circuit.
Joubert made his international senior debut at the 2001 Skate America, where he placed 9th. At French Nationals, he won the bronze medal, qualifying him for the 2002 European Figure Skating Championships. He won the bronze medal, which earned him a spot on the French team to the 2002 Olympics, where he placed 14th. He rose one spot to 13th at the World Championships the following month.
Joubert burst onto the international scene in the 2002-2003 season. Following the withdrawal of Alexei Yagudin from the 2002 Skate America competition due to a hip injury, Joubert rose to the occasion and won the competition. He qualified for the Grand Prix Final with a fifth place finish at home at the Trophee Lalique, and then won the bronze medal at his debut in the Grand Prix Final. He also won the French national championships that season, the first of six titles. He won silver at Europeans and placed 6th at Worlds.
In the 2003-2004 season, Joubert once again won a medal on the Grand Prix circuit. At Europeans, he became the first Frenchman to become European Champion in 40 years and the first non-Russian to win the event since 1996. He won his first World medal later that year, a silver.
Joubert at the 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard.
The 2004-2005 season started well for Joubert; he won two Grand Prix medals and placed a close second at Europeans. However, he had a disappointing Worlds, finishing 6th. Joubert fought back in 2005-2006, but it was an up-and-down season. He skated to a third-place finish at Europeans, and though he was expected to make a run at the podium at the 2006 Olympics, Joubert placed a disappointing 6th. He rallied at the 2006 Worlds, winning the short program but losing the title overall to Stéphane Lambiel.
For the 2006-2007 Grand Prix season, Joubert was assigned to compete in Trophée Eric Bompard and Cup of Russia, and placed first in both events. He went on to win the ISU Grand Prix Final in Saint Petersburg. Joubert reclaimed his European title at the 2007 European champion. He went on to Worlds and won his first World title.
Joubert began the 2007-2008 season at Skate Canada, which he won. He was forced to withdraw from Trophee Eric Bompard, his second Grand Prix event, before the event began, due to illness.[12] In the European championships in January 2008, Joubert fell on the triple axel in the short program and made mistakes in the long program, but still managed to earn his seventh European medal in as many appearances, a bronze. In March 2008, he competed at the World Championships, where he won the silver medal behind Canadian Jeffrey Buttle.[13]
Joubert's assigned events for the 2008-9 Grand Prix were Trophée Eric Bompard and the Cup of Russia.[14] After a 4th-place finish at 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard, Joubert won the 2008 Cup of Russia and qualified for the 2008-9 Grand Prix Final. He withdrew from the Grand Prix Final before the long program due to a back injury.[15] He also withdrew from the 2008-9 French National Championships prior to the event.[16] At the 2009 Europeans, Joubert scored a new personal best to take the lead after the short program, and finished second in the long program, with enough points to win his third European title.
Technique[]
Joubert is known for his strong jumping ability. He has a consistent quadruple salchow and a quadruple toe loop. At the 2006 Cup of Russia competition, Joubert joined an elite group of men's skaters by landing three quadruple jumps--two toe loops and a salchow--in his long program.[17] [18] Joubert has stated in interviews that he considers quad jumps to be important for the future of figure skating as a sport.[19].
Joubert has been criticized for the lack of variety in his spins, but this area has shown a marked improvement after Joubert's work with Swiss skater Lucinda Ruh starting in the 2005-2006 season.
Coaching changes[]
Joubert trained for 15 years with Veronique Guyon because of his desire to remain close to his family in Poitiers. Guyon resigned from her position in the summer of 2003 due to her desire to spend more time with her family. Joubert then started training for the 2003-04 season with Laurent Depouilly, and took on Alexei Yagudin as his 'advisor'.[19] Joubert parted ways with Yagudin because of Yagudin's dislike of Nikolai Morozov, Joubert's choreographer at the time. [6]
Citing a lack of support from his coach, Joubert fired Depouilly and returned to Guyon for a brief period of time. However, Guyon's demands that Joubert stop working with his mother and that she should get paid by receiving 10% of his prize money from the 2005-06 season caused their relationship to further deteriorate, and they parted ways.[5] Joubert switched to Andrei Berenzitsev, and in September 2006 to Jean-Christophe Simond. Following Joubert's disappointing third-place finish at the 2009 Worlds, Simond and Joubert ended their work together.[20]
Joubert has been criticized over his association with Didier Gailhaguet, the former and since reinstated head of the French figure skating federation. However, Joubert credits Gailhaguet as having helped his career enormously.[19]
Competitive highlights[]
Joubert (center) with the other medalists at the 2009 European Championships.
Post-2004[]
| Event | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 6th | ||||
| World Championships | 6th | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | |
| European champion | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 1st |
| French National champion | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| French Masters | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd |
| Grand Prix Final | 5th | 1st | WD | ||
| Cup of Russia | 1st | 1st | |||
| Trophée Eric Bompard | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | WD | 4th |
| Skate Canada International | 1st | ||||
| Skate America | 1st | 3rd |
- WD = Withdrew
Pre-2004[]
| Event | 1999-2000 | 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 14th | ||||
| World Championships | 13th | 6th | 2nd | ||
| European champion | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | ||
| World Junior Championships | 15th | ||||
| French National champion | 10th | 14th | 3rd | 1st | 1st |
| French Junior Championships | 2nd | 4th | |||
| French Masters | 3rd | 1st | |||
| Grand Prix Final | 3rd | ||||
| Trophée Eric Bompard | 5th | 4th | |||
| Skate America | 9th | 1st | |||
| Cup of China | 2nd | ||||
| NHK Trophy | 4th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, France | 4th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, France | 4th |
References[]
- ↑ Belbin-Agosto win original dance, Barry Wilner, Associated Press (via Google). March 26, 2009.
- ↑ Joubert tops Verner in short program, ESPN, January 21, 2009.
- ↑ Joubert, Kostner Win Cup of Russia Crowns, The Washington Post, November 23, 2008.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Interview with Figure Skater Brian Joubert, Kathleen Bangs, Golden Skate. January 9, 2006.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Joubert, Brian, Loïc Lejay and Céline Longuèvre. Brian Joubert: la rage de gagner, Jacob-Duvernet (March 13, 2006). ISBN 2-84724-105-1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 2006 NBC Olympics biography, accessed July 7, 2007
- ↑ Brian Joubert asks for 40,000 Euros, accessed July 7, 2007
- ↑ A new victory for Brian!, accessed July 7, 2007
- ↑ Brian Joubert Ready to Defend his Title accessed May 5, 2008
- ↑ Translated book description, accessed July 7, 2007
- ↑ The Figure Skating Corner: 2001 Top Jump International
- ↑ ISU : Full Story
- ↑ ISU : 2008 World Figure Skating Championships Full Story
- ↑ ISU Grand Prix Assigments 2008-9 - Men accessed October 27 2008
- ↑ ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2008-9, Day 3 accessed December 14, 2008
- ↑ Joubert completely changes free program accessed January 15, 2009
- ↑ Brian Joubert: In Peak Form, accessed July 7, 2007
- ↑ 2006 Cup of Russia Highlights, accessed July 7, 2007
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Brian Joubert: Ready to Rally, accessed April 14, 2008
- ↑ - Joubert changes coaches accessed April 2, 2009