Joshua Farris

Joshua Farris
Joshua Farris in 2011
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	(1995-01-06) January 6, 1995 (age 26) Renton, Washington
Residence	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Coach	Christy Krall Damon Allen
Former coach	Tom Zakrajsek Becky Calvin Erik Schulz Heather Reed-Lomax
Choreographer	Jeffrey Buttle, Joshua Farris, Damon Allen
Former choreographer	Tom Dickson
Skating club	Broadmoor SC
Began skating	2001
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	260.01 2015 Four Continents
Short program	84.29 2015 Four Continents
Free skate	175.72 2015 Four Continents
hide Medal record Representing  United States Figure skating: Men's singles Four Continents Championships 2015 Seoul Men's singles World Junior Championships 2013 Milan Men's singles 2012 Minsk Men's singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2012–13 Sochi Men's singles 2011–12 Quebec Men's singles

Joshua Farris (born January 6, 1995) is a former American competitive figure skater. He is the 2015 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2013 World Junior champion, a two-time Junior Grand Prix Final medalist (silver in 2012, bronze in 2011), and the 2010 U.S. national junior silver medalist. He won five Junior Grand Prix titles, as well as U.S. national titles on the juvenile (2006), intermediate (2008) and novice level (2009).

Personal life[]

Joshua Farris was born in Renton, Washington to father Rodney.^[1] At the age of eight, he was diagnosed with dyslexia, which may be connected with a concussion he sustained as a child.^[2] He also has a severe allergy to dairy products and travels with a whole suitcase of food.^[3][4]

Farris was home-schooled.^[5] As of 2016, he planned to attend Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colorado.^[2] He has 4 siblings, 1 brother, a step brother (Josh), and 2 step sisters (Jessica, and Julie). His older brother, David, is a bowler.^[5]

Career[]

Early years[]

Farris began skating at age five after his mother took him skating for his birthday.^[6] He moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in mid-2007 to train with Tom Zakrajsek and Becky Calvin.^[5]

Farris won his third national title when he took the novice gold at the 2009 U.S. Championships. He was then sent to the 2009 International Challenge Cup in The Hague, Netherlands where he took silver on the junior level.

He made his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in the following season. He was assigned to the 2009–10 ISU Junior Grand Prix events in the United States and Turkey where he placed 4th and 5th, respectively. At the 2010 U.S. Championships, he took silver on the junior level.

2010–11 season[]

In the 2010–11 season, Farris was assigned the Junior Grand Prix events in Romania and the U.K. where he took silver and gold, respectively. This qualified him for the 2010-11 Junior Grand Prix Final where he placed 6th.

Farris decided to move up to the senior level nationally.^[5] At the 2011 U.S. Championships, Farris fell hard on his left hip while training a quad during the second day of practices. The fall resulted in a torn abductor muscle but he decided to compete despite the pain.^[4] He placed 13th after a shaky short program. On the day between the short and long programs Farris went to a restaurant and suffered anaphylactic shock due to his allergy to dairy products.^[4] He was rushed to the emergency room where he stayed until 3 a.m.^[4] He decided to compete in the long program where he had several shaky landings and three falls. He placed 21st in the free skate and overall. It was later learned that he had broken his fibula and sprained a tendon when he fell on his second triple Axel attempt.^[4] Following this competition, Farris decided to change coaches to Christy Krall, with whom he had already worked,^[5] and Damon Allen.

2011–12 season[]

In the 2011–12 season, Farris was assigned to a Junior Grand Prix event in Gdańsk, Poland, which he won.^[7] He then took gold at his second event in Tallinn, Estonia, and qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final where he won the bronze medal. He finished 16th on the senior level at the 2012 U.S. Championships. At the 2012 World Junior Championships, Farris won the short program and won the silver medal overall. He also won The Denver Post's Youth Excellence in Sports award for March 2012.^[6]

2012–13 season[]

In the 2012–13 season, Farris was assigned to JGP events in the U.S. and Slovenia — he took gold in both, resulting in qualification to the JGP Final in Sochi, Russia. At the JGP Final, he was first in the short program and second in the free skate and won the silver medal overall behind Russian skater Maxim Kovtun. Farris suffered from his milk allergies and took Benadryl two hours before the start of his free skate.^[8]

At the 2013 U.S. Championships Farris placed third in the short program. He fell on his planned quadruple toe loop in the long program, but managed to secure 4th place. He then won the gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championships with an overall score of 228.32 points, finishing ahead of teammates Jason Brown and Shotaro Omori who were second and third respectively. Farris' score was a new record set for men competing on the junior level.

2013–14 season: Senior debut[]

In the 2013–14 season, Farris made his senior Grand Prix debut at the 2013 Skate Canada, where he finished 5th. He withdrew from his next assignment, the 2013 Cup of Russia.

At the 2014 U.S. Championships, Farris placed 4th again.

2014–15 season[]

In the 2014–15 season, Farris was assigned to 2014 Cup of China and 2014 NHK Trophy. However, he had to withdraw from the Cup of China due to a recurring right ankle injury,^[9] which had been a problem since 2011.^[10] At the NHK Trophy, he ended up 11th.

At the 2015 U.S. Championships, Farris won the bronze medal. In his free program, he executed a double toe jump three times, losing credit for one of his triple-jump combinations. Still his placement was an improvement from the previous year.^[11] At the 2015 Four Continents Championships, he set the personal best scores in both the short program and the free skating and won silver with total points of 260.01.^[12][13] This is his first medal in a prominent senior level international competition.^[14] At the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships, he placed 11th.^[15]

2015–16 season[]

Farris' Grand Prix assignments were the 2015 Skate Canada International and 2015 NHK Trophy. However, he had to withdraw from both events after sustaining three concussions in three weeks.^[2] The first occurred when he fell while practicing a quadruple toe loop jump in July.^[16][17][18] Since a scan indicated nothing, he resumed training but then sustained a second concussion, followed soon after by a third when he hit his head entering a car.^[2] He did not compete during the season.^[19]

Hiatus[]

Farris announced his retirement from competitive skating on July 1, 2016 after struggling with the aftereffects of the concussions and depression.^[2] He resumed skating in early November 2016, after his health had improved, and announced in February 2017 that he hoped to return to competition in the 2017–18 season.^[20] He trained at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, coached by Christy Krall and Damon Allen.^[20] However, the side effects from his brain injury did not go away, and he had to stop training again.^[21]

Programs[]

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2015–2016 [22][23]	Planned but did not compete Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran choreo. by Jeffrey Buttle	Planned but did not compete Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi choreo. by Jeffrey Buttle
2014–2015 [23][24][1]	Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran choreo. by Jeffrey Buttle	Schindler's List by John Williams choreo. by Damon Allen, Joshua Farris	When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran choreo. by Jeffrey Buttle
2013–2014 [25][26]	Libertango by Astor Piazzolla performed by Anderson and Roe Piano Duo choreo. by Damon Allen, Joshua Farris	Schindler's List by John Williams choreo. by Damon Allen, Joshua Farris	To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars
2012–2013 [27]	Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major: Prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Yo-Yo Ma choreo. by Damon Allen, Joshua Farris[28]	Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor op. 18 III: Allegro Scherzando by Sergei Rachmaninoff performed by Van Cliburn, Fritz Reiner choreo. by Damon Allen, Joshua Farris[28]	Ain't No Sunshine covered by Josh Hoge
2011–2012 [29]	Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy	Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor op. 18 III: Allegro Scherzando by Sergei Rachmaninoff performed by Van Cliburn, Fritz Reiner choreo. by Damon Allen, Joshua Farris[28]	Gravity by John Mayer
2010–2011 [30][5]	El Dron by Pepe Habichuela choreo. by Tom Dickson	Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin choreo. by Tom Dickson
2009–2010 [31][32]	Stardust by Artie Shaw Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima arranged by Chris Boardman choreo. by Tom Dickson	Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell performed by Patrik Jablonski and the Polish Radio Orchestra choreo. by Tom Dickson
2008–2009 [23]	Leyenda by Isaac Albéniz	Mars, the Bringer of War (from The Planets) by Gustav Holst
2007–2008 [23]	O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana) by Carl Orff	Henry V by Patrick Doyle
2006–2007 [23]	The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra
2005–2006 [23]	The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Summer (from The Four Seasons) by Antonio Vivaldi

Competitive highlights[]

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

2008–09 to 2017–18[]

International[33]
Event	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	17-18
Worlds							11th
Four Continents						6th	2nd
GP Cup of China							WD
GP NHK Trophy							11th	WD	WD
GP Rostel. Cup						WD
GP Skate Canada						5th		WD
U.S. Classic						3rd
International: Junior[33]
Junior Worlds				2nd	1st
JGP Final			6th	3rd	2nd
JGP Estonia				1st
JGP Poland				1st
JGP Romania			2nd
JGP Slovenia					1st
JGP Turkey		5th
JGP U.K.			1st
JGP U.S.		4th			1st
Challenge Cup	2nd J
National[23]
U.S. Champ.	1st N	2nd J	21st	16th	4th	4th	3rd	WD
Midwest. Sect.	1st N	3rd J
Southwest Reg.	1st N
Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior. WD = Withdrew

2004–05 to 2007–08[]

National[23]
Event	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08
U.S. Junior Championships		1st V	9th I	1st I
Southwest Regionals				1st I
Northwest Pacific Regionals	3rd V	1st V	1st I
Levels: V = Juvenile; I = Intermediate

Detailed results[]

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Pewter medals for fourth-place finishes awarded only at U.S. national and regional events.

Senior career[]

2014–15 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 23–29, 2015	2015 World Championships	13 73.52	10 149.52	11 223.04
February 9–15, 2015	2015 Four Continents Championships	5 84.29	2 175.72	2 260.01
January 18–25, 2015	2015 U.S. Championships	2 90.40	3 177.58	3 267.98
November 28–30, 2014	2014 NHK Trophy	11 58.35	11 111.53	11 169.88
2013–14 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 20–26, 2014	2014 Four Continents Championships	7 74.85	5 146.15	6 221.00
January 5–12, 2014	2014 U.S. Championships	5 78.37	4 169.69	4 248.06
October 24–27, 2013	2013 Skate Canada	8 69.14	4 147.58	5 216.72
September 11–15, 2013	2013 U.S. Classic	3 71.85	3 134.71	3 206.56

Junior career[]

2012–13 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 25 – March 3, 2013	2013 World Junior Championships	1 75.84	2 152.48	1 228.32
January 19–27, 2013	2013 U.S. Championships (Senior)	3 79.78	4 165.04	4 244.82
December 6–9, 2012	2012–13 Junior Grand Prix Final	1 74.53	2 136.84	2 211.37
September 27–29, 2012	2012 Junior Grand Prix Slovenia	1 74.35	1 136.86	1 211.21
August 30 – September 1, 2012	2012 Junior Grand Prix U.S.	1 72.20	1 146.49	1 218.69
2011–12 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 27 – March 4, 2012	2012 World Junior Championships	1 75.43	2 146.54	2 221.97
January 22–29, 2012	2012 U.S. Championships (senior)	14 65.43	16 132.55	16 197.98
December 8–11, 2011	2011–12 Junior Grand Prix Final	1 72.99	3 130.99	3 203.98
October 12–15, 2011	2011 Junior Grand Prix Estonia	1 74.55	1 133.12	1 207.67
September 14–17, 2011	2011 Junior Grand Prix Poland	1 75.69	2 126.76	1 202.45
2010–11 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 22–30, 2011	2011 U.S. Championships (Senior)	13 60.91	22 90.82	21 151.73
December 8–21, 2010	2010–11 Junior Grand Prix Final	4 65.24	7 108.73	6 173.97
September 29 – October 3, 2010	2010 Junior Grand Prix U.K.	1 59.79	1 127.95	1 207.67
September 8–12, 2010	2010 Junior Grand Prix Romania	1 67.03	3 112.19	2 179.22
2009–10 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 14–24, 2010	2010 U.S. Championships (Junior)	4 58.24	1 136.79	2 195.03
October 14–18, 2009	2009 Junior Grand Prix Turkey	2 62.50	7 99.33	5 161.83
September 2–6, 2009	2009 Junior Grand Prix U.S.	10 50.30	3 104.22	4 154.52

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joshua Farris.

• Joshua Farris at the International Skating Union
• Joshua Farris at Ice Network
• Official website (Earlier version at the Wayback Machine (archive index))