David Pelletier

David Jacques Pelletier (born November 22, 1974) is a Canadian pairs figure skater.

They won both the novice and junior titles at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships and placed 7th at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 1992.

Despite these accomplishments, Pelletier felt his career needed a "Shake up" and paired up with Allison Gaylor.

They trained in part with Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, and had their biggest success in 1995 when they captured the 1995 Canadian silver medal and represented Canada at the World Figure Skating Championships in Birmingham, England, where they placed 15th.

That same year, as a single skater, Pelletier placed second in the short program of the men's event at the Canadian championships.

He struggled in the long program, falling to fourth overall.

After failing to reach the podium the next two years, Pelletier and Gaylor split and Pelletier paired up with young singles skater Caroline Roy.

Just before the 1998 Canadian championships, Pelletier's former partner Julie Laporte was killed in a car accident.

Pelletier and Roy had a strong skate, but placed 6th and split soon after the event.

Pelletier asked coach Richard Gauthier to help him find another partner, and he suggested Salé.

They traveled to Edmonton in February 1998 to try out with Salé again.

"The first time we grabbed hands, it was just great," said Pelletier, and by the next month Salé had moved to Montreal to skate with him.

The Canadian Figure Skating Association invited the pair to compete at Skate Canada, where they immediately made a statement by placing second in the short program, ahead of reigning Canadian Champions Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz, and third in the long program to win the bronze medal.

Because of their success, they were invited to the NHK Trophy in Japan and brought home another bronze medal.

Their fall successes made them favorites for the Canadian title, but they struggled technically and finished second.

The silver medal earned them a spot on the Four Continents and World teams, but Pelletier's back pain forced the pair to withdraw from both competitions.

They would ultimately spend two months off the ice recuperating.

In the summer of 1999, Gauthier enlisted the help of Lori Nichol, a Canadian choreographer, to choreograph Salé & Pelletier's programs for the upcoming season.

Nichol created a tango piece for their short program, and, after a suggestion from coach Marijane Stong, set their long program to music from the movie Love Story.

The programs got off to a good start.

At the 1999 Skate America, Salé & Pelletier won both the short and the long programs, defeating the two-time and reigning world champions, Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.

At the Nations Cup, their second Grand Prix event, they finished second.

However, at the Grand Prix Final, they made several errors in both programs and finished fifth.

They competed at the 2000 Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Calgary, Salé's hometown.

The two skated a strong short program and a nearly flawless long program, earning five 6.0 marks in presentation—the first for a pair at the championships.

Sale & Pelletier captured another 6.0 and the gold medal at the Four Continents Championships in Osaka, Japan.

In the 2000 World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France, they were third after the short program due to an error in a spin.

They dropped in the long program, finishing fourth overall.

Salé and Pelletier returned to Lori Nichol for their 2000–01 programs.

She choreographed a jazzy short to "Come Rain or Come Shine" and a dramatic, mature long to Wagner's opera "Tristan und Isolde."

They returned to Skate America and Skate Canada that fall, winning both over Shen/Zhao and Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze, respectively.

Berezhnaia/Sikharulidze then narrowly defeated them at Trophée Lalique.

The pair was again a great hit at the 2001 Canadian Championships in Winnipeg, but did not earn the string of 6.0s that "Love Story" had brought them the previous year.

The 2001 World Championships were held in Vancouver, and Salé and Pelletier entered as heavy favorites.

With his former wife Jamie Salé, he was the co-gold medal winner at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

They shared the gold medal with the Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal.

Pelletier was born in Sayabec, Quebec, and grew up near the hockey rink.

His mother said if he wanted to play hockey, he also had to take figure-skating lessons.

He achieved early success as a pair skater with Julie Laporte.

They went on to win again at Four Continents in Salt Lake City, the site for the 2002 Olympics, and dusted off "Love Story" to win the Grand Prix Final – despite Sale missing the side-by-side triple toe loop in all three phases of the competition.