Jean-Luc Baker

Jean-Luc Baker (born October 7, 1993) is an American ice dancer. With his skating partner, Kaitlin Hawayek, he is the 2018 Four Continents champion, 2018 NHK Trophy champion, and three-time U.S. national bronze medalists (2019–2021).

Jean-Luc Baker
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker at 2018 Internationaux de France
Personal information
Country representedUnited States
Born (1993-10-07) October 7, 1993
Burnley, England
Home townBloomfield Hills, Michigan
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
PartnerKaitlin Hawayek
Former partnerJoylyn Yang, Nicole McClellan
CoachMarie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon
Former coachSharon Jones Baker, Stephen Baker, Pasquale Camerlengo, Anjelika Krylova, Natalia Annenko-Deller
Former choreographerAnjelika Krylova, Sharon Jones Baker, Pasquale Camerlengo
Skating clubMontreal International School of Skating
Training locationsMontreal
Former training locationsBloomfield Hills, Michigan, Mountlake Terrace, Washington
Began skating1995
ISU personal best scores
Combined total194.77
2019 Skate Canada
Short dance79.52
2019 Skate Canada
Free dance116.70
2019 Nebelhorn Trophy
Medal record
Representing  United States
Figure skating: Ice dancing
Four Continents Championships
2018 TaipeiIce dancing
World Junior Championships
2014 SofiaIce dancing
Junior Grand Prix Final
2013–14 FukuokaIce dancing

Earlier in their career, they became the 2014 World Junior champions, 2013 JGP Final silver medalists, and 2014 U.S. national junior champions.[1]

Personal life

Jean-Luc Baker was born in Burnley, England.[2] He is the son of Sharon Jones Baker, who represented the United Kingdom in ice dancing at the 1988 Winter Olympics, and Stephen Baker, who competed for the U.K. in pair skating at the 1976 World Junior Championships.[3]

Baker was born with a club foot.[4] At the age of four, he moved with his family to the United States. He attended Harbour Pointe Middle School and Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, Washington. After graduation, he moved to Detroit, Michigan to pursue his career.[5] He has a black belt in taekwondo.[6]

Career

Early years

Jean-Luc Baker was introduced to ice skating by his parents in 1995.[2][7] He was inspired to switch from singles to ice dancing by his mother.[8] He teamed up with Joylyn Yang in the summer of 2006, with his parents coaching the duo.[6][9] They won U.S. national titles on the juvenile and intermediate levels and took the novice bronze medal at the 2010 U.S. Championships. The following season, Yang/Baker were assigned to two ISU Junior Grand Prix events, finishing seventh in Japan and tenth in the Czech Republic. They were sixth on the junior level at the 2011 U.S. Championships.

2012–2013 season: First season with Hawayek

Baker teamed up with Kaitlin Hawayek in June 2012.[10] They were sent to two JGP events and won the silver medal in Germany. Hawayek/Baker took the junior silver medal at the 2013 U.S. Championships and were assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan where they finished seventh.

2013–2014 season: World Junior title

During the 2013–14 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Hawayek/Baker won the gold medal in their JGP events, at the JGP Mexico and the JGP Poland. Their results qualified them to the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where they won the silver medal. They then won the gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships, setting a new Junior World record for the overall score with a total of 157.12 points.

2014–2015 season

Hawayek/Baker began their season at an ISU Challenger Series event, the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy. They finished fourth after placing fourth in the short and third in the free dance. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2014 Rostelecom Cup and 2014 NHK Trophy, winning the bronze medal at the latter.[11]

2015–2016 season

Baker sustained a concussion when Hawayek accidentally struck him with her arm in September 2015, just prior to the Labor Day weekend.[12][13] He returned to limited training after two weeks and full training a week later.[12]

Hawayek/Baker finished fourth at the 2015 Skate America. Due to food poisoning, Hawayek vomited eight times in four hours during the night before the short dance at the 2015 Cup of China.[13] After competing in the first segment, the duo decided to withdraw. They placed fifth at the 2016 U.S. Championships.

2016–2017 season

Hawayek/Baker won the silver medal at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International. Competing on the Grand Prix series, they finished sixth at the 2016 Skate Canada International and fourth at the 2016 NHK Trophy.

2017–2018 season: Four Continents title

Beginning the season at the 2017 CS U.S. Classic, Hawayek/Baker won the silver medal. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2018 Skate Canada International, where they placed fourth, and the 2018 Skate America, where they placed fifth. Following the Grand Prix they competed a second Challenger event, the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, winning the bronze medal.

Hawayek/Baker won the pewter medal at the 2018 U.S. Championships, and were assigned to the 2018 Four Continents Championships, as the top three teams were sent to the 2018 Winter Olympics. They won the gold medal at Four Continents, finishing 9.33 points ahead of silver medalists Carolane Soucisse / Shane Firus. Baker remarked "it was really awesome, it was a new experience for us. We’ve medaled at junior events and sporadically at senior events in Grand Prixs or senior Bs. It was a really cool experience and we hope to do it more often in the future."[14]

Following the withdrawal of Maia and Alex Shibutani, they were named to the US team for the 2018 World Championships in Milan, where they placed tenth. On April 20, 2018, they announced that in the summer they would begin training under Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[15]

2018–2019 season: National bronze medal

Baker sustained a concussion during training in August 2018, and a result they withdrew from the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy.[16] At their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2018 NHK Trophy, the withdrawal of Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron due to injury left several teams competing for the gold medal. Hawayek/Baker came second in the rhythm dance, behind Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro, but narrowly placed first in the free dance, winning the title overall. Hawayek called it "just such a pleasure and honor to be here performing", and was especially pleased at their results given they "had just three weeks of training fully recovered" prior.[17] They placed only fourth at the 2018 Internationaux de France, but their results qualified them for the Grand Prix Final in Vancouver, where they placed sixth.

At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Hawayker/Baker won the bronze medal. Reflecting on their move to Montreal, Hawayek called it "a great training center that we’re happy to be a part of. It makes us feel able to skate more openly and freely, and I think we’ll continue that for the next few years."[18] They were assigned to the 2019 Four Continents Championships, where they finished fifth, and the 2019 World Championships, where they placed ninth.

2019–2020 season

Beginning the season at the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Hawayek/Baker placed fourth in the rhythm dance, but took the silver medal overall after coming second in the free dance.

For their first Grand Prix assignment, they competed at 2019 Skate Canada International, where they were third after the rhythm dance.[19] In the free dance they dropped behind the British team Fear/Gibson.[20] Competing at the 2019 Cup of China, Hawayek/Baker placed fifth in the rhythm dance after struggling on the Finnstep pattern dance.[21] A number of errors in the free dance kept them in fifth in that segment as well, and overall.[22]

Hawayek/Baker placed third in the rhythm dance at the 2020 U.S. Championships, and praised the crowd reception of their Saturday Night Fever program.[23] Third in the free dance as well, they won their second national bronze medal.[24]

At the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, they placed seventh in the rhythm dance after a double fall out of their dance lift, which Hawayek described as "a fluke thing that happened."[25] Fifth in the free dance, they rose to sixth place overall.[26] They were assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[27]

2020–2021 season

With the pandemic ongoing, Hawayek and Baker opted to return to live with Hawayek's parents in Buffalo, New York for the early months, and were able to do some on-ice training when the rink in Buffalo was reopened as an essential workers' daycare, communicating with their coaches over Zoom. They returned to Montreal in June and, after quarantine, rejoined their coaches at the Ice Academy of Montreal in July.[28] With the Grand Prix assigned based mainly on training location, Hawayek/Baker nevertheless were assigned to the 2020 Skate America in Las Vegas and crossed the border again to attend.[29] They won the silver medal.[30]

Returning to the United States again for the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, Hawayek/Baker placed third in the rhythm dance.[31] They were third in the free dance as well, taking their third consecutive bronze medal.[32] They were assigned to the American team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[33]

Programs

With Hawayek
Season Short dance Free dance Exhibition
2020–2021
[34]
2019–2020
[35]
2018–2019
[36]

Austen Powers medley[37]

2017–2018
[38][39]

Austen Powers medley[37]

2016–2017
[2][39][40][4]
2015–2016
[41][42][43][44]
2014–2015
[7][45]
2013–2014
[8][46]
  • Happy Feet
  • It Had To Be You
    by Harry Connick
  • Sing, Sing, Sing
  • Amélie
    by Yann Tiersen
    • J'y suis jamais allé
    • Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi
    • La noyée
    • Sur le fil
2012–2013
[10]

    With Yang
    Season Short dance Free dance
    2010–2011
    [47]
    2009–2010
    [3]
    2008–2009
    [3][9]
    2007–2008
    [3]

    Competitive highlights

    GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

    With Hawayek
    International[1]
    Event 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21
    Worlds10th9thCTBD
    Four Continents5th1st5th6th
    GP Final6th
    GP Cup of ChinaWD5th
    GP France4th
    GP NHK Trophy3rd4th1st
    GP Rostelecom Cup6th
    GP Skate America4th5th2nd
    GP Skate Canada6th4th4th
    CS Autumn Classic2nd
    CS Finlandia4thWD
    CS Golden Spin2nd2nd3rd
    CS Nebelhorn4th2nd
    CS U.S. Classic2nd
    International: Junior[1]
    Junior Worlds7th1st
    JGP Final2nd
    JGP Germany2nd
    JGP Mexico1st
    JGP Poland1st
    JGP Turkey5th
    National[48]
    U.S. Champ.2nd J1st J4th5th5th4th3rd3rd3rd
    ISP Points Challenge2nd
    J = Junior level
    TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event Cancelled

    With Yang
    International[49]
    Event 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11
    JGP Czech Republic10th
    JGP Japan7th
    National[3]
    U.S. Championships7th N3rd N6th J
    U.S. Junior Champ.1st V1st I
    Levels: V = Juvenile; I = Intermediate; N = Novice; J = Junior

    References
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    2. "Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Jean-Luc BAKER: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017.
    3. "Joylyn Yang / Jean-Luc Baker". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013.
    4. Kennedy, Michelle (August 12, 2016). "Hawayek & Baker bring a fresh inspiration". ice-dance.com.
    5. Managan, Megan (March 27, 2014). "Kamiak graduate wins gold at Junior Worlds Ice dancing competition". South Everett Beacon. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014.
    6. Myhre, Rich (January 5, 2010). "Local ice dancers' Olympic dreams". The Herald. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012.
    7. "Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker: "At the senior level everything is more serious"". figureskating-online.com. December 20, 2014. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014.
    8. Thayer, Jacquelyn (December 5, 2013). "For Hawayek and Baker, a Quick Step to Success". ice-dance.com.
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      "Earlier versions: 2012–2013". Archived from the original on November 2, 2012.
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