Joelle Forte

Joelle Forte (born July 5, 1986) is an American former figure skater. She is a five-time North Atlantic Regional champion, the 2009 Eastern Sectional champion, and represented the United States at Skate America in October 2011, Nebelhorn Trophy in September 2011, and Gradena Spring Trophy in May 2011.

Joelle Forte
Joelle Forte skates her free program at the 2011 U.S. Championships
Personal information
Country represented United States
Born (1986-07-05) July 5, 1986
Home townMerrick, New York
ResidenceBethpage, New York
Height5 ft 1 in (1.55 m)
CoachDmitri Gromov
Former coachPeter Burrows
ChoreographerAnna Zadorozhniuk
Former choreographerJeff Carstensen
Skating clubSC of New York
Began skating1990
World standing88[1]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total139.70
2011 Skate America
Short program48.86
2011 Skate America
Free skate90.84
2011 Skate America

Career

Forte began skating at age four and entered her first qualifying competition in 1996, at age ten. That year, she placed fourth at the juvenile level at North Atlantic Regionals. Forte first competed nationally during the 1999–2000 season, when she finished ninth at the National Championships at the novice level. She continued skating for over a decade following that season, not qualifying for the National Championships again for several years. Forte retired temporarily, not competing during the 2004–2005 season due to chronic back injury, but returned after a year and a half away, citing her ongoing love for the sport.[2] She finally made it back to Nationals in 2008-2009, by which point she was competing as a senior, the oldest skater in the ladies competition.[3]

In the 2009–2010 season, Forte intended to represent Azerbaijan, although, due to paperwork issues, she never had an opportunity to actually compete on its behalf.[4] She resumed representing the United States. During the 2010–2011 season, Forte received her first senior international assignment, Gardena Spring Trophy, and the following season, she was assigned to represent the United States at Skate America, the first Grand Prix assignment of her career.[5] Though unusual for a skater to add new jumps to her repertoire so late in her career, Forte included a triple flip in her short program for the first time at the 2011 Liberty Summer competition, and is working on adding a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination for the 2011-12 competitive season.[6]

Forte has performed with the Ice Theatre of New York. She also regularly participates in One Step Closer, an annual HIV/AIDS benefit show.[7]

Before the start 2013-2014 competitive season, Joelle suffered a major setback to her training due to an infection in her right ankle which caused her to be hospitalized for a week. She lost 3 months of skating and training and only started competing at the end of August. She went on to win North Atlantic Regionals Championship and won bronze at Eastern Sectional Championship. She had a personal best score of 52.86 for her short program at Eastern Sectional Championship. She qualified for the 2014 U.S. Prudential Figure Skating National Championships.

Personal life

Forte modeled with the Ford Agency for 10 years to help support her skating.[8] She has modeled for Ralph Lauren, Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, etc. She graduated from Fordham University in May 2010 with a Bachelor's degree in psychology, and will graduate with her masters in December from Adelphi University.

Programs
Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2013-14 Feeling Good
by Michael Bublé 		Mr. & Mrs. Smith
by John Powell
2012-13 Feeling Good
by Michael Bublé 		The 13th Warrior
by Jerry Goldsmith
2011-12 O
(Cirque du Soleil)
by Benoit Jutras 		The 13th Warrior
by Jerry Goldsmith
2010-11 O
(Cirque du Soleil)
by Benoit Jutras 		Piano Concerto No. 2
by Sergei Rachmaninoff
2009-10 Did not compete this season Did not compete this season Taking Chances
by Celine Dion
2008-09 Mr. & Mrs. Smith
by John Powell 		Madame Butterfly
by Giacomo Puccini

Competitive highlights
Results[9]
International
Event 99–00 00–01 01–02 02–03 03–04 04–05 05–06 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13-14
GP Skate America8th
Nebelhorn7th
Gardena4th
Kempen Trophy1st
NACS Canada1st N.
National
U.S. Champ.9th N.12th9th14th15th21st
Eastern Sect.3rd N.6th J.11th J.7th9th10th10th1st4th3rd4th3rd
NA Regionals1st N.4th J.WD2nd J.1st3rd4th2nd1st2nd3rd1st
GP = Grand Prix; Levels: N. = Novice; J. = Junior
NA = North Atlantic

References
  1. http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsladies.htm
  2. Rutherford, Lynn (January 16, 2009). "Forte could be dark horse at U.S. Champs". Icenetwork.
  3. http://www.fordhamobserver.com/2011/06/12/fordham-skater-shines-in-national-competition/
  4. "Joelle Forte". Icenetwork.
  5. Rutherford, Lynn (October 22, 2011). "Rink Notes: Zhang gets loop-y in practice; Forte doesn't like the waiting game". Icenetwork. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. "Skate Liberty 2011". Golden Skate. July 2011.
  7. http://onestepclosernyc.org/_news__media_
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 4, 2011. Retrieved September 24, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Competition Results: Joelle FORTE". International Skating Union.
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