Kenneth Shelley

Kenneth Gene Shelley (born October 4, 1951) is an American figure skater who competed in both singles and pairs. As a single skater, he won the 1972 United States Figure Skating Championships and placed 4th at the 1972 Winter Olympics. His highest placement at the World Figure Skating Championships was a single skater was 7th, in 1972. As a pair skater, he competed with JoJo Starbuck, with whom he is a three-time National Champion. Starbuck and Shelley competed in two Olympic Games, placing 13th in 1968 and 4th in 1972, and won two bronze medals at the World Figure Skating Championships. When they made the 1968 Olympic team, they were the youngest athletes the United States had ever sent to the Olympics.[1]

Kenneth Shelley
Full nameKenneth Gene Shelley
Born (1951-10-04) October 4, 1951
Downey, California, U.S.
Figure skating career
CountryUnited States
Skating clubArctic Blades FSC
Medal record
Representing United States
Men's singles Figure skating
North American Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1971 PeterboroughMen's singles
Pairs' Figure skating
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1972 CalgaryPairs
Bronze medal – third place 1971 LyonPairs
North American Championships
Gold medal – first place 1971 PeterboroughPairs
Silver medal – second place 1969 OaklandPairs

Shelley was from Downey, California. He was first paired with Starbuck for a show in 1959, when they were very small children. They started training seriously with coach John Nicks at the Arctic Blades FSC in 1961. In their first year of senior competitions, when they were both 16 years old, they qualified to compete at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Both Starbuck and Shelley attended Downey High School, where they performed off-ice lifts with the cheerleading squad[2] and Long Beach State College.[3]

In the summer of 1969, Shelley had a serious off-ice accident, crashing through a glass patio door at a party. He had surgery to repair two severed tendons and spent 5 weeks in a cast.[2]

After retiring from competitive skating, Starbuck and Shelley skated in the Ice Capades and competed professionally. Shelley was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1994.[4]

Results

Men's singles
Event 1970 1971 1972
Winter Olympics4th
World Championships8th8th7th
North American Championships3rd
U.S. Championships3rd2nd1st

Pairs

(with JoJo Starbuck)

Event 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
Winter Olympic Games13th4th
World Championships11th6th5th3rd3rd
North American Championships2nd1st
U.S. Championships1st J.3rd2nd1st1st1st

References
  1. "International Figure Skating Forum > American Icons To Be Honored by Ice Theatre of New York". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  2. "A Gutsy, Gutsy Team / Starbuck & Shelley", Skating magazine, Jan 1970
  3. "JoJo and Ken", Skating magazine, Dec 1971
  4. Official Site World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame Archived 2007-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
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