French figure skating coach (1965–2018)
| Jean-François Ballester |
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| Other names | Jeff Ballester |
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| Born | (1965-09-01)1 September 1965
Rouen, France |
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| Died | 2 December 2018(2018-12-02) (aged 53)
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland |
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| Country | France |
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| Skating club | CP La Chaux-de-Fonds
CP Biel-Bienne
ACSEL Caen |
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| Began skating | c. 1970 |
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Jean-François Ballester (1 September 1965 – 2 December 2018) was a French figure skating coach. He is best known for his work with Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot, who won gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018 World Championships and 2017–18 Grand Prix Final.
Personal life
Jean-François "Jeff"[1][2] Ballester was born on 1 September 1965,[3] in Rouen, France.[4] He died on 2 December 2018 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, following a heart attack at his home.[5][6]
His mother and sister have also worked as skating coaches.[7]
Career
Ballester started learning to skate as a five-year-old and was competing in junior pairs when he decided to retire at age 19.[7] He coached at ACSEL Caen (France) from 1994 to 2014.[7] He also worked in Switzerland, at CP La Chaux-de-Fonds and CP Biel/Bienne.[8]
Ballester coached:
- Bruno Massot, since Massot was seven years old.[7]
- Camille Foucher / Bruno Massot, from 2007 to 2009.[9]
- Daria Popova / Bruno Massot, from 2011 to 2014.[10]
- Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot (2018 Olympic, World, and Grand Prix Final champions), from 2014.[11][12][13]
- Alexandra Herbríková / Nicolas Roulet, from 2013 to 2017.[14]
- Ioulia Chtchetinina / Noah Scherer, from 2015 to 2017.[15]
- Ioulia Chtchetinina / Mikhail Akulov, from 2017.[16]
- Kevin Aymoz, until 2016.[17]
- Nicola Todeschini, from 2017.[18]
- Valtter Virtanen, from 2018.[19]
- Laurine Lecavelier, from 2018.[20]
- Miriam Ziegler / Severin Kiefer, from the summer of 2018.[21]
References
