Javier Fernández

Javier Fernández López (; born 15 April 1991) is a Spanish former figure skater. He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018).

In addition to his bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Fernández placed 14th at the 2010 Winter Olympics and 4th at the 2014 Winter Olympics. In the free skate, Fernández fell twice and stepped out of the landings of three other jumps to finish 2nd behind Shoma Uno in the segment with 175.85 points. His lead from the short program was enough to win the event overall with 283.71 points. This was the 7th career Grand Prix title for Fernández.

In December 2017, Fernández claimed his 7th consecutive and 8th overall senior Spanish national title. He hit all planned jumps in the short program to receive 107.73 points, and landed two quads during the free skate before falling on the third to score 180.57 points in the segment and 288.30 points overall. His qualification for the 2018 Winter Olympics was not determined by this event, as it had been announced previously that Fernández would take the first of Spain's two spots in the men's discipline. Fernández announced that the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang would be his last Olympic Games.

Fernández at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships, where he claimed his sixth consecutive title.

At the 2018 European Championships in Moscow, Fernández had a sizable lead following the short program, which included a quad-triple toe loop combination, a triple Axel and level 4 spins, but also a turn out on the landing of the quad Salchow. Fernández received 103.82 points in the segment, 12.49 points ahead of nearest rival Dmitri Aliev. Fernández hit two quads, two triple Axels and three other triples to win the free skating, but popped his third quad attempt to a triple and stumbled on a downgraded triple flip. He earned 191.73 points in the segment, improving on his previous season's best by nearly 14 points, and won the gold medal with a total of 295.55 points. Fernández became the first man in 82 years to have won the European Championships 6 consecutive times (2013–18). The other skaters who won at least six consecutive European titles are Karl Schäfer, Sonja Henie (1931–36), Katarina Witt (6 years, 1983–88), Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (1959–64), and Irina Rodnina (with two partners: Alexei Ulanov, 1969–72 and Alexander Zaitsev, 1973–78).

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Fernández skated his "Modern Times" short program, executing a quad-triple toe loop combination, a quad Salchow, a triple Axel and all level 4 elements. He received nine perfect 10.00 scores in program components and received 107.58 points, placing him second in that segment behind defending champion Yuzuru Hanyu. In the free skate, Fernández landed a quad toe loop, a quad Salchow in combination, two triple Axels and five more triples, and earned four perfect 10.00 component marks. His only major mistake was popping a planned second quad Salchow into a double. His free skate performance earned 197.66 points and a total competition score of 305.24 – both season's best for him. Fernández won the bronze medal behind Japan's Hanyu and Shoma Uno, the first ever figure skating Olympic medal for Spain. the 3rd highest free skating score (216.41) and the 4th highest total score (314.93).

Fernández decided to skip the 2018–19 Grand Prix series, and elected to skate at the Japan Open invitational tournament as his only competition during the first part of the season. He competed for Team Europe at the event, and placed 3rd among men with a score of 157.86 for his free program. Team Europe won the silver medal overall.

On 28 November, Fernández officially stated that he would retire from competitive skating, with the 2019 European Figure Skating Championships as his last competition. Speaking about his decision, he expressed the need to think about the level of competition he wanted to be at, because he felt his body and mind were no longer there, which he had to accept. He added that he preferred to retire at the right time, when he was satisfied with his career and had plans for the future, referring among other projects to his Revolution ON Ice skating show, with which he toured Spain in November and December 2018. The news of his retirement was widely reported in Spanish as well as global media. It was also confirmed that Fernández would not compete at the Spanish National Championships in December.

Fernández returned to his Toronto base in early January to train for three weeks leading up to the 2019 European Figure Skating Championships. As a tribute to his home country, he selected two Spanish themed programs from his earlier repertoire for his final competition: Malagueña as the short program, and Man of La Mancha for the free skate.

Fernández placed third in the short program at European Championships with 91.84 points after stepping out of the landing of the triple Axel and receiving an underrotation call on his quad Salchow. In the free skate, Fernández landed two quads (with a turnout on the landing of the second jump of his quad-triple toe loop combination), two triple Axels and three more triples, but missed out on his triple flip attempt. He finished first in the segment with 179.75 points, receiving the highest free program component scores (94.20) since the introduction of the revised scoring system at the start of the season, and rose from third to first overall with 271.59 points. Fernández retired from competitive figure skating with the third highest number of consecutive European titles behind pairs skater Irina Rodnina (who had won 10) and men's skater Karl Schäfer (with 8).

Commenting on what he leaves behind as legacy, Fernández stated: "I think it's good for the world to know that not only skaters from strong countries can appear. I'm from Spain, I’ve got a friend here at my side from Italy [bronze medalist Matteo Rizzo] and another from Russia [silver medalist Alexander Samarin]. Everyone has his own story to tell and it's good that everyone does not come from a strong figure skating country because that means more stories to tell to everyone. I hope I can develop skating more in my home country to try and make it bigger, but I hope with the work I was able to do I've made history and in 20 years some people will still recollect my name." As for what heritage he would like to leave to skaters, he said: "I would like to leave behind a question to think about. What do they prefer: jumps, skating skills or performance? I would like to see these from more skaters. I think this is what our sport needs – complete skaters who embody something from every aspect of the sport."

When asked about what his student's legacy to the sport will be, long-time coach Brian Orser said: "For me and Tracy [Wilson, coaching partner], he is our “poster child,” the very example of what we do with our style of training and coaching. He has done something great for men's skating. He is a perfect model for what male skating should be: athletic and aesthetic, bringing a very personal style. He is also the young boy from Spain who made it. This is something very important and special about him. He promotes skating in his home country, through his shows all over Spain and skating camps. I’ve seen him teaching. He teaches technique and style the way we do. This makes me very proud. He will be an excellent coach."

Professional skating career Show skating career At the end of 2018, a few months prior to his official retirement from competitive skating in January 2019, Fernández had already produced his first ice show Revolution On Ice that toured through Spain with performances in front of sell-out crowds. The production featured live music, guest artists and a range of skating stars from around the world such as Yuna Kim, Yuka Sato, Kurt Browning, Evgeni Plushenko and Jeffrey Buttle. The show was directed by Canadian choreographers Sandra Bezic and David Wilson. Fernández brought Revolution On Ice back a year later at the end of 2019 that included performances from guest skaters Jeffrey Buttle, Ashley Wagner, Elladj Baldé, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte, Olivia Smart and Adrián Diaz. As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Fernández decided to postpone the 2022 edition of the show.

Throughout his career, Fernández has performed in a variety of exhibitions and shows abroad such as the Canadian Stars On Ice tour, Stars On Ice Japan, Dreams On Ice, and Fantasy On Ice in Japan. In June 2019, Fernández was cast in Yuna Kim's show All That Skate that took place in Seoul, Korea. The show was directed by Sandra Bezic and David Wilson and also featured Kim, Nathan Chen, Shoma Uno, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres. In March 2024 Fernandez performed in Notte stellata, show held in Miyagi as a commemorative event for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami led by Yuzuru Hanyu.

Coaching On December 6, 2021, Fernández opened a figure skating academy at Madrid's Palacio de Hielo (Ice Palace). Fernández travels with his academy, doing skating classes, seminars and summer camps in Mexico and Italy, and hosts his own summer camp in Spain on an annual basis with the next one due to take place in Spain at the end of July/early August 2023.

In 2023, Fernández began coaching at the Amodio Figure Skating Academy in Vaujany, France, working alongside longtime friend, Florent Amodio. Skaters he has notably worked with have included Luc Economides and Ekaterina Kurakova.

Skating technique Fernandez's quadruple jumps (Salchow and toe loop) have been remarked for their smooth and effortless execution, with a straight position in the air and great ice coverage. He and his former training mate Yuzuru Hanyu are the only two skaters to receive the maximum possible GOE on the quadruple Salchow and the quadruple toe loop. He's also one of the four skaters to ever receive a perfect score on a triple Axel. Fernandez holds the second-highest historical technical element score (TES) in the short program behind Hanyu.

Skating wise, Fernandez has been praised for the quality of his edges and the complexity of his steps. His components scores raised throughout his career, receiving 10 perfect scores in composition and interpretation at the 2016 Worlds. Fernández became a brand ambassador for Spanish food and beverage company ElPozo in May 2018, and the company sponsored Fernández's ice show Revolution On Ice in 2018 and 2019.

Television In August 2023, RTVE released its documentary series Javier Fernández. Rompiendo el hielo. The series consists of three episodes and is based on more than 35 interviews with Fernández, his family, friends, coaches, reporters, athletes and fellow skaters. The series won a Silver Dolphin at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards.

Fernández appeared in the 8th season of the reality series Gran Hermano VIP, the Spanish adaptation of the international reality television franchise Big Brother. He entered the house on September 14, 2023, and left a month and a half later on November 2, 2023.

Awards Royal Order of Sports Merit of Spain Gold Medal (2016) ) National Sports Council National Sports Awards: King Felipe Award for Best Sportsman (2015)

Media Athlete of the Year 2015 (2015) Marca: 80th Anniversary Awards "Spirit of Success in Sport: Perfection" (2018), Marca Leyenda (2019) Municipality Order of the Second of May of the Community of Madrid: Grand Cross (2015)