Lori Nichol

Lori Nichol is a Canadian figure skating choreographer and coach. She has choreographed programs for many elite skaters, including medalists at the World Championships and the Winter Olympics.

Career Nichol was born in 1963. She began skating at four years old at a rink in her backyard. Her family moved to the United States, where she began lessons. She was later coached by Don Laws. As a child, she was interested in music and expression, and she would make up her own choreography to the music chosen by other skaters at the rink.

In 1983, Nichol joined John Curry's company. At the time, she had been working as a waitress and raising her young child. While she initially found the opportunity "magical", she said she became targeted for her weight, and that Curry demanded she be weighed every week despite her having little body fat. Nichol said of working with him, "One moment he could be so cruel. But the next moment he would compliment me in a very beautiful way and that would make me feel OK for a bit longer.

She was eventually fired due to Curry finding her overweight, then later re-hired. During her second run with the company, she "felt trusted and admired", and Curry planned to cast her as the lead in a Firebird production; however, Nichol tore her hamstring before these plans could come to fruition. Curry paid to have her flown home. Nichol has also worked as a coach for skaters such as Patrick Chan. She was the 2010 recipient of the Professional Skaters Association's Sonia Henie award for bringing "recognition to the sport in a positive and favorable manner", and in 2011 became the first choreographer inducted into their hall of fame. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, eleven singles skaters and a pair performed programs she choreographed.

She has worked with the International Skating Union on its judging system. However, skaters occasionally come to Nichol with their own ideas, and Nichol helps develop what the skater wants to portray. To begin the choreography with a new skater, Nichol often plays several pieces and watches how the skater moves to it to decide on movements that suit them and to observe how adaptable they are.

For inspiration, Nichol studies modern dance and ballet, and she also visits museums.

In the 2012–2013 season, Nichol suggested Denis Ten perform a short and long program that were connected to form a single story rather than two distinct programs. Ten agreed, and their collaboration on the programs drew praise from choreographers and coaches such as David Wilson and Frank Carroll. For her collaboration with Yuma Kagiyama's free skate to Turandot in the 2025–2026 season, she worked with Christopher Tin to compose an orchestration specifically for his program.

Choreography Her most notable clients as a choreographer have included the following:

Mao Asada Nathan Chen Gabrielle Daleman Rachael Flatt Alexe Gilles Timothy Goebel Takeshi Honda Susan Humphreys Jin Boyang Carolina Kostner Mira Leung Isabeau Levito Li Zijun Beatrisa Liang Tara Lipinski Alysa Liu Evan Lysacek Kimmie Meissner Mirai Nagasu Nobunari Oda Brian Orser Peng Cheng & Wang Lei Peng Cheng & Zhang Hao Jennifer Robinson Jamie Salé & David Pelletier Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps Sui Wenjing & Han Cong Rinka Watanabe Hana Yoshida Yu Xiaoyu & Zhang Hao Agnes Zawadzki Caroline Zhang Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao Vincent Zhou