Skaters Ethnicity

gio · Nov 21, 2007

I'm curious about skaters ethnicity and parental origins and if they speak fluently the language of their parents. Please could you add if you know other infos or correct wrong info! Thanks!

Michelle Kwan = Parents are Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong; she speaks Cantonese and some conversational Mandarin.
Caroline Zhang = Her parents are from Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province in central-eastern China. Does she speak Cantonese or Mandarin??
Kristi Yamaguchi = Japanese heritage, don't think she speaks Japanese
Mirai Nagasu = Parents were born in Japan; fluent in Japanese
Sasha Cohen = Her mother is a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine. She does speak Russian, I don't know if she does speak also Ukrainian, but if she speaks Russian she may understand Ukrainian.
Tara Lipinski = Parents are Polish. I think she does speak Polish.
Angela Nikodinov = Fluent in Bulgarian
Alissa Czisny = She may be of Hungarian descent, but I don't think she speaks Hungarian
Juliana Cannarozzo = Her surname is Italian, I don't know if she speaks that language though.
Evan Lysacek = Religiously he is Greek Orthodox. I don't know his heritage.
Elvis Stojko = Slovenian father and Hungarian mother
Brian Boitano = Italian-American

Mafke · Nov 21, 2007

gio said:
Tara Lipinski = Parents are Polish. I think she does speak Polish.

A Polish newspaper looked into that some years ago and concluded that she only knew a few words, mostly food related.

gio · Nov 21, 2007

Thanks Mafke!! At least she won't be hungry if she goes to visit Poland! :laugh:

ks777 · Nov 21, 2007

Kristi Yamaguchi is a 3rd or 4th generation japanese so she doesn't speak Japanese.

Ashley Wagner was born in Germany but I don't think her parents are from Germany. I read somewhere that her father was in the Military so he must have been stationed in Germany when Ashley was born.

Angela Maxwell, the US jr skater is half Japanese.

Kristine Musademba is a half Philipino and half african.

Bebe Liang sounds chinese american.

Mira Leung..... ??

Joesitz (RIP) · Nov 21, 2007

gio said:
Tara Lipinski [/B]= Parents are Polish. I think she does speak Polish.

Check this out. I believe mother is Irish

Joe

Joesitz (RIP) · Nov 21, 2007

gio said:
I'm curious about skaters ethnicity and parental origins and if they speak fluently the language of their parents. Please could you add if you know other infos or correct wrong info! Thanks!

Careful Gio - most Americans I know do not have both parents from the same ancestral heritage.

I think the one Native American is Naomi Lange, but I think that Lange is probably German.

In ballet there have been some great Native American balerinas.

Joe

Tonichelle · Nov 21, 2007

ks777 said:
Ashley Wagner was born in Germany but I don't think her parents are from Germany. I read somewhere that her father was in the Military so he must have been stationed in Germany when Ashley was born.

yup, that's how it works, they were stationed her in Alaska for a while too

attyfan · Nov 21, 2007

gio said:
... Sasha Cohen = Her mother is a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine. She does speak Russian, I don't know if she does speak also Ukrainian, but if she speaks Russian she may understand Ukrainian.
...

I always heard that Sasha Cohen understood Russian, but didn't speak it very well. IIRC, Tarasova mentioned that she could speak to Sasha in Russian, but Sasha always responded in English.

georgia · Nov 21, 2007

Evan Lysacek = Religiously he is Greek Orthodox. I don't know his heritage.

Is Evan Greek Orthodox? How do you know that?
I am Greek Orthodox. I don't know of any Greek Orthodox, who is not Greek.

chuckm · Nov 21, 2007

Joesitz said:
Check this out. I believe mother is Irish

Joe

It is my understanding that Tara's mother is Irish-American and her father is of Polish descent.

chuckm · Nov 21, 2007

georgia said:
Is Evan Greek Orthodox? How do you know that?
I am Greek Orthodox. I don't know of any Greek Orthodox, who is not Greek.

According to his bio on Wikipedia, Evan's religion is Greek Orthodox. However, I believe he is of Czech or Slovak descent. I don't believe a Greek Orthodox church will throw you out if you are not Greek.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Lysacek.

megsy · Nov 21, 2007

Bebe Liang, Caroline Zhang and Mira Leung are all ethnically Chinese.

Bebe and Caroline have surnames originating from mainland China, whereas Mira is cantonese (Hong Kong area). Caroline speaks almost fluent Mandarin and I believe Bebe has some as well.

fenway · Nov 21, 2007

I'm jealous of anyone who speaks multiple languages. That's never been my strong suit.

Mathman · Nov 21, 2007

chuckm said:
It is my understanding that Tara's mother is Irish-American and her father is of Polish descent.

Really? Wasn't Tara's mother's maiden name Brozyniak?

(Tara was, however, named after Scarlet O'hara's house.)

MichelleTodd · Nov 21, 2007

Evan Lysacek is also part Italian on his mother's side. I read her maiden name was Santoro. So he's a basic American mutt! :laugh:

Mathman · Nov 21, 2007

Thanks for joinin us, Michelle Todd. Welcome to Golden Skate.

Italian, eh? So that's where he gets his good looks.

STL_Blues_fan · Nov 21, 2007

attyfan said:
I always heard that Sasha Cohen understood Russian, but didn't speak it very well. IIRC, Tarasova mentioned that she could speak to Sasha in Russian, but Sasha always responded in English.

Sasha's mom is from Odessa, IIRC, which is in the Russian speaking part of Ukraine. Russian language was always the official language in USSR republics and not that many people living in large cities (especially in Ukraine and Belorussia) spoke the "native" language. Also, most native speakers would've been significantly older than Sasha's mom. I am not even sure if Victor Petrenko (an ethnic Ukrainian) can actually speak Ukrainian.

By the way, Odessa, being a port city, was always a melting pot and had a lot of different ethnicities, with the Russian and Jewish being the majority who spoke the Russian language - even before the formation of USSR (Ukraine used to be a part of pre revolutionary Russia).

Historically, western Ukraine was more ethnically Ukrainian, and the eastern was more Russian.

As a side note, I would say that nearly all Jewish immigrants from the former USSR speak Russian as their primary (and often the only) language. Some may speak Yiddish but that would be older generation (like Sasha's grandparents, may be...).

STL_Blues_fan · Nov 21, 2007

georgia said:
Is Evan Greek Orthodox? How do you know that?
I am Greek Orthodox. I don't know of any Greek Orthodox, who is not Greek.

you can always convert, right? (we know that from the My big Fat Greek Wedding

)

i actually know one family that is 3/4 Italian and 1/4 Greek, yet they belong to the GO church.

I recall an interview when Evan stated that it was important for him to be in Russia (that was WC a couple years back) for the Orthodox Easter - so he could be Russian Orthodox for all we know. The crucifix he wears is certainly an orthodox one.

Besides, wikipedia is not always 100% accurate.

ks777 · Nov 21, 2007

How about Johnny Weir? What's his back ground? He seems to be into the russian culture.

MichelleTodd · Nov 22, 2007

Thanks for the warm welcome, Mathman.

As far as looks go, my mom is an avid traveler and says Czech and Slovak men are drop-dead gorgeous. So Evan may get it from both sides!!!! :rock:

As far as religion goes, I think the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox churches, etc., are all part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. However, I've never heard anybody calling himself/herself a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church; it's always the Orthodox Church of a particular country.

Would there be a Czech or Slovak Othodox Church?

Skaters Ethnicity

gio

Mafke

gio

ks777

Joesitz (RIP)

Joesitz (RIP)

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

attyfan

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georgia

chuckm

chuckm

megsy

fenway

Mathman

MichelleTodd

Mathman

STL_Blues_fan

STL_Blues_fan

ks777

MichelleTodd

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