In a statement made on their facebook page, 7-Times Australian National Champions Danielle O'Brien and Gregory Merriman have retired after a competitive career spanning 12 years.
Here is their statement.
Danielle O'Brien & Gregory Merriman
Like they say, all good things come to an end and as the 2013/14 season draws to a close so too does our 12 year competitive career for Australia.
This year we earned the honour of becoming Australian Olympians and having received so much support from around the world we would like to say a big THANK YOU for your words of encouragement and best wishes!
None of this could have been achieved without the support of our coaching team over the years! To our first coach Monica MacDonald, thank you for your inspiration, for teaching us to dream big and for your ongoing support over the past 16 years. To the late Andrei Filippov, our encyclopaedia of figure skating, you challenged us to aim higher and we skate for your memory every day. To John Marsden, thanks for kicking our butts into shape off the ice. And Victor Kraatz, thank you for sharing your love of skating and giving us the courage to take the leap to pursue our dreams in Detroit.
This brings us to our current coaching team Massimo Scali, Elizabeth Swallow, Natalia Deller, Pasquale Camerlengo & Angelika Krylova. With your knowledge, guidance and support we achieved our Olympic dream and have become the most successful Australian Ice Dance team in history.
Thanks to our team mates who inspired us day in day out to become the best athletes we could be! We look forward to following your success in the coming seasons!
Ice Skating Australia and the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, thank you for the confidence you showed in our ability and for enabling the means for us to achieve our goals.
Finally a big thanks to our family and friends who have been with us every step of the way!
We will greatly miss the competitive side of the sport and look forward to future opportunities within and beyond the figure skating world!
They will be missed
arty:But for what they achieved, their retirement is well earned.
Australia now has no Senior Ice Dancers so it's back to the wilderness for now...
Here is their statement.
Danielle O'Brien & Gregory Merriman
Like they say, all good things come to an end and as the 2013/14 season draws to a close so too does our 12 year competitive career for Australia.
This year we earned the honour of becoming Australian Olympians and having received so much support from around the world we would like to say a big THANK YOU for your words of encouragement and best wishes!
None of this could have been achieved without the support of our coaching team over the years! To our first coach Monica MacDonald, thank you for your inspiration, for teaching us to dream big and for your ongoing support over the past 16 years. To the late Andrei Filippov, our encyclopaedia of figure skating, you challenged us to aim higher and we skate for your memory every day. To John Marsden, thanks for kicking our butts into shape off the ice. And Victor Kraatz, thank you for sharing your love of skating and giving us the courage to take the leap to pursue our dreams in Detroit.
This brings us to our current coaching team Massimo Scali, Elizabeth Swallow, Natalia Deller, Pasquale Camerlengo & Angelika Krylova. With your knowledge, guidance and support we achieved our Olympic dream and have become the most successful Australian Ice Dance team in history.
Thanks to our team mates who inspired us day in day out to become the best athletes we could be! We look forward to following your success in the coming seasons!
Ice Skating Australia and the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, thank you for the confidence you showed in our ability and for enabling the means for us to achieve our goals.
Finally a big thanks to our family and friends who have been with us every step of the way!
We will greatly miss the competitive side of the sport and look forward to future opportunities within and beyond the figure skating world!
They will be missedarty:But for what they achieved, their retirement is well earned.Australia now has no Senior Ice Dancers so it's back to the wilderness for now...
