Todd Sand
Sand and Natasha Kuchiki
Born (1963-10-30) October 30, 1963
Height5 ft 10.5 in (179 cm)
Figure skating career
Country United States
PartnerJenni Meno
Retired1998
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Pairs' Figure skating
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1998 MinneapolisPairs
Bronze medal – third place 1996 EdmontonPairs
Bronze medal – third place 1995 BirminghamPairs
Bronze medal – third place 1991 MunichPairs

Todd Sand (born October 30, 1963) is an American pair skater. With his wife Jenni Meno, he is the 1998 World silver medalist, a two-time World bronze medalist (1995, 1996), and a three-time U.S. national champion (1994–96). With his previous partner Natasha Kuchiki, he is the 1991 World bronze medalist.

Personal life

Sand was born in Burbank, California. He has dual American and Danish citizenship, since his father is Danish.[1] He is married to Jenni Meno, with whom he has two sons, Jack, born in 2004, and Matthew Kenneth, born on August 14, 2006.

In March of 2023, while attending the 2023 World Junior Figure Skating Championships with his students, Sophia Baram / Daniel Tioumentsev in Calgary, Alberta, Sand suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for an extended period.[2]

Early career

Early in his career, Sand represented Denmark as a single skater. He competed for that country at the World and European Championships in the early 1980s.

In 1985, Sand began competing as a pair skater with Lori Blasko, representing the United States. They were the 1985 U.S. national bronze medalists on the junior level.

Career with Kuchiki

Sand teamed up with Natasha Kuchiki in spring 1989.[3] They won three senior pairs medals at the U.S. Championships, including gold in 1991, and competed at three World Championships, winning a surprising bronze in 1991. They also competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics, where they placed 6th. Kuchiki and Sand announced the end of their partnership in April 1992.[3]

Career with Meno

Meno and Sand teamed up on the ice in April 1992. They had immediate success, qualifying for the 1993 World Figure Skating Championships in their first season with a 2nd-place finish at the U.S Nationals, and were the top Americans there placing 5th, qualifying 3 teams for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.[4] They became U.S Champions in 1994, then placed 5th in arguably the strongest pairs field assembled in history in Lillehammer with 2 clean skates.

In 1995 they won their 2nd consecutive U.S title with perhaps their finest performance ever, gaining 6 perfect 6.0s for artistic impression. They then came from 5th after the short program to win the bronze medal at the 1995 World Figure Skating Championships. In 1996 they won their 3rd consecutive U.S title, and again climbed from 5th to 3rd, and won their second consecutive World bronze medal.

In 1997, they set themselves up as possible contenders for the World title early in the season, beating both the World gold and World silver medalist Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov, and Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer in fall competitions. They had also gained the necessary side by side triple toes that had prevented them from a higher finish than 3rd place at the previous 2 World Championships. They however lost their form and suffered a last place finish at the Champions Series final in Hamilton, Ontario, and lost their U.S title to Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen. With a chance for the World title after major mistakes by the other top teams they suffered another lackluster outing and dropped to 5th at the 1997 World Figure Skating Championships.

They missed much of the 1997-1998 competitive season with injury, and had to withdraw from the U.S Championships after the short program, but on their past record were named to the team for the [5] in Nagano, Japan.[6][7] After a dismal performance in Nagano in finishing 8th, they ended their career on a high on home ice in Minneapolis at the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships, winning the short program, and taking the silver medal, their highest finish ever at Worlds. Following their retirement from competitive skating, they skated professionally in the Stars on Ice tour for six seasons.

Post Skating Career

Sand appeared in the ITV series Dancing on Ice with double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes. They were eliminated in quarterfinal (Week 6) after the judges' votes to save Bonnie Langford and her partner Matt Evers.

Sand works as a coach with his wife. They previously coached John Baldwin / Rena Inoue, Mary Beth Marley / Rockne Brubaker,[8] and Jessica Calalang / Zack Sidhu.[9] Currently, they coach Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Brandon Frazier.

Sand is an ISU Technical Specialist.[10] He was a technical specialist for the men's event at the 2005 World Championships.[11]

Competitive highlights

Pairs career for the United States

With Jenni Meno

International
Event 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98
Olympics5th8th
Worlds5th6th3rd3rd5th2nd
CS Final4thWD
CS Lalique3rd3rd2nd
CS NHK Trophy5th1st2nd
CS Skate America2nd
Prague Skate1st
National
U.S. Champ.2nd1st1st1st2ndWD
CS = Champions Series from 1995–1996 (later renamed Grand Prix)
WD = Withdrew

With Natasha Kuchiki

International
Event 1989–1990 1990–1991 1991–1992
Olympics6th
World Championships11th3rd8th
Skate America4th6th
NHK Trophy5th
Skate Canada5th
National
U.S. Championships2nd1st3rd

With Lori Blasko

International
Event 1984-1985 1985–1986 1986–1987 1987–1988
Skate America6th
Prague Skate1st
National
U.S. Championships3rd J7th8th

Singles career for Denmark

International
Event 1981 1982 1983
World Championships19th22nd
European Championships19th19th
Nordic Championships2nd2nd
National
Danish Championships1st1st

References

  1. ↑ Meyers, Jeff (February 25, 1990). "Skater Kuchiki Overcomes Tears and Fears : Figure skating: Now comes the easy part for young Olympic hopeful, who will compete in World Championships". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ "Todd Sand, Olympic skater, coach, in ICU after heart attack; family grateful for support". NBC Sports. April 1, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Harvey, Randy (April 9, 1992). "Skaters Kuchiki and Sand Go Their Own Way". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ↑ "Todd Sand". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2015-05-31. (archived)
  5. ↑ 1998 Winter Olympics
  6. ↑ Hersh, Philip (January 10, 1998). "Despite Foot Injury, Meno-sand Named To Nagano Pairs Team". Chicago Tribune.
  7. ↑ Hersh, Philip (February 7, 1998). "Meno-sand Takes The Hard Road To Winter Games". Chicago Tribune.
  8. ↑ Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker at the International Skating Union
  9. ↑ Jessica Calalang & Zach Sidhu at the International Skating Union
  10. ↑ "ISU Communication No. 1409" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27. (381 KiB)
  11. ↑ ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships
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