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John Curry (born 9 September 1949 in Birmingham,
England, died 15 April 1994 in Binton) was a
Britain|British figure skating|figure skater who
won the Olympic Games|Olympic and World
Championships in 1976.  He was famous for
combining ballet and modern dance influences with
skating.

As a child, Curry wanted to become a dance|dancer,
but his father disapproved of dance as an activity
for boys, so instead at the age of 7 he began to
take figure skating lessons.  For the first
several years, Curry's involvement with skating
was rather casual.  Curry's father died when he
was 16; he then moved to London to study with
Arnold Gerschwiler, who coached him to his first
British title in 1971.  In 1972, Curry found an
American sponsor who enabled him to study in the
United States with Gus Lussi and Carlo Fassi.  It
was Fassi who coached him to European, World, and
Olympic titles in 1976.

Curry was the flag bearer at the 1976 Olympics for
Great Britain. He also was 
voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1976.

As an amateur competitor, Curry was noted for his
ballet-like posture and extension, and his superb
body control.  Along with Canadian skater Toller
Cranston, Curry was responsible for bringing the
artistic and presentation aspects of men's figure
skating to a new level.  At the peak of his
competitive career, Curry was also accomplished
both at compulsory figures and the athletic
(jumping) aspects of free skating.

Following the 1976 World Championships, Curry
turned professional and founded a touring skating
company along the same lines as a traditional
dance company.  Besides choreographing routines
for the company himself, Curry commissioned works
from such noted dance choreographers as Peter
Martins and Twyla Tharp.  Curry was reportedly a
difficult person to get along with, and a dispute
with the business managers of his company forced
it to suspend operations in the mid-1980s.  After
that, Curry performed only rarely in public.

Prior to the 1976 World Championships, Curry was
outed as gay by a German tabloid newspaper,
Bild-Zeitung.  It caused a brief scandal in Europe
at the time, but Curry's sexual orientation was
generally ignored by the press and public for many
years afterwards.

In 1987, Curry was diagnosed with HIV. The full
blown disease AIDS developed fully in 1991.  Prior
to his death, he spoke openly to the press about
both his disease and his sexual orientation.  He
spent last years of his life with his mother.

== Competitive results ==

=== Olympic Games ===
* 1972 - 11. Rank
* 1976 -  1. Rank

=== World Championships ===
* 1971 - 14. Rank
* 1972 - 9. Rank
* 1973 - 4. Rank
* 1974 - 7. Rank
* 1975 - 3. Rank
* 1976 - 1. Rank

=== European Championships ===
* 1971 - 7. Rank
* 1972 - 2. Rank
* 1973 - 4. Rank
* 1974 - 3. Rank
* 1975 - 2. Rank
* 1976 - 1. Rank

== See also ==
* Figure Skating
* World Figure Skating Championships
* List of Figure Skaters