Naomi Lang

Not to be confused withNaomi Long.

Naomi Lang(born December 18, 1978) is an American former competitiveice dancer.With skating partnerPeter Tchernyshev,she is a two-timeFour Continents champion(2000 and 2002), a five-timeU.S. national champion(1999–2003), and competed at the 2002Olympic Winter Games.Lang is the firstNative Americanfemale athlete to participate in the Winter Olympics. She is an enrolled member of the Karuk Tribe of California.

Naomi Lang
Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev. Nürnberg Gala 2007
Born	(1978-12-18)December 18, 1978
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Partner	Jeffrey Strong
Skating club	Desert Ice Skating Club of Arizona
Retired	February 2004
Medal record Figure skating:Ice dancing RepresentingtheUnited States Four Continents Championships 2003 Beijing Ice dancing 2002 Jeonju Ice dancing 2001 Salt Lake City Ice dancing 2000 Osaka Ice dancing 1999 Halifax Ice dancing

Personal life

Naomi Lang was born inArcata,California,to Leslie Dixon and Jason Lang, a member of theKaruktribe.She started to dance at the age of three and continued with ballet dancing to the age of 15, beginning her training at the Dancer's Studio in Eureka, California. She performed with the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Ballet Co.and studied ballet at theInterlochen Arts Academywhere at the age of 12 she received an award for 'Outstanding Achievement in Ballet'. She graduated from Lake Placid High School in Lake Placid, New York, in 1997.

In 2004, Lang had a daughter with Ukrainian ice acrobat Vladimir Besedin.She married American ice dancer Mark Fitzgerald in August 2008 inTarrytown, New York.They had two children before divorcing in 2016.

Lang later married Jeffrey Strong, and they have two children together.The family resides in Gilbert, Arizona.

Skating career

Lang started skating when she was eight, after seeing Smurfs On Ice. She began competitive ice dance with John Lee, winning the 1995 U.S. Novice title and the 1996 U.S. Junior silver medal.

Partnership with Tchernyshev

Having noticed her at U.S. Nationals,Peter Tchernyshevwrote her a letter in mid-1996 asking for a tryout.They had a successful tryout inLake Placid, New York,and trained there for nine months with Natalia Dubova; then, due to Lang's homesickness, they moved toDetroitand began training withIgor ShpilbandandElizabeth Coates.

Lang/Tchernyshev first won theU.S. nationaltitle in 1999. The following season, they took gold at the2000 Four Continents Championshipsand placed 8th at the2000 World Championships.They also performed withChampions on Ice.

In 2000, Lang/Tchernyshev moved toHackensack, New Jersey,to train withAlexander Zhulin,who coached them until the end of the 2001–02 season.They missed their 2001 Grand Prix events because Tchernyshev had shin splints.Returning to competition, they won their fourth national title at the2002 U.S. Championshipsand then won their secondFour Continentstitle. They placed eleventh at the2002 Winter Olympicsand ninth at the2002 World Championships.

In 2002–03, Lang/Tchernyshev were coached byNikolai Morozov.After missing their 2002 Grand Prix events due to an injury to Lang, the duo won their fifth national title at the2003 U.S. Championships,took bronze at the2003 Four Continents,and placed 8th at the2003 World Championships.

Lang/Tchernyshev did not appear internationally in the 2003–04 season. They intended to compete at the2004 U.S. Championshipsbut withdrew after Lang re-injured her Achilles tendon.They announced their competitive retirement in February 2004.The duo continued to skate together professionally and appeared in several U.S. ice shows, including many of the Disson skating shows televised on NBC and the Hallmark Channel. They also toured extensively in Europe and Russia,performing in Art on Ice, Kings on Ice withEvgeni Plushenkoand composer and violinistEdvin Marton,and theKatarina WittFarewell Tour. They performed atJim Carrey's private Christmas party in Hollywood.

Lang works at The Ice Den Chandler/Scottsdale as the Manager of Ice Dance.

Programs

(with Tchernyshev)

Season	Original dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2002–2003	Waltz byDmitri Shostakovich Polka byBedřich Smetana	Still Loving You byScorpions
2001–2002	Carmen byGeorges Bizet: March of the Toreadors Habanera March of the Toreadors	Parisian Walkways byGary Moore	Fallin' byAlicia Keys
2000–2001	Fly Me to the Moon byFrank Sinatra One Minute Tramp by C. Basie	Air on a G String byJohann Sebastian Bach Storm (fromThe Four Seasons) byAntonio Vivaldi performed byVanessa-Mae	Parisian Walkways Still Got the Blues byGary Moore
1999–2000	Oye Como Va byCarlos Santana	Anytime, Anywhere bySarah Brightman	All I Ask of You byAndrew Lloyd Webber
1998–1999	Masquerade Waltz byAram Khachaturian Waltz of the Flowers byPyotr Tchaikovsky	Adiós Nonino byÁstor Piazzolla	Falling into You byCeline Dion
1997–1998	Good Golly Miss Molly byLittle Richard	Sobre El Arco Iris byPerez Prado Ran Kan Kan byTito Puente Sempre Nel Mio Cuor by Perez Prado Mambo Caliente byArturo Sandoval	Good Golly Miss Molly byLittle Richard

Results

(with Tchernyshev)

International
Event	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–00	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Olympics						11th
Worlds			10th	8th	9th	9th	8th
Four Continents			3rd	1st	2nd	1st	3rd
GPCup of Russia			5th
GPLalique				5th
GPSkate America		6th	5th	3rd	5th
GPSkate Canada		9th
Lysiane Lauret		2nd
National
U.S. Champ.	5th	3rd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	WD
GP = Grand Prix; WD = Withdrew

(with Lee)

Event	1996
U.S. Championships	2nd J.
J. = Junior level

See also

• Mabel Fairbanks

External links

• Official site
• Naomi Lang / Peter Tchernyshevat theInternational Skating Union
• Care to Ice Dance? - Lang & Tchernyshev