Kris Wirtz is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 pair skater

Pair skating

Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...

 from Marathon, Ontario

Marathon, Ontario

Marathon is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Thunder Bay District, on the north shore of Lake Superior north of Pukaskwa National Park, in the heart of the Canadian Shield.- History :...

. He competed with Kristy Sargeant

Kristy Sargeant

Kristy Sargeant-Wirtz is a Canadian pair skater. She competed with Kris Wirtz in the Winter Olympics twice. She previously partnered with Colin Epp....

 in the Winter Olympics twice. He previously partnered Sherry Ball

Sherry Ball

Sherry Ball was a Canadian pair skater. With partner Kris Wirtz, she won the bronze medal at the 1992 Canadian Figure Skating Championships and competed in the Winter Olympics that year.-Results:...

 at the 1992 Olympics. Over the years, he also competed in Canadian skating championships in singles, dance, and fours.

He and Sargeant were married in 1999 and had their first child together in 2002. They now work as coaches with the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club, in Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

, Canada.

Wirtz is not the only member of his family involved with Canadian figure skating. His brother was the late coach Paul Wirtz

Paul Wirtz

Paul Wirtz was a Canadian figure skating coach. He was the brother of Kris Wirtz and the uncle of Sean Wirtz. He coached many skating teams and was known for pairing skaters together. Teams he created include Valérie Marcoux & Craig Buntin, and Elizabeth Putnam & Sean Wirtz. He coached Kristy...

 (deceased April 6, 2006) and his nephew is pair skater Sean Wirtz

Sean Wirtz

Sean Wirtz is a Canadian figure skater who has competed as a single skater and pair skater. As a pair skater, he competed with partner Elizabeth Putnam from 2002 through 2007...

.

On January 3, 2010 the Olympic Torch relay passed through Wirtz's hometown of Marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

, Ontario. Wirtz's father, Gunter Wirtz, carried the Olympic torch in a special lunch time procession through the local hockey arena.

"In Marathon, Ontario, every seat in the local hockey arena was filled (with many in standing room only areas). Once Guenther Wirtz, father of Marathon's Olympic hero figure skater Kris Wirtz, brought the Olympic Flame to the stage...the crowd went wild. The noise of cowbells, thunder sticks and tambourines filled the arena, as did the spirit of the Olympic Flame."

(with Ball)

Event	1991-92
Winter Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...	12th
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...	10th
Canadian Championships Canadian Figure Skating Championships The Canadian Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Canada. It is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating governing body. The levels of the competition are senior and junior; in some years, the novice level has...	3rd
Nebelhorn Trophy Nebelhorn Trophy The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain....	1st

with Kristy Sargeant

Event	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Winter Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...		10th				12th
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...		11th		7th	6th	7th	6th	10th	8th
Four Continents Championships Four Continents Figure Skating Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition. The International Skating Union established it in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-European countries with a similar competition to the much older European Figure Skating Championships and a chance...							2nd	4th	7th
Canadian Championships Canadian Figure Skating Championships The Canadian Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Canada. It is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating governing body. The levels of the competition are senior and junior; in some years, the novice level has...	5th	2nd	5th	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	2nd
Skate America Skate America Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is organized by the United States Figure Skating Association. The location changes yearly...				6th			2nd
Skate Canada International Skate Canada International The Skate Canada International is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by Skate Canada. It is the second competition of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: Ladies' singles, Men's...		7th	1st		4th	5th	4th	3rd
Trophée Lalique				6th			4th	5th
Cup of Russia Cup of Russia The Cup of Russia is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. It was held as the Rostelecom Cup in 2009 after...									5th
Nations Cup			4th		4th				4th		WD

Other Notable Achievements

• Canadian Team Captain - 5 years
• Canadian Championships competitor - 18 years!

External links

• Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club