Biography Page
Mark Ladwig was born in Fargo, ND on May 6, 1980. His family resides in Moorhead, MN while Mark now trains in Ellenton, FL at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex. Mark married Janet Beverly on Aug. 4, 2006 and the couple had its first child, a boy named Holden, in September 2009. He also serves on U.S. Figure Skating's Athletes Advisory Committee and would like to volunteer with U.S. Figure Skating and get his college degree when he's done competing.
Mark began skating at age five in the man-made outdoor rink behind his house and he participated in the Basic Skills Program presented by Marshalls for three years. He was formerly paired with Kelsey Sollom (1990-99), Keri Lynn Blakinger (1999-2001) and Christine Dean (2002) before pairing up with Amanda in 2002 and he has been coached by Dawn Franklin (1985-99), Ron Ludington (1999-2002) and Traci Poletis (1999-2002) throughout his career. Mark works as a full-time Basic Skills coach and disc jockey while pursuing his own skating career and his hobbies include fixing stuff, tinkering, building, reading, and collecting the new state quarters. Mark was an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America and is a supporter of March of Dimes for Premature Children (his wife was born premature and without the organization's support, she would not be around today). He does a little bit of everything at his rink: coaches, sharpens skates, drives the Zamboni, edits music, etc. and also volunteers at his associate skating club, South West Florida FSC, for test sessions and shows.
| Favorite TV shows: | Heroes, Lost, all the shows on the History Channel |
| Favorite movies: | The Hunt for Red October, 300, Office Space, The Big Lebowski, Flushed Away, Clerks, all the Star Wars movies |
| Favorite charity/cause: | March of Dimes |
| Favorite celebrity: | Stephen Hawking, Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert, George Clooney |
| Favorite books: | Good Poems selected by Garrison Keillor, Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks, Caribbean by James Michener |
| Favorite web sites: | Evora-Ladwig.com, Google, WeatherUnderground.com, ISU.org, USFigureSkating.org, EllentonIce.com, Fandango.com |
| Favorite food: | Milk and cookies, my wife's pork chops, mother-in-law's 'Oh Henry' bars, mom's meatloaf |
| Favorite drink: | Milk, water, Gatorade |
| Favorite sports figure: | Willie Mays |
| Favorite author: | Isaac Asimov, Michael Crichton |
| Favorite performer: | Garth Brooks |
| Favorite vacation spot: | My home ("I spend so much time away and training, I vacation at home and love it!") |
| Favorite Gadget: | Epoxy |
| Favorite Season: | Winter |
| Favorite Sports Team: | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Favorite Quotes: | "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races, one after another." - Walter Elliot; "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, bur rather a lack of will" - Vincent T. Lombardi; "The only disability in life is a bad attitude." - Scott Hamilton; "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle |
Information courtesy of Ice Network