Javier Fernández López (; born 15 April 1991) is a Spanish former figure skater. He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018).
In addition to his bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Fernández placed 14th at the 2010 Winter Olympics and 4th at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
He is the first skater from Spain to medal at an Olympic Games, ISU Championship or a Grand Prix event. Fernández is the second man to break the 100-point barrier in the short program, the 200-point barrier in the long program, and the 300-point barrier in the total score. As of 24 May 2017, he has the second highest personal best scores in both segments and third highest in the combined score.
In recognition of his achievements, Fernández received the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit by the Spanish government on 19 April 2016.
Personal life Javier Fernández López was born on 15 April 1991 in Madrid. He is the younger of two children born to Enriqueta, a mail carrier, and Antonio, an army mechanic. Their father stated, "Between the two children we were spending €450 a month when my earnings were less than €1,500". When Javier went to the United States to train, Antonio took a second job repairing helicopters to cover the expenses. His older sister, Laura, competed in ladies' singles and ice dancing. Fernández intends to become a coach after his competitive skating career ends. He is a fan of Real Madrid C.F.
Fernández relocated to Hackensack, New Jersey in the United States in the late summer of 2008. He moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the summer of 2011.
Competitive skating career Early career Fernández started skating at the age of six, after his older sister began taking lessons. For a while, he also played soccer, tennis, and ice hockey, but dropped the other sports to focus on skating at age eight. He skated at a small rink in the San Martín district before switching a year later to a rink in Majadahonda. One of his earliest coaches was Carolina Sanz, who stated that he had natural talent but initially lacked discipline.
Fernández landed his first triple jump at the age of 12. He had to leave Majadahonda after his sister decided to switch to the Jaca skating club, which offered to cover her costs. The youngest Fernández joined his sister in Jaca six months later.
Fernández began skating in senior events in the 2006–2007 season, but failed to qualify for the free skate at the European Championships and the World Championships in his debut season.
After two years in Jaca, where he had been teased and discouraged by a lack of improvement in his skating, he returned to Madrid and considered switching to hockey.
2008–09 season In 2008, Fernández attended a summer camp in Andorra where Russian coach Nikolai Morozov was an instructor. Morozov offered to train him in the United States and Fernández quickly agreed. Fernández relocated to Hackensack, New Jersey in late summer 2008. Although he shared an apartment with a Spanish coach and Morozov charged him nothing for coaching, his expenses in the United States were between €2,000 and €3,000 a month and he received no financial support from Spain.
Fernández had a breakthrough season in 2008–2009, finishing 11th at the 2009 European Championships and qualifying an Olympic spot for Spain with his 19th-place result at the 2009 World Championships. He was the first Spanish men's skater to qualify for the Olympics since 1956.
2009–10 season Fernández received his first senior Grand Prix assignment, the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard where he finished 11th. He was eighth at the 2010 European Championships, earning two spots for Spain in the following year's event. In his first Olympics, Fernández placed 16th in the short program, 10th in the free skate, and finished 14th overall. He was the first man in half a century to compete for Spain in Olympic figure skating – since the 1956 Olympics when Dario Villalba competed.
Fernández set a new personal best score on his way to a 12th-place finish at the 2010 World Championships. He added the 4T to his jump repertoire in the 2009–10 season.
2010–11 season
After Morozov moved back to Russia, Fernández trained with him in Moscow and also Daugavpils in neighboring Latvia. His assigned events for the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix season were the 2010 Skate Canada International and the 2010 Cup of Russia. He placed fifth at Skate Canada and ninth at Cup of Russia. At the 2011 Spanish Championships, Fernández cut his hand during the warm-up and received medical attention for twenty minutes, leaving him no time to warm up again. He was unable to defend his title, placing second behind Javier Raya. Since Spain had two men's slots at the 2011 European Championships due to Fernández' result the previous year, both skaters were sent to Bern, Switzerland. Fernández fell twice in the short program, leaving him in eleventh place, but was able to move up to ninth after the free skate and once again earned two spots for Spain at the next Europeans. At the 2011 World Championships, Fernández landed two different quads, (toe loop and Salchow), in the free skate. He earned his first top-ten finish at the event, giving Spain two spots for the 2012 Worlds men's event.
In June 2011, Fernández confirmed that he was no longer working with Morozov and would temporarily train in Canada with Brian Orser. This was due to instability resulting from Morozov's training group moving around frequently and Morozov's focus on Florent Amodio. He said that adding a quad to his short program and improving his basic skating were some of his goals for the 2011–12 season.
2011–12 season
Fernández finished 4th at his first competition of the season, the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy. At an interview conducted at the event, he said that he would continue to train in Canada, with David Wilson and Jeffrey Buttle as his choreographers. Fernández and Orser said they were working on saving energy and improving spins, transitions and skating skills.
His assigned events for the 2011–12 Grand Prix season were Skate Canada and Cup of Russia. At Skate Canada, Fernández executed the only clean quadruple jump in the short program to take the lead over Daisuke Takahashi and Patrick Chan. He placed second in the free skate and won the silver medal overall, exceeding his combined total personal best by over thirty points. He became the first Spanish skater to win a Grand Prix medal. At the Cup of Russia, he placed fourth in the short program, first in the free skate, and finished second overall with an overall total of 241.63 points — only 0.03 behind gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Fernández became the first Spanish skater to ever qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final when he qualified for the 2011–12 event. In Quebec City, he was third in the short program and fourth in the long to win the bronze medal, and in so doing, became the first Spaniard to medal at a Grand Prix Final. Fernández reclaimed his national title, winning by over eighty points.
The remainder of the season proved less successful for Fernández. Although considered a medal favorite at the 2012 Europeans, he finished sixth. At the 2012 World Championships, Fernández placed fifth in the short program but dropped to ninth overall after the free skate. After these results, he agreed to perform full run-throughs of his programs more frequently in practice.
2012–13 season ISU abbreviations: Jumps T Toe loop S Salchow Lo Loop F Flip Lz Lutz A Axel Fernández started his season at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy, where he won the bronze medal. His first Grand Prix event of the season was Skate Canada, where he beat defending Skate Canada and World champion, Patrick Chan, to take the gold medal. Fernández became the first Spaniard to win a gold medal in the Grand Prix series. Despite his fourth place at the 2012 NHK Trophy, he qualified for the Grand Prix Final. He finished fourth overall at the final after winning the free program with a 4S-3T jump combination, 4S, and 4T. He became the second European to execute three quads in one program — the first being Brian Joubert who landed a 4T-2T combination, 4T, and 4S at the 2006 Cup of Russia — and the first European to do so with a quad-triple combination.
In December 2012, Fernández won his third national title. At the 2013 European Championships he missed some practice time due to his skates being lost at the airport, but they were found one day before the start of the competition. Second in the short program, Fernández then placed first in the free skate, landing three quads jumps with one in combination. He won the gold medal and became the first Spanish skater to win a European title. He posted a new personal best overall score of 274.87 points. He later joked, "I have to make sure I lose my skates again!" At this time, Spain had just 14 indoor rinks and 600 registered figure skaters.
At the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario, Fernández placed 7th in the short program and 4th in the free skate. His total score of 249.06 points won him the bronze medal behind three-time World champion Patrick Chan and silver medalist Denis Ten. He became the first Spanish skater to stand on a World Championships podium in figure skating.
2013–14 season In October 2013, Fernández was invited to skate at the 2013 Japan Open as part of Team Europe alongside Michal Březina, Adelina Sotnikova and Irina Slutskaya. He scored 176.91 points in the free program and won the men's event while Team Europe placed third. In the 2013–14 Grand Prix season, Fernández placed fifth at the 2013 NHK Trophy and third at the 2013 Rostelecom Cup, not enough to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. In December, he won his fourth national title.
Fernández chose to use old skates after struggling with two new pairs of boots. He entered the 2014 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, as the defending champion. He placed first in the short program with a clean skate, 6 points ahead of Russia's Sergei Voronov. His score of 91.56 was a new personal best at the time – the first occasion he crossed the 90 point mark in international competition. In his free skate, Fernández completed three quads (stepping out of the opening toe loop and the second quad Salchow), a triple Axel and five more triples, but doubled a Lutz and underrotated the second jump of his quad Salchow-triple toe loop combination. He scored 175.55 points in the segment, 267.11 points overall, and won the European title for the second year in a row.
In February, Fernández competed in the men's singles event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He was the flag bearer for Spain during the opening ceremony. Earning 86.98 points in the short program, he placed third behind Yuzuru Hanyu and Patrick Chan, having stepped out of his quad Salchow and triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination. In the free skate, he landed a quad toe loop and a quad Salchow – the latter in combination – but tripled a second quad Salchow attempt. He went on to complete another triple Salchow as the last jump of his skate, which – having been repeated in the program – was rated as an invalid element, and received no points. He placed fifth in the free skate segment with 166.94 points, ultimately coming in fourth, 1.18 points behind Olympic bronze medalist Denis Ten of Kazakhstan.