Ryan O'Meara

O'Meara competed on the novice and junior levels with Melissa Ralph and Lia Nitake, having some success with them both. He won four straight medals at the U.S. Championships on the novice and junior levels between 1999 and 2002, two with Ralph and two with Nitake. He competed with Lydia Manon from 2003 to 2005. With Manon, he won the bronze medal at the 2005 U.S. Championships and at the 2005 Four Continents, following which Manon decided to end the partnership.

He began training with Jamie Silverstein, a former World Junior Champion with Justin Pekarek, in April 2005. They were coached by Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva in Canton, Michigan. Silverstein and O'Meara had sudden success. They were sent as a host entry to the 2005 Skate America, their first international competition together as a team, and placed 5th.

They won the bronze medal at the 2006 U.S. Championships, which qualified them for the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2006 Four Continents Championships. They competed at the Four Continents and placed 6th.

At the Olympics, they placed 18th in the compulsory dance, 16th in the original dance, and 18th in the free dance, placing 16th overall out of 23 teams. They chose not to compete at the 2006 World Championships. U.S. pewter medalists Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin were sent in their place.

In the spring of 2006, Silverstein and O'Meara announced they would be taking time off from competitive skating. Their partnership ended soon after and O'Meara retired from competitive skating.

O'Meara works as a coach. He owns an interior design business called "Palavela Home", which is named after the Palavela, the venue for the figure skating competition at the Olympics.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/print-edition/2011/03/25/palavela-home-opening-interior-design.html|title=Palavela Home opening interior design showroom, events venue|last=Harvey|first=Christine|date=25 March 2011|work=Phoenix Business Journal|access-date=3 March 2019}}

O'Meara is openly gay.

(with Silverstein)

(with Manon)

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite news | url = http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=29129 | title = Two U.S. ice dancing teams announce end of partnerships | work = U.S. Figure Skating | date = March 1, 2005 | access-date = February 27, 2012 | archive-date = September 30, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201350/http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=29129 | url-status = dead }}

{{cite news | url = http://www.skatetoday.com/2005/10/10/painful-breakups-lead-to-new-beginnings-for-silverstein-and-omeara/ | title = Painful Breakups Lead to New Beginnings for Silverstein and O'Meara | last = Mittan | first = Barry | date = October 10, 2005 | publisher = SkateToday }}

{{cite web | url = http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00007990.htm | title = Jamie SILVERSTEIN / Ryan O'MEARA: 2005/2006 | work = International Skating Union | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20091102225907/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00007990.htm | archivedate = November 2, 2009 | url-status = live }}

{{cite web | url = http://www.usfigureskating.org/AthletePairBio.asp?id=30786 | title = Jamie Silverstein & Ryan O'Meara | work = U.S. Figure Skating | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060524181730/http://www.usfigureskating.org/AthletePairBio.asp?id=30786 | archivedate = May 24, 2006 | url-status = dead }}

{{cite web | url = http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00006977.htm | title = Lydia MANON / Ryan O'MEARA: 2004/2005 | work = International Skating Union | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20091201094716/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00006977.htm | archivedate = December 1, 2009 | url-status = live }}

{{cite web |url=http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2008/07/17/olympic-figure-skater-comes-out/ |title=Olympic figure skater comes out |first=Cyd |last=Zeigler, Jr |date=17 July 2008 |accessdate=30 December 2011 |work=OutSports.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624050153/http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2008/07/17/olympic-figure-skater-comes-out/ |archivedate=24 June 2011 }}

}}

• [http://www.palavelahome.com/ O'Meara's interior design company]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060212060126/http://www.figureskatersonline.com/silverstein-omeara/ Official Silverstein/O'Meara Website]
• {{usfsa name | category=AthletePairBio | id=30786 | name=Ryan O'Meara }}
• {{isu name | id=00007990 | name=Silverstein / O'Meara}}
• {{isu name | id=00006977 | name=Manon & O'Meara}}
• [http://www.usoc.org/26_43493.htm U.S. Olympic Team bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313143449/http://www.usoc.org/26_43493.htm |date=2007-03-13 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omeara, Ryan}}

Category:1984 births

Category:American male ice dancers

Category:Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Category:Living people

Category:Olympic figure skaters for the United States

Category:American LGBTQ dancers

Category:American gay sportsmen

Category:Gay dancers

Category:LGBTQ figure skaters

Category:Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists

Category:Sportspeople from Houston

Category:LGBTQ people from Texas

Category:Sportspeople from Scottsdale, Arizona

Category:LGBTQ people from Arizona

Category:21st-century American sportsmen