Personal Life and Career
Silverstein grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. After her parents divorced when she was 11, she moved with her mother to Michigan.
Early in her career, Silverstein competed with Justin Pekarek. They won the 1999 World Junior and U.S. Junior titles. The next season, they moved up to the senior level. They won gold at the 1999 Nebelhorn Trophy, silver at the 2000 U.S. Championships, and bronze at the 2000 Four Continents. They announced their split on December 19, 2000. Silverstein later revealed that she had battled eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia, during her career.
Silverstein trained briefly with Brandon Forsyth but never competed with him. She left competitive skating for a period and attended Cornell University. She was off the ice completely for two years, stepping onto the ice again in late 2004. Silverstein decided to make a return to competition. In April 2005, she began training with Ryan O'Meara. They won the bronze medal at the 2006 U.S. Championships and qualified for the 2006 Winter Olympics. They were coached by Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva in Canton, Michigan.
On May 3, 2006, Silverstein and O'Meara announced they would be taking time off from competitive skating. She planned to return to school and complete her degree. In 2008, she graduated from Cornell University with a degree as a College Scholar, choosing to specialize in catharsis and emotional psychology. Her thesis work involved a performance piece whose subject was Ekman's 6 basic emotions. Now she works as a yoga instructor and is an advocate in eating disorder recovery. She also maintains a blog. In 2012, Silverstein opened a yoga studio, The Grinning Yogi, in Seattle.
Read more about this topic: Jamie Silverstein
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