Brian Boitano

Brian Anthony Boitano (born October 22, 1963) is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California.

Brian Boitano was born in 1963 and raised in Mountain View, California.

Boitano is a graduate of Marian A. Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, California.

He is of Italian American descent, with family from northern Italy.

As an adult, he has lived in San Francisco.

Beginning skating as a child, Brian Boitano first made his mark on the international scene when he won the bronze medal at the 1978 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, beating future rival Brian Orser for that medal.

Early in his career, Boitano was known primarily for his jumping.

He, along with several other skaters, helped push the technical envelope of men's skating.

In 1982, Boitano became the first American to land a triple Axel.

At the 1983 World Championships, he became the first skater to ever land all six triple jumps in competition.

He would eventually include and successfully land eight triple jumps in his free skate program, the maximum number possible (see Zayak rule).

He would jump two flip jumps and two triple Axels to compete with his rival, Brian Orser, who jumped one triple flip and one triple Axel.

Boitano placed second at the 1984 United States Figure Skating Championships, earning a place in the 1984 Winter Olympics.

He placed 5th at the Olympics, setting the stage for his success over the next four years.

Following the 1984 Olympics, several skaters emerged as likely medal hopes following the retirement of Scott Hamilton.

Boitano won the 1985 United States Figure Skating Championships, the first of his four titles.

At the first World Championships of the post-Hamilton era in 1985, Alexander Fadeev won, with Brian Orser finishing 2nd and Boitano 3rd.

He attempted a quadruple jump throughout the 1986–87 season and at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships, but did not cleanly land the jump; he double-footed the landing on two occasions.

He had injured tendons in his right ankle a few weeks before the 1986 U.S. Championships but went on to win his second national title.

At the 1986 World Championships, Boitano took the title, while Fadeev had a disastrous free skate despite having been in an excellent position to win; Orser finished 2nd once again.

During the 1986–87 season, Boitano had introduced three new elements to his programs: the 'Tano triple lutz and a quadruple toe loop, as well as wearing a blindfold, although he never succeeded in landing a clean quadruple jump in competition.

In 1987, he introduced his signature jump, the 'Boitano triple Lutz', in which the skater raises his left arm above his head.

It was not until failing to defend his World title in 1987 that Boitano focused specifically on improving his artistry.

Toward this end, he worked with renowned choreographer Sandra Bezic.

The 1987 World Championships were held in Cincinnati, giving defending World champion Boitano a home-field advantage.

In order to help his growth as an artist, he hired choreographer Sandra Bezic to choreograph his programs for the 1987–1988 Olympic season.

Boitano debuted his new programs at 1987 Skate Canada, held in the Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

This was the same venue in which he would compete against Brian Orser for the Olympic title three months later.

Boitano's new programs were received with standing ovations by the audience.

Although Orser won the competition, Boitano skated clean, landing seven triple jumps, including a footwork section into a jump.

He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985–1988 U.S. National Champion.

He turned professional following the 1988 season.

The outcome of the event would set the tone for the 1988 Olympics.

At Worlds, Boitano fell on his quadruple toe loop attempt and placed second.

After losing the world title to Orser at home, Boitano and his coach Linda Leaver decided that some changes needed to be made if Boitano was to become the Olympic champion.

Boitano had always been good at the technical requirements ("The first mark"), but he was weak on the artistic ("the second mark").

He was a self-described "jumping robot."

Under new rules by the ISU, he returned to competition in 1993 and competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he placed sixth.

In 1996, he was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Bezic choreographed two programs that featured clean lines and accentuated the skating abilities of the 5' 11" Boitano. The short program was based on Giacomo Meyerbeer's ballet Les Patineurs, in which Boitano plays a cocky young man showing off his tricks, using movements dating to the 19th century. In one famous moment, Boitano wipes ice shavings, also called snow, off his skate blade and tosses it over his shoulder after landing a triple Axel combination. The free skating program was based on the film score, Napoleon, detailing various phases of a soldier's life.