Brian Boitano Biography

Fast Facts

• Became the U
• S
• Junior Men's Champion at age 14
• First American skater to land a triple axel in competition (1982 U
• S
• Championships)
• Four-time U
• S
• National Champion, a two-time World Champion and the 1988 Olympic gold medalist in Calgary
• Originated the 'Tano triple lutz, his signature leap in which a skater will extend his left arm above his head in the midst of the jump
• Reinstated as an amateur to skate at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer as a result of his petitioning the International Skating Union after other Olympic sports such as basketball and tennis allowed professional athletes to once again compete
• Satirized in Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), which features a musical parody titled "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" Member of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, the U
• S
• Figure Skating Hall of Fame, National Italian-American Hall of Fame and U
• S
• Olympic Hall of Fame
• Skates from his 1988 Olympic gold-medal performance are exhibited at the Smithsonian
• Founded Youth Skate, a non-profit organization created to introduce the sport of ice skating to the Bay Area's underprivileged youth