At the 1998 U.S. Nationals in Philadelphia, Michael Weiss came close to making history by nearly landing the first clean quadruple Lutz in history. It was certainly the first one ever attempted at the U.S. Championships. Weiss' landing was slightly two-footed, but what a great effort it was, igniting the crowd. All the quad talk leading up to the nationals, and after Michael's valiant attempt, created headlines. The year before at the 1997 Nationals in Nashville, Weiss had also come close to landing the first quadruple Toe Loop in U.S. Championship history. At both events, though stealing the spotlight, Michael finished a close second behind rival Todd Eldredge. Michael, now age 34, was born in Washington, D.C. to an athletic family. His father Greg was a 1964 Olympian on the U.S. gymnastics team. Michael represented the Washington Figure Skating Club throughout his career. For a good portion of his career he trained with coach Audrey Weisiger in Fairfax, VA, and then with Scott Hamilton's former coach, Don Laws on the east coast.
Michael is a 3-time U.S. National (1999, 2000, 2003), a two-time world bronze medalist (1999, 2000), and a two time Olympic team member (1998, 2002). After finishing a close fourth at the 2006 Nationals, behind Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek, and Matt Savoie, missing out on his third Olympic team, Michael turned professional and joined Stars on Ice. He's been a fan-favorite cast member ever since. My family has seen Michael perform several times and he is always a wonderfully funny and entertaining performer. You can always count on Michael for a good show! He loves to play to the crowd.
Besides being a great showman, Michael is also a family man. He and his wife Lisa have two children, Annie-Mae and Christopher. Michael also gives back to up-and-coming skaters through scholarships through the Michael Weiss Foundation. Michael holds a skating show each year with all the proceeds going toward his foundation.
A great U.S. Champion, a great performer, and a great guy.
Over the years Michael skated to some more hip and contemporary music, such as Santana, Van Halen and Metallica, but my money is on his classical programs. I love this Beethoven piece. Michael really shines. His skating is fused with athleticism, excitement, and a burgeoning artistic sensibility in this performance. It was choreographed by his wife, Lisa.
I can remember watching this performance like it was yesterday. It was in 8th grade and I stayed up late on a Thursday night to watch it. The next day in history class, my friend Don was talking about how he saw on the news that Michael attempted quad Lutz. I love those moments when non-skating fans are interested in the sport! Michael's record-seeking approach to skating created that interest time and time again.
It's also interesting to note that on You Tube, the first comment under this video is from Michael himself. It says: "Thanks for putting this up....funny to watch again. Right at the beginning, as I push my hand to the camera, You can see a small scar on the palm of my hand....it's from a fall on the quad lutz about 2 weeks earlier....ha ha. great memory:) "
Only Michael could know something like that, so I believe he wrote it. It's funny to think that skaters may search themselves on YouTube and find the same videos that all of us get so much entertainment from watching! Thanks to You Tube videos I am able to share some of skating's most inspirational, fun, and beautiful moments with all of you.
I hope you enjoy Michael's freeskate to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven from the 1998 U.S. Championships.
No comments:
Post a Comment