Lillehammer, Hamar, 19 February 1994: Brian BOITANO, USA, 6th, in action in the men's figure skating free programme. Credit: Getty Images/Clive BrunskillBorn: 22 October 1963
Birthplace: Mountain View (United States)
Nationality: United States
Sport: Skating
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Sarajevo 1984
Calgary 1988
Lillehammer 1994
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 2 (86, 88)
Silver: 1 (87)
Bronze: 1 (85)
Winning the Battle of the Brians
Going into the free skating portion of the men's figure skating competition in Calgary in 1988, Brian Boitano and Brian Orser were in a virtual tie for first place. Boitano then gave a stunning performance despite the enormous pressure. "I felt like angels were lifting and spinning me,"he later explained.
The judging could not have been closer. Four judges voted for Orser, three voted for Boitano and two scored it a tie. The judges who gave Orser and Boitano equal marks broke the ties by choosing the score for technical merit as the tiebreaker.
As both awarded Boitano higher marks for technical merit, he ended up winning 5-4. Because Boitano was actually a friend of Orser's, he had mixed feelings about his victory. "I almost felt guilty feeling great", he said. "I tried to hold it back, so me feeling great wouldn't make him feel worse".
