32 Facts About Brian Boitano

1.

Brian Anthony Boitano was born on October 22,1963 and is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California.

2.

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

3.

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

4.

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

5.

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

6.

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

7.

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

8.

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

9.

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

10.

Brian Boitano had injured tendons in his right ankle a few weeks before the 1986 US Championships but went on to win his second national title.

11.

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

12.

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

13.

Brian Boitano had always been good at the technical requirements, but he was weak on the artistic.

14.

The short program was based on Giacomo Meyerbeer's ballet Les Patineurs, in which Brian Boitano plays a cocky young man showing off his tricks, using movements dating to the 19th century.

15.

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

16.

Brian Boitano did pop his planned second triple Axel.

17.

Brian Boitano received marks of 6.0 from eight of the nine judges for presentation, the second mark.

18.

Still, Brian Boitano won the competition, and went into the Olympics as the national champion, as did Orser.

19.

Brian Boitano was known as the slightly better technician and Orser as the better artist.

20.

Brian Boitano skated a clean, technically excellent long program, with eight triple jumps, including two axels, and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination.

21.

Experts questioned why the scores were so close between the two skaters because Brian Boitano had 2 triple axels, 2 triple flips and a triple triple combination, elements that were not included in Orser's program.

22.

Brian Boitano won the gold medal, wearing skates with American flag appliques.

23.

Brian Boitano appeared in Carmen on Ice, for which he won an Emmy.

24.

However, Brian Boitano wanted to return to amateur competition and make another run at the Olympics.

25.

Many others joined Brian Boitano, including Ukrainian Viktor Petrenko, 1988 bronze medalist and 1992 gold medalist.

26.

Brian Boitano reinstated as an amateur to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

27.

Brian Boitano skated a good long program and finished 6th.

28.

In December 2013, Brian Boitano was named to the United States delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

29.

In conjunction with that appointment, Brian Boitano publicly came out as gay.

30.

In January 2014, Brian Boitano told the Associated Press that he had never wanted to come out until he was named to the delegation.

31.

Brian Boitano's older brother, Mark Brian Boitano, is a real estate agent and former politician.

32.

Brian Boitano served as a member of the New Mexico Senate from 1997 to 2013.