Philippe Candeloro was born on 17 February 1972 and is a French former competitive figure skater.
29 Facts About Philippe Candeloro
2.
Philippe Candeloro is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World medalist, a two-time European silver medalist, and a four-time French national champion.
3.
Philippe Candeloro has been a commentator for French television during figure skating events at the Olympics.
4.
Philippe Candeloro was born in Courbevoie, the youngest of four children.
5.
Philippe Candeloro's father, Luigi, was a mason, and, a few years after Philippe's birth, built a family home in the Parisian suburb of Colombes.
6.
Early in his childhood Candeloro enjoyed swimming and elastic springboard.
7.
Philippe Candeloro stole one of his first pairs of skates.
8.
Philippe Candeloro's mother paid for them when the theft was discovered.
9.
Philippe Candeloro was invited to a summer training camp at Font-Romeu, which would become an annual event for him.
10.
Philippe Candeloro refused this invitation, opting instead to continue training in Colombes with Brunet.
11.
Philippe Candeloro participated in the closing ceremony at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and began to work with choreographer Natacha Dabadie.
12.
Philippe Candeloro finished third at the French nationals and was assigned to the post-Olympic World Championships, where he placed ninth.
13.
Philippe Candeloro finished off the podium at the 1994 European Championships but a month later he won the bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
14.
Philippe Candeloro ended his season with a silver medal at the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan.
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Philippe Candeloro then toured with Champions on Ice in the United States and performed in other shows.
16.
Philippe Candeloro wore loose brown and beige striped trousers and an off-white shirt and skated to tarantella rhythms.
17.
Philippe Candeloro wore black trousers and a black shirt closed by a gold chain across his collar for his free skating program, with slicked-back hair.
18.
Philippe Candeloro executed movements that portrayed the character Don Corleone, an older, more powerful man.
19.
Philippe Candeloro continued to use the Godfather themes in later seasons, whitening his hair for his free skating program.
20.
Philippe Candeloro appeared as Captain Sheng in a Disney television special based on the cartoon Mulan, with Michelle Kwan playing the title role.
21.
Philippe Candeloro started his farewell tour, "Hello and Goodbye", in France in February 2008.
22.
Philippe Candeloro's signature move, in which he spins and drops to his knees on the ice, is not allowed in amateur competition.
23.
Philippe Candeloro developed the spin accidentally when he slipped to his knees during a scratch spin.
24.
Kestnbaum reports that Philippe Candeloro has "explicitly stated" that he chose to play characters in his programs "in part to deflect charges of effeminacy".
25.
Philippe Candeloro is known to be a big fan of Japanese figure skater Mao Asada, calling himself her "godfather".
26.
Philippe Candeloro was introduced to his future wife by the choreographer of his 1994 Olympic program, Natasha Dabadie.
27.
Philippe Candeloro speaks several languages besides French, including English and Italian.
28.
In 2008, Candeloro was involved in the development of a namesake rose, the Philippe Candeloro rose with Lyonnais rose breeder Jean-Pierre Guillot.
29.
Philippe Candeloro narrowly escaped death in the Villa Castelli helicopter collision in 2015, when he was forced to wait for one of the helicopters on the next flight due to over-occupancy.