Michael Weiss (born August 2, 1976) is an American former competitive and currently professional

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. He is in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and is a three-time national champion (1999, 2000, 2003) a two-time World bronze medalist (1999, 2000), and a two-time Olympic team member.

Personal life

Michael Weiss was born August 2, 1976, in

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. His father,

Greg Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

, was a gymnast on the 1964 Olympic team, and his mother, Margie, was also a gymnast and national champion. His sister Geremi was a figure skater and junior national silver medalist; his other sister, Genna, was junior world diving champion. Weiss graduated from

Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School, commonly known as W.T. Woodson High School or simply Woodson, is a high school located in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the east end of the city of Fairfax, opposite the shopping center on Main Street. The sc ...

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

. He holds an associate degree in

business marketing Business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations (including commercial businesses, governments and institutions). It allows them to sell products or services to other companies or organizations that resell them, use the ...

from

Prince George's Community College Prince George's Community College (PGCC) is a public community college in Largo, Maryland, Largo in Prince George's County, Maryland. The college serves Prince George's County and surrounding areas, including Washington, D.C. History Founded i ...

. Weiss was a member of the

Phi Theta Kappa Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society ( or PTK) is the international honor society of students attending open-access institutions and seeking associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, or other college credentials. Its headquarters is in Jackson, Mississippi ...

Honor Society. In September 1997, he married his jazz dance teacher, Lisa Thornton. Their daughter, Annie-Mae, was born in September 1998 and their son, Christopher Michael, in October 1999.

Career

Weiss began skating in 1986. Audrey Weisiger coached him from the age of nine. Weiss took the silver medal at the 1993 World Junior Championships in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea and won gold at the 1994 World Junior Championships in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. At the 1997 U.S. Championships, Weiss attempted to become the first American to land the

quad Quad as a word or prefix usually means 'four'. It may refer to: Government * Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States * Quadrilateral group, an informal group which inc ...

toe loop The toe loop jump is the simplest jump in the sport of figure skating. It was invented in the 1920s by American professional figure skater Bruce Mapes. The toe loop is accomplished with a forward approach on the inside edge of the blade; the skat ...

. It was initially believed to have been successful but three hours after the competition,

U.S. Figure Skating U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee "USOPC" under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act an ...

ruled that the jump had been two-footed and decided not to ratify it. He pulled up from fifth after the short program to take the silver medal behind

Todd Eldredge Todd James Eldredge (born August 28, 1971) is an American former competitive figure skater. He is the 1996 World champion, a six-time U.S. national champion (1990, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002), a three-time Olympian (1992, 1998, 2002), and a ...

and was sent to

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, Switzerland to compete at his first

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, where he finished seventh. In February 1999, Weiss won his first senior national title at the U.S. Championships in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. The following month, he was awarded the bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland. After recovering from a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his left ankle, Weiss defended his national title at the 2000 U.S. Championships in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and won bronze at the 2000 World Championships in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France. Weiss missed part of the 2000–01 season due to a stress fracture in his foot. At the start of the 2002–03 season,

Don Laws Don Laws (May 30, 1929 – December 2, 2014) was an American figure skater and coach. Personal life Don Laws was born on May 30, 1929 in Washington, D.C. He had a brother, Willard Laws, and sister, Laura Keesling. In 1951, he joined the United ...

filled in for Weisiger at the Campbell's Classic. On October 29, 2002, Weiss decided to leave Weisiger to train full-time with Laws. Weiss competed 19 consecutive years at the U.S. Championships. He was the first American to land a quadruple toe loop in competition. He invented the "Tornado", a backflip with a full twist, and debuted it at the Hallmark Skaters Championship in December 2002. Though not allowed in competition, it is a crowd favorite in exhibitions. Weiss turned professional in 2006. He toured with Stars On Ice and competed in

Ice Wars Ice Wars was an annual elite figure skating team competition. The first Ice Wars took place in 1994. The competition format was "Team World" vs. "Team USA" or "Team North America". The 2005 competition was one exception, with the format changed to a ...

. Around 2012, he began teaching skating skills to hockey players.

Michael Weiss Foundation

While still an eligible skater, Weiss started the Michael Weiss Foundation, which gives scholarships to up-and-coming figure skaters. Skaters who have received scholarships include

Nathan Chen Nathan Chen (born May 5, 1999) is an American figure skater. He is the 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion ( 2018, 2019, 2021), the 2017 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion ( 2017, 2018, 2019), a ...

Adam Rippon Adam Richard Rippon (born November 11, 1989) is an American figure skater. He won the 2010 Four Continents Championships and the 2016 U.S. National Championships. Earlier in his career, he won the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships, the ...

Ashley Wagner Ashley Elisabeth Wagner (born May 16, 1991) is an American former figure skater. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalis ...

Mirai Nagasu is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2007 JGP Final champion, a two-time World Junior medalist (silver in 2007 ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and

Keiffer Hubbell Keiffer J. Hubbell (born January 15, 1989) is an American ice dancer. He competed with his sister Madison Hubbell from 2001 to 2011. They are the 2010 Four Continents bronze medalists, two-time (2009, 2011) U.S. pewter medalists, and 2006 Junio ...

, Daisuke Murakami, and Christine Zukowski.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix''

References

External links

MichaelWeiss.org
- Official website *

- US Olympic Committee Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Michael 1976 births American male single skaters Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic figure skaters of the United States Figure skaters from Washington, D.C. Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia World Figure Skating Championships medalists Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Universiade medalists in figure skating Goodwill Games medalists in figure skating Universiade gold medalists for the United States Competitors at the 1995 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School alumni