Biography of Brian Boitano

Boitano is probably best remembered for his incomparable jumping technique, having propelled the technical aspect of the sport in both the amateur and professional ranks. He was the first American to land the Triple axel in 1982; he was the first skater to attempt a quadruple jump in competition; and in 1987, he introduced his signature jump, the Tano triple lutz in which the skater, while performing the already extremely difficult jump, raises his left arm above his head. That the arm is raised (and not tucked in) dramatically reduces a jumper's angular momentum, making the 'Tano triple far more difficult than a normal triple jump.

The extent to which Boitano helped push the technical limits of the sport is quite astounding when one considers the type of elements that skaters regularly executed during the 10 years prior to Boitano's final competition as an amateur and the 10 years following his departure. The contrast in the difficulty of elements between a winning performance in 1978 and 1988 is quite stark, while the elements that Boitano executed in 1988 were still very much part of a top performance in 1998. This enabled Boitano to compete as a favorite in the second Olympics following his victory while previous Olympic champions would have found the technical landscape of their sport to have dramatically changed such that they wouldn't be able to contend. Even in the professional ranks, Boitano was the first skater to regularly execute Triple axels and land 6 triple jumps at the World Professional Championships. Prior to Boitano's entrance, professional skating had not at all emphasized technical prowess, but that significantly changed.

The highlight of Boitano's career is winning the much celebrated Battle of the Brians over Canadian Brian Orser at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Following the departure of four-time world champion and 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton to the professional ranks, a power vacuum had been left in the world of eligible men's figure skating. Among likely successors of Hamilton were 1984 Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser and Hamilton's fellow American, Brian Boitano, who had finished 5th at the Sarajevo Games. At the first world championships of the post-Hamilton era in 1985, Alexander Fadeev, then of the Soviet Union, was the surprise winner, with Orser finishing 2nd and Boitano 3rd. But in the 1986 World Championships in Geneva, Switzerland, Boitano took the title, while Orser unfortunately suffered a disastrous free skate despite having been in an excellent position to win. The following World Championships in 1987 were held in Cincinnati, giving the defending world champion Boitano a home-field advantage. Furthermore, the outcome of the event would set the tone for the 1988 Olympics. During the 1986-87 season, Boitano had introduced two new elements to his programs: the Tano Triple Lutz and a quadruple toe loop. Orser had also pushed the sport by introducing two Triple Axels to the free skate. In Cincinnati, Boitano fell on his quadruple toe loop attempt, despite landing it perfectly during warmups, and that set the tone for the rest of the program. Brian Orser, on the other hand, skated fantastically, and took the gold medal.

The stage was set for the all-important 1987-88 season, which of course included the 1988 Olympics. Upon losing the world title to Orser at home, Boitano and his coach Linda Leaver decided that some drastic changes needed to be made if Boitano were to become the Olympic Champion. Boitano's technical elements had always been amazing, but his presentation had not; he was a self-described "jumping robot." In order to rectify these shortcomings in his artistic side, Canadian Sandra Bezic, now a legendary choreographer, was hired. Bezic recalls feeling somewhat uneasy about taking the job on two respects: 1. she wondered if becoming Boitano's choreographer would constitute taking sides in the American Boitano vs. fellow Canadian Orser's looming duel in Calgary. 2. Bezic had doubts of whether Boitano could be transformed into an artistic skater. Boitano had usually skated to upbeat rock and roll music, trying to imitate Hamilton's and Orser's quick movements, but Bezic choreographed two programs that had clean lines and accentuated the 5' 11" Boitano's skating. The short program was based on Giaccomo Meyerbeer's ballet Les Patineurs in which Boitano plays a cocky boy showing off his tricks and uses movements dating back to the 19th century. It is this program in which Boitano famously brushes off ice shavings off his skate and tosses it above his shoulder upon landing a very difficult Triple axel-double loop combination. The free program was based on the film score Napoleon by Francis Ford Coppola, detailing various phases of a soldier's life. Ironically, Orser's free program this season also had a military theme, and both skaters' costumes involved military garbs: Boitano's blue and Orser's red.

Boitano debuted his new programs at 1987 Skate Canada, held in the Saddledome in Calgary, the same venue in which he would compete against Brian Orser for the Olympic title in three months. Boitano's new programs were received with standing ovations by the audience and quite a surprise by skating pundits. Orser actually won this competition, but Boitano showed amazing early season form, landing 7 flawless triple jumps, which was more than what Orser had landed. Furthermore, the Tano Triple was refined, the Triple Axel further improved, and the Triple Flip-Triple Toe Loop combination now preceded by a footwork sequence. This sent a message that the significant strides in presentation did not come at the expense of technique; if anything, Boitano's technical elements were now much more difficult and better executed. Furthermore, Boitano, Leaver, and Bezic were so confident about the strength of Boitano's new programs that they omitted the quadruple toe loop, which if landed, would have put him a shoulder above Orser in technical merit even if Orser skated absolutely flawlessly.

The short program at the 1988 US National Championships proved to be a highlight. Boitano received marks of 6.0 from eight of the nine judges for presentation, not for his usual high mark of technical merit, although those marks were quite good as well. His free skate was not his best, but because of significant delays, the program was skated in the wee hours of the night, nearly 6 hours after it was scheduled. Boitano's only remark was, "I was sleepy." Orser faced a similar predicament at the Canadian Nationals: a fantastic short program, and a not-so-great free skate due to extremely sloppy conditions. But both skaters had the clear backing of their national federations, and the stage was set for the Olympics.