Lloyd Edgar Eisler,
MSM, (born April 28, 1963) is a former
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
pairs skater. With partner
Isabelle Brasseur
Isabelle Brasseur, (born July 28, 1970) is a Canadian former competitive pair skater. With her partner, Lloyd Eisler, she won two Olympic medals and the 1993 World Championships.
Personal life
Brasseur was born on July 28, 1970, in Kingsbury, ...
, he was the 1992 and 1994
Olympic bronze medallist and the
1993 World Champion.
Early partnerships and success
Eisler first competed with Lori Baier. They won three consecutive Canadian Championship silver medals from 1980 to 1982 and competed at the 1982 World Figure Skating Championships, finishing in ninth place.
He competed with
Katherina Matousek at the
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...
, in which they finished in eighth place. They competed in three consecutive Worlds from 1983 to 1985 and won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in 1984 and 1985. Their career highlight was a bronze medal at the 1985 World Figure Skating Championships, after which Matousek retired from the sport.
Starting with Brasseur in 1987-89
Eisler competed with Karen Westby in 1986 and won a bronze medal at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships, missing out on the World team by one spot. At the time, there was strong speculation that Eisler would retire.
He partnered with
Isabelle Brasseur
Isabelle Brasseur, (born July 28, 1970) is a Canadian former competitive pair skater. With her partner, Lloyd Eisler, she won two Olympic medals and the 1993 World Championships.
Personal life
Brasseur was born on July 28, 1970, in Kingsbury, ...
in 1987 and they qualified for the Olympics and Worlds in 1988. They became Canadian champions in 1989 and went into the World Figure Skating Championships in Paris with high hopes of a medal in a weak and wide open field, but placed a disappointing seventh after two subpar, error-filled performances.
Breakthrough 1990
Eisler and Brasseur had a disastrous performance in defense of their Canadian title in 1990, barely taking third place. They qualified for the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships by one judge over fourth-place finishers Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler. They said afterwards that they likely would have retired had they missed the World team.
With modest expectations, a clean performance in the short program at the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships in Halifax put them in fourth place. An inspired long program, which some thought should have won the gold medal, garnered a highly surprising silver medal behind only Russian skaters Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov on a 5–4 split.
1991-92
Brasseur and Eisler regained their Canadian title and went into the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships as the favorite. They handily won the short program, but the inspired free program of Natalia Mishkutionok and Artur Dmitriev to
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
's
Liebesträume (Dream of Love), combined with a costly singled double axel by Eisler, garnered a silver medal on a 7-2 judges split.
After a spectacular long program at the 1992 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Brasseur and Eisler competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in
Albertville, France
Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France.
It is best k ...
. Their main competition was expected to be Mishkutionok and Dmitriev. Despite a fall by Brasseur on the side-by-side double axels in the short program, the pair were protected by the judges and placed third above top teams who had clean short programs, including Radka Kovarikova/Rene Novotny and Evgenia Shishkova/Vadim Naumov. The result put Brasseur and Eisler in position to automatically win the gold medal if they won win the long program, but their long program was filled with major errors, including two falls and two other two-footed landings. They were awarded a controversial bronze medal on a 5–4 split ahead of Kovarikova and Novotny.
At the 1992 World Figure Skating Championships in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, Brasseur and Eisler delivered a clean and spectacular short program to place second, but a flawed long program marred by two falls resulted in a bronze medal. Brasseur considered retirement, but the pair continued competing.
Finally world champions
Despite an inconsistent season, with the retirement of Miskutienok and Dmitriev and the disastrous season of world silver medalists Kovarikova and Novotny, Brasseur and Eisler went into the 1993 World Figure Skating Championships in
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.3 m ...
as the favorites. They won the short program in a tight decision over Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. Two of the favorites, European champions Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov and hometown favorites Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novtony, took themselves out of the running with major errors, finishing in fifth and sixth place respectively. A spectacular long program by Brasseur and Eisler, followed by a mistake by Shishkova and Naumov on the side-by-side triple toes, ensured the long-awaited Worlds victory for Brasseur and Eisler, gaining first place votes from all nine judges. They were praised for artistic improvements in their skating along with their renowned technical strength.
Last amateur year 1994
Despite being world champions, Brasseur and Eisler became the underdogs following the reinstatement of former Olympic champions Gordeeva and Grinkov and their longtime archrivals Mishkutionok and Dmitriev. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in
Lillehammer, Norway
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
, they made a strong bid for gold with clean short and long programs, but were barely able to fend off the young Russian team of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov for the bronze medal, gaining it on a 5–4 split.
Brasseur and Eisler competed injured at the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships in Chiba, Japan and earned a silver medal. It was their last amateur outing.
Throughout their amateur career, Brasseur and Eisler were known as the team with the strongest lifts in the world and arguably the strongest double and triple twists in the world. They were noted particularly for a lift in which Eisler lifted Brasseur with one arm. Other pairs had lifts in which the male lifted the female with both hands and then let go with one, but theirs was unique in Eisler lifting Brasseur without ever touching her with his second hand.
Professional career
Brasseur and Eisler had a distinguished professional career, winning many events, although they were never able to place higher than runner-up at the two most prominent events, the World Professional Championships in Landover, Maryland and the Challenge of Champions. They became fan favorites with many inventive routines, including their gender-reversal routine to Chris De Burgh's "Patricia the Stripper."
They also were popular show skaters, particularly in Canadian Stars on Ice and Champions on Ice, for many years.
Post-competitive career
In 2004, Eisler was involved in starting the Skaters High Achievement Readiness Program at the West Kingston Skating Club in
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...
; he resigned as director in January 2006.
Effective October 6, 2006, Eisler was suspended from coaching in Canada for a one-year period by
Skate Canada
Skate Canada (Canadian French: ''Patinage Canada'', lit. "Skating Canada") is the national governing body for figure skating in Canada, recognized by the International Skating Union and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It organizes the annual C ...
after allegedly sending sexually suggestive e-mails to his 15-year-old student.
At the time of the ban, Eisler was coaching in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, where the Canadian ban did not apply.
He did not appeal the ban.
No criminal charges were ever filed.
Eisler is director of skating operations at the L.A. Kings Valley Ice Center in
Panorama City, Los Angeles
Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. More than half of the neighborhood's population was b ...
.
Personal life
Eisler was born in
Seaforth,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. He has two sons, Ethan (born May 19, 2004) and Seth (born December 13, 2005) from his marriage to Marcia O'Brien Eisler.
He appeared in the 2006
FOX
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
television program ''
Skating with Celebrities'', in which he was partnered with actress
Kristy Swanson
Kristy Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and appeared in the 1996 film ''The Phantom''.
Her first starring role was in ...
.
He began a relationship with Swanson during the show. On February 16, 2007, Swanson gave birth to their son, Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler. Eisler and Swanson married on February 7, 2009, in
San Luis Obispo, California
; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...
.
Results
With Brasseur
With Matousek
References
* Brasseur & Eisler. (1996). ''Brasseur & Eisler : To Catch a Dream''. Macmillan of Canada. .
"Eisler showed different side" ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', Oct 20, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisler, Lloyd
1963 births
Living people
Canadian male pair skaters
Figure skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration
Olympic bronze medalists for Canada
Olympic figure skaters for Canada
Sportspeople from Huron County, Ontario
Skating people from Ontario
Olympic medalists in figure skating
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics
20th-century Canadian sportsmen