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, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. 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

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. His father, Greg, 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 in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. 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, who either resell them, ...

from

Prince George's Community College Prince George's Community College (PGCC) is a Public college, 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. H ...

. Weiss was a member of the

Phi Theta Kappa Phi Theta Kappa ( or PTK) is an honor society for students of associate degree-granting colleges. Its headquarters are in Jackson, Mississippi and it has more than 4.3 million members in nearly 1,300 chapters in eleven nations. History Phi The ...

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 Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

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

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

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

quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

toe loop Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plantigrade''; ...

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

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, 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 or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

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

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, 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 ...

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

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

and won bronze at the 2000 World Championships in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionDon Laws 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 Stars on Ice is a touring figure skating show produced by IMG. It was co-founded in 1986 by Bob Kain, IMG executive, and Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in men's figure skating. The production is a theatrical show featuring a ...

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 ...

. 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 Wei Chen (born May 5, 1999) is an American figure skating, figure skater. He is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's singles, 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World Figure Skating Championships#Men, World champion ...

Adam Rippon Adam Richard Rippon (born November 11, 1989) is a retired American competitive Figure skating, figure skater and media personality. He is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the team eve ...

Ashley Wagner Ashley Elisabeth Wagner (born May 16, 1991) is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, 2016 World silver medalist, a Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014 Olympic bronze medali ...

Mirai Nagasu is an American former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is a Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Four Co ...

, Madison and Keiffer Hubbell, Daisuke Murakami, and Christine Zukowski.

Programs

Competitive highlights

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 for 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 Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating Goodwill Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games 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 Carter G. Woodson High School alumni 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen