Current Biography Excerpts: Figure Skating

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BOITANO, BRIAN
HAMILTON, SCOTT
WITT, KATARINA
YAMAGUCHI, KRISTI

BOITANO, BRIAN
(boi-TAH-noh)
Oct. 22, 1963- Figure skater.

A bright spot in an otherwise dismal showing by the American team at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta was the dazzling skating of Brian Boitano. One of only two American athletes to capture a gold medal at those games (the speed skater Bonnie Blair took the other), Boitano turned in a freestyle skating performance that seasoned observers ranked with the best they had ever seen to narrowly defeat the home-country favorite, Brian Orser, his longtime rival. His victory culminated a lifelong dream for Boitano, who began skating at the age of eight and who, unlike most top figure skaters, has had only one coach in his entire career--Linda Leaver. (By comparison, Peggy Fleming, the 1968 women's Olympic gold-medal winner, had ten coaches on the way to her Olympic triumph.) Miss Leaver is a suburban housewife, relatively unknown in the upper echelons of figure skating, who became a coach in order to help pay for her husband's college expenses.

In addition to his Olympic gold medal, Brian Boitano has won four United States national championships and two world titles. Ironically, it was his loss to Orser in the 1987 world championships that marked the turning point in Boitano's career. Following that defeat, he hired the skating choreographer Sandra Bezic, who revamped his style, adding to his natural athletic gifts more artistry and emotion. That changeover had much to do with his Olympic triumph.

Copyright © 1996 by The H. W. Wilson Co.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1989 Current Biography Yearbook.

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HAMILTON, SCOTT
Aug. 28, 1958- Skater.

Throughout the 1970s men's figure skating was dominated by such balletic performers as John Curry and Robin Cousins, the gold medalists at, respectively, the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics, whose grace and purity of line rivaled those of a premier danseur. Since 1981, however, the preeminent skater internationally, with eight consecutive national and world titles to his credit, has been Scott Hamilton, a pint-sized powerhouse known for his extraordinary speed and virtuoso stunts, among them a battery of triple jumps. Contending that figure skating is a sport rather than an art form, the deceptively fragile-looking Hamilton has created for himself surprisingly athletic free-skating routines in an energetic, "apple pies and Chevrolets" style, to use his words, that have won over audiences and judges alike. His gold medal in men's figure skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics was the first for an American since David Jenkins took that honor in 1960.

Six weeks after his birth on August 28, 1958, Scott Hamilton was adopted by Ernest and Dorothy Hamilton, professors of, respectively, biology and family relations at Bowling Green [Ohio] State University. He has an older sister, Susan, and a younger brother, Steven, who is also adopted. When he was about two, Scott contracted a mysterious illness that caused him to stop growing. Tests indicated that the boy was, in effect, suffering from malnutrition because his body was not digesting and absorbing food properly, but his physicians were at a loss as to how to correct the condition. Although bedridden for the better part of the next few years, Scott "never really felt sick," as he recalled to Jane Leavy of the Washington Post (January 18, 1984). He "just felt short."

Copyright © 1996 by The H. W. Wilson Co.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1985 Current Biography Yearbook.

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WITT, KATARINA
(vit, kah-tah-REE-nah)
Dec. 1965- Figure skater.

The glamorous and graceful East German figure skater Katarina Witt brought renewed interest to women's ice skating in the 1980s with her elegant, expressive technique, her boldly flirtatious style, and her exciting, if one-sided, rivalry with American skater Debi Thomas. Not since Sonja Henie reigned over the sport in the 1930s has a woman skater been so dominant for so long. During the years from 1982 to 1988, she won six European championships, five world championships, and two Olympic gold medals, while losing only one major event. In the process, the coquettish Katarina Witt has captivated fans and gained worldwide recognition for herself, her sport, and her country.

Copyright © 1996 by The H. W. Wilson Co.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1988 Current Biography Yearbook.

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YAMAGUCHI, KRISTI
(yah-mah-GOO-chee)
July 12, 1971- Figure skater.

"It's something I've dreamed of ever since I put on skates as a little girl," Kristi Yamaguchi, whose "little girlhood" was not so very long ago, said in a press conference shortly after she captured the gold medal in figure skating for the United States in the 1992 Winter Olympics. Drawing on her superior technical skills, natural poise, and innate musicality, the twenty-year-old Yamaguchi glided past her formidable rivals to reach the zenith of her profession--and to become the first American woman to win the Olympic championship title in figure skating since Dorothy Hamill, in 1976.

Kristi Yamaguchi's victory was all the sweeter because it came as something of a surprise. As recently as 1990, Yamaguchi had not yet won a major United States or international singles competition, but in the eleven months leading up to the 1992 Winter Games, the quietly confident skater blossomed into a performer of such exquisite grace and powerful athleticism that she was without rival among her peers. Yamaguchi "has evolved as a skater of feathery elegance," Michael Janofsky wrote in the New York Times (February 19, 1992). "Almost dainty, with slim arms and long slender legs, she has mastered nuances of presentation that few other skaters understand: perfect control of her finger tips, the proper tilt of her head--movements that massage the senses."

Copyright © 1996 by The H. W. Wilson Co.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1992 Current Biography Yearbook.

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