Lillehammer, Hamar, 19 February 1994: Brian BOITANO, USA, 6th, in action in the men's figure skating free programme. Credit: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill

Born: 22 October 1963

Birthplace: Mountain View (United States)

Nationality: United States

Sport: Skating

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Sarajevo 1984

Calgary 1988

Lillehammer 1994

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 1

Other results:

World Championships

Gold: 2 (86, 88)

Silver: 1 (87)

Bronze: 1 (85)

Winning the Battle of the Brians

Going into the free skating portion of the men's figure skating competition in Calgary in 1988, Brian Boitano and Brian Orser were in a virtual tie for first place. Boitano then gave a stunning performance despite the enormous pressure. "I felt like angels were lifting and spinning me,"he later explained.

The judging could not have been closer. Four judges voted for Orser, three voted for Boitano and two scored it a tie. The judges who gave Orser and Boitano equal marks broke the ties by choosing the score for technical merit as the tiebreaker.

As both awarded Boitano higher marks for technical merit, he ended up winning 5-4. Because Boitano was actually a friend of Orser's, he had mixed feelings about his victory. "I almost felt guilty feeling great", he said. "I tried to hold it back, so me feeling great wouldn't make him feel worse".