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FACT SHEET Michael Weiss Birthdate: Aug. 2, 1976 Height: 5'9" Weight: 160 Hometown: Mclean, VA Home Club: Washington FSC Choreographer: Lisa Weiss

Career Highlights

Three-time U.S. Champion Two-time World Bronze Medalist Two-time Olympian World Junior Champion

Competitive Highlights

2005 Marshall’s World Skating Challenge - 2nd 2002 U.S. National Championships - 3rd 2005 Campbell's International Figure Skating 2001 Hershey's Figure Skating Team Challenge - 1st Classic - 2nd 2001 Goodwill Games - 2nd 2004 Skate America - 3rd 2001 Four Continents Championship - 3rd 2004 U.S. National Championships - 2nd 2000 U.S. National Championships - 1st 2003 Grand Prix Final - 3rd 2000 World Championships - 3rd 2003 International Figure Skating Challenge - 3rd 1999 U.S. National Championships - 1st 2003 Trophee Lalique - 3rd 1999 World Championships - 3rd 2003 Skate America - 1st 1998 Winter Olympics - 7th 2003 Campbell's International Figure Skating 1998 U.S. National Championships - 2nd Classic - 3rd 1997 U.S. National Championships - 2nd 2003 International Figure Skating Challenge - 3rd 1996 Skate America - 2nd 2003 U.S. National Championships - 1st 1996 Cup of Russia - 3rd 2002 Hallmark Skaters' Challenge - 2nd 1996 Trophee Lalique - 3rd 2002 Crest Whitestrips Challenge - 2nd 1996 Nebelhorn Trophy - 1st 2002 Trophee Lalique - 1st 1995 Skate America - 2nd 2002 Campbell's International Figure Skating 1995 World University Games - 1st Classic - 3rd 1994 World Jr. Championships – 1st 2002 Winter Olympics - 7th 1993 Word Jr. Championships – 2nd

Background

For further information please contact David Baden at: IMG 767 Fifth Avenue. 45th Floor New York, NY 10153 Phone: 212.774.4336 Fax: 212.774.8715 [email protected] 2 The Gazette

5 years into his professional career, Michael Weiss has developed a fresh perspective on skating. Although long a crowd-pleaser, he has found a genuine love and appreciation for performing. “When you compete, you focus on those things you have to do to be successful—footwork levels, spins and jumps,” he says. “As a professional, you’re trying to make the audience happy and you’re trying to make yourself happy. If you’re happy, the audience feels that energy and enjoys the performance.”

Weiss loves the artistic challenges of Smucker’s Stars on Ice, with which he has toured for five seasons. He approaches each show knowing how eagerly the audience members are waiting to see the skaters’ performances. “When the audience is enjoying it, the momentum starts from the beginning and picks up with each skater,” he says. “The skaters can feel that and carry it through the show. Every night as each skater performed, the audience got behind us.” In 2008, he did the Stars on Ice Canada tour for the first time and marvels at the unbridled enthusiasm of Canadian spectators.

The only downside of touring is being away from his family, but they do their best to connect. In September, Michael and Lisa Thornton Weiss, who make their home in Northern Virginia, celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary. They are the parents of Annie-Mae, 12, and Christopher, 11, who have always helped their father keep his priorities in order. When he’s home, he happily takes the kids to their various activities, including soccer, hockey, and tae kwon do. In 2004, he received the Golden Dad Award, and in 1999 the National Fatherhood Initiative named him Father of the Year.

“I’ve always placed a huge emphasis on family,” Weiss says. “Skating has been a big part of my life and I’ve set goals for myself and gone after them. It’s taught me discipline and determination—great things. But it will always take a back seat if my family needs me. I’m never going to look back and say, ‘I wish I would have,’ when it comes to spending time with my family.”

Weiss feels blessed that his parents, sisters and their families, his wife’s parents, siblings and their families all live within 10 miles. Music is a shared passion, and Lisa sings in a band, Annie Mae plays the violin and sings, and Christopher plays the cello.

From the time he first set foot on the ice at age 9, Weiss was a formidable competitor. By the time he drew his eligible career to a close 21 years later, his resume was filled with numerous accomplishments, including more than 20 international medals. He made 13 consecutive appearances in the senior men’s competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, standing on the podium nine times and winning three titles. He won bronze at two World Championships. Perhaps his proudest accomplishment was following in his father’s footsteps as an Olympian (Greg Weiss was a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic team in gymnastics). Weiss took to the ice at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, wearing his father’s Olympic jacket, and he proudly returned to Olympic ice in 2002 in Salt Lake City.

“Being an Olympian represents a lifetime of hard work and dedication towards a goal,” says Weiss. “When I was a kid, my dad brought out the jacket and showed it to me. Right after I made my first Olympic team he presented it to me. I thought it would be cool to wear it in Nagano.”

During his competitive career, Weiss tried to be versatile in his skating style. His competitive programs included music by Santana, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Van Halen. In 2005, he designed a costume that looked like he was covered in rock ’n’ roll-inspired tattoos. Time and again he proved his versatility by balancing his edgy programs with elegant classical presentations to Puccini, Beethoven, Verdi and Bizet.

“I like to drive down the highway with the windows down. That’s the rock ’n’ roll side of me. But I also like to sit back and enjoy classical music as well,” he says. “When I was young, my coach Audrey Weisiger used to expose me to all sorts of music. It made me appreciate different styles. There’s a passion from classical music that’s different than the passion from a rock ’n’ roll piece. I always want to show that versatility.”

Weiss has also been an innovator. He was the first U.S. man to land a quadruple toe loop in competition. In 2002, he debuted a new skate blade, the “Freedom Blade,” which enabled him to perform tricky maneuvers that no one else could copy. He also originated an athletic move called the “Tornado”- a back flip with a full

For further information please contact David Baden at: IMG 767 Fifth Avenue. 45th Floor New York, NY 10153 Phone: 212.774.4336 Fax: 212.774.8715 [email protected] 3 The Gazette twist - that he performs in exhibitions to thunderous applause. Accolades fill his resume, including the Skating Magazine Readers Choice Award (2000) and the Professional Skaters’ Association Edi Award in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001 for “Best Performance by a Male Skater.” Off the ice, in 2001, International Figure Skating magazine named him one of the “Ten Most Beautiful People in Figure Skating.”

In 2010, he added to his list of skating accomplishments, winning NBC’s primetime show “Thin Ice”, where he competed for the first time as a pair skater with Marie-France Dubreuil. The couple was awarded the title after beating out numerous Olympic Pair Champions. He has also been steadfast in his commitment recognizing his good fortune and giving back to the skating community. In 2004, Michael and his wife Lisa created the Michael Weiss Foundation. Since its launch, the Foundation has given scholarships to several promising young skaters, including U.S. Ladies Champion Mirai Nagasu and World Junior Men’s Champion Adam Rippon. This year’s charity show, "ICE CHAMPIONS LIVE!" raised a record-breaking $100,377. In January 2010, the Michael Weiss Foundation was awarded the Disbrow Award from United States Figure Skating Association. This award is for service to the sport. “When I was young, I knew how much my parents struggled to keep my sister and me in the sport. I always said if I reach a point where I’m able to give back and help out somebody in a similar situation, then I will certainly do so. Now I’m in a position where I am able to help out kids who are in the position that I was in, so I do as much as I can,” Weiss notes.

Michael worked with NBC/Universal calling the events at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and 2009 ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada International competition. This spring he will join the “Smucker’s Stars on Ice 25th Anniversary Tour”, which will visit 25 cities across the United States. Fans can keep up with Weiss & the Michael Weiss Foundation through his Web site, www.MichaelWeiss.org.

For further information please contact David Baden at: IMG 767 Fifth Avenue. 45th Floor New York, NY 10153 Phone: 212.774.4336 Fax: 212.774.8715 [email protected]