Michael Weiss Finds a New Path After Competitive Career

Michael Weiss Photo by Michelle Wojdyla

(9/7/06) - Three-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss is on a path he's never taken before. After spending 21 years in the competitive skating world, rigorously training short programs and free skates, he's now entering a life of skating and choreographing show programs exclusively.

He no longer trains in Laurel, Md., since his coach of the last few years, Don Laws, moved to Orlando this summer. And he no longer looks at the calendar year in terms of Grand Prix competitions, the U.S. Championships and the World Championships.

These days, he's preparing for rehearsals for the Stars on Ice tour – he signed a contract last week to skate with the tour – and is getting other routines ready for six skating shows that will be broadcast on NBC. He also will skate in Ice Wars Nov. 2.

Weiss had, of course, expected to end his competitive days with a third trip to the Olympic Winter Games and one last showing at the World Championships. He just missed a trip to Torino after placing fourth at the U.S. Championships.

For several weeks following the U.S. Championships, Weiss, who had competed in the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, wasn't sure how to react. He hung out with his two children, traveled and busied himself with home-improvement projects. He served as an Olympic expert for the NBC-TV affiliate in Washington, D.C., but didn't get to the rink himself.

“I had anticipated training for the Olympics and Worlds and maybe taking a couple months off,” Weiss said in a recent telephone interview. “I had never taken off more than a couple of weeks before. For six months (after the U.S. Championships and Four Continents Championships), I didn't even wear my skates.”

But skating has been his calling, and he's not about to stop doing that anytime soon.

“I've always been so used to having a goal,” said Weiss, who turned 30 last month. “When nationals were done this past year, I said to myself, ‘Well, where's my next goal?' At first, I didn't even know what I was doing. It was a difficult transition.

“I went from being very regimented, with a morning session, then I'd work out, and then an afternoon session. All of a sudden, the rules changed. It's nice to be getting back into it.”

In some ways, the two-time World bronze medalist will never really leave the competitive scene. He and wife, Lisa, have made a point of trying to help promising young skaters meet the financial demands of the sport and reach their competitive goals.

This Saturday at 2:30 p.m., Weiss will headline a skating show at SkateQuest in Reston, Va., the proceeds for which will go to the Michael Weiss Foundation's scholarship fund.

The show includes a cast that could be a Stars on Ice group of its own. Among those scheduled to perform are six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, 2006 Olympic pairs skaters Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, Olympian Emily Hughes, five-time U.S. champion ice dancers Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, World Junior champions Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin, Italian champion Silvia Fontana and U.S. medalist Dan Hollander.

Christine Zukowski, who placed sixth at the 2006 U.S. Championships and was a recipient of a Michael Weiss Foundation scholarship, is also among the cast.

All of the skaters are volunteering their time and paying their own expenses, Weiss said.

“No one is taking a dime,” Weiss said. “It's really nice when your peers do things like this for you. The first year, it's like they're doing a favor, but for them to come back again is really amazing.”

The show will be preceded by a silent auction, which includes a variety of sports items such as hockey sticks from the Washington Capitals (Weiss' favorite NHL team), tickets to D.C. United soccer games and autographed photos of Washington sports figures. There are several non-sports items as well, such as a trip for a spa vacation. Last year, the first time Weiss put together such a show, he raised $28,000. This year, Weiss decided to add on-ice tickets and hopes to raise even more money.

“We've already made more money in ticket sales [than last year],” he said.

All of the behind-the-scenes work is done by his family and a handful of volunteers.

“Sometimes it feels like it's a lot of work, but in the end, we have the ability to do this and give back to skaters. If I can make $30,000 by skating in an hour and really help some people, I'm almost a jerk not to do so. I remember how much $5,000 meant to me and my family when I was starting out.”

For more information about the benefit show and the Michael Weiss Foundation, visit www.michaelweiss.org.