FIGURE SKATING: Olympic Gold Medalist Brian Boitano Named To U.S. Olympic Hall Of Fame

Colorado Springs, Colo. (April 15, 2008)-Brian Boitano, a four-time U.S. champion, two-time World champion and the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, has been chosen for induction into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced today. Also included in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class are 1960 Olympic champion Carol Heiss Jenkins and famed coach Carlo Fassi. "It is a great honor to be included in this accomplished group of athletes,"Boitano said."Winning the (Olympic) gold medal has given me so many opportunities, and I have always been appreciative of what skating has brought to my life." Boitano captured the first of four consecutive U.S. titles in 1985 and went on to win two World championships (1986, '88). His performance in the free skate at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games is considered one of the greatest individual figure skating performances of all time and won him the gold medal. At the 1982 U.S. Championships, he became the first American skater to land a triple Axel. He has won more professional titles than any other competitor in the history of the sport, including six World Professional championships. Heiss Jenkins took home the silver medal at the 1956 Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, where she was runner-up to fellow American Tenley Albright. She followed by capturing gold at the 1956 World Figure Skating Championships, defeating Albright for the first of her five consecutive World titles. From 1957-60, she won four consecutive U.S. championships and was crowned Olympic champion at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif."I'm so thrilled to be inducted,"Heiss Jenkins said."It's great to be a part of the other figure skaters who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. It's such an honor." Fassi moved to the United States and began his coaching career following the 1961 plane crash that killed the entire U.S. World Figure Skating Team as well as many top American coaches. Fassi went on to coach five Olympic champions: Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, Robin Cousins and Scott Hamilton as well as Olympians Jill Trenary and Paul Wylie. In 1997, while attending the World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, as the coach of U.S. figure skater Nicole Bobek, Fassi suffered a fatal heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Christa von Kuczkowski, and three children, Riccardo, Monika and Lorenzo. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2008 will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame on June 19 in Chicago at the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theatre and will be televised by NBC. The group is composed of nine Olympians, one Paralympian, an Olympic coach, Veteran, Team and Special Contributor.-U.S. Figure Skating - U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 1,425 member clubs and Basic Skills Programs representing approximately 184,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.