Top 15 USA Winter Olympic Moments
Photo: Manny Millan/SI, Daniel Janin/AFP/Getty Images
#9 Brian Boitano
Calgary, 1988
The Battle of the Brians -- Boitano vs. friend and rival Brian Orser of Canada -- produced the greatest figure skating exhibition in Olympic history. With Orser leading after the short program, Boitano skated the performance of his life, becoming the first American skater to land a triple axel. Orser was equally impressive, but his two-footed landing off a triple flip jump and downgrade from a triple axel to a double gave the judges reason to narrowly award the gold to Boitano on technical merit.
