- Michael Shmerkin
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Michael Shmerkin Personal information Country represented 
IsraelBorn February 5, 1970 Height 168 cm Former coach Valentin Nikolayev, Galina Zmievskaya Skating club Canada Centre, Metulla, ISR Retired 2002 Michael "Misha" Shmerkin (born February 5, 1970, in Odessa, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)) is an Israeli figure skater.[1]
Contents
Biography
Shmerkin was born and raised in the Soviet Union and competed for them internationally, most notably at the 1990 Junior Worlds.
As he advanced, he discovered that the fact that he is Jewish[2] was being held against him. Consequently, his family moved to Israel in 1991,[3] and Shmerkin began representing it in international competition.[4][4][4]
At the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he placed 16th, Shmerkin became the first skater to represent Israel at the Olympic Games.[4][5] He placed 18th at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
In the late 1990s he had Jewish songs provide the music for his dances in the International Skating Union world championship, and had a tallis and menorah embroidered on his costume.[3]
He retired from competitive skating following the 2001/2002 season.[5]
Shmerkin currently coaches in New York.
Competitive highlights
Event 1990–91 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999-00 2000–01 2001–02 Winter Olympic Games 16th 18th World Championships 19th 14th 11th 11th 15th 15th 35th 33rd European Championships 14th 13th 19th 20th 25th Israeli Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st Golden Spin, Zagreb 8th 5th Skate Israel 1st 2nd 8th 3rd NHK Trophy 5th 10th Nations Cup on Ice 5th 6th 8th Skate Canada 2nd 2nd Skate America 7th Ondrej Nepela Memorial 1st Prize of Moscow News 2nd See also
References
- ^ Inside figure skating - Google Books. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=vdwD_38CGgAC&q=Michael+Shmerkin+jewish&dq=Michael+Shmerkin+jewish&hl=en&ei=AUFaTeSEGMGqlAf44fikDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ^ Day by day in Jewish sports history - Google Books. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&pg=PA36&dq=Michael+Shmerkin+jewish&hl=en&ei=AUFaTeSEGMGqlAf44fikDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ^ a b "Author Battling Antisemitism at the Ice Rink –". Forward.com. October 3, 2003. http://www.forward.com/articles/8248/. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ^ a b c d http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB2A5C4B643758F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
- ^ a b "Jewish athletes in the Olympics — then and now | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". Jweekly.com. February 9, 2006. http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/28377/jewish-athletes-in-the-olympics-then-and-now/. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
External links
- Skatabase: 1990s Olympics
- Skatabase: 1990s Europeans
- Skatabase: 1990s Worlds
- Skatabase: 2000–2002 Europeans
- bio
- Jews in Sports bio
External links
Categories:- 1970 births
- People from Odessa
- Soviet male single skaters
- Israeli male single skaters
- Olympic figure skaters of Israel
- Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
- Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Ukrainian emigrants to Israel
- Russian emigrants to Israel
- Living people
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