Michael Shmerkin
| Michael Shmerkin | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Country represented | Israel |
| Born | 5 February 1970 Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Height | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). |
| Former coach | Valentin Nikolayev, Galina Zmievskaya |
| Skating club | Canada Centre, Metulla, ISR |
| Retired | 2002 |
Michael "Misha" Shmerkin (born 5 February 1970) is an Israeli former competitive figure skater.[1]
Career
Early in his career, Shmerkin competed internationally for the Soviet Union, most notably at the 1984 World Junior Championships, where he placed fifth.
Shmerkin moved with his family to Israel in 1991,[2] and Shmerkin began representing his new country in international competition.[3]
At the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he placed 16th, Shmerkin became the first skater to represent Israel at the Olympic Games.[3][4] He placed 18th at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
In the late 1990s he skated to Jewish songs and had a tallis and menorah embroidered on his costume.[2]
He retired from competitive skating following the 2001/2002 season.[4]
Shmerkin currently coaches in New York.
Competitive highlights
| International | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1990–91 | 1992–93 | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999-00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 |
| Olympics | 16th | 18th | |||||||||
| Worlds | 19th | 14th | 11th | 11th | 15th | 15th | 35th | 33rd | |||
| Europeans | 14th | 13th | 19th | 20th | 25th | ||||||
| CS Nations Cup | 5th | 6th | 8th | ||||||||
| CS NHK Trophy | 5th | 10th | |||||||||
| CS Skate Canada | 2nd | 2nd | |||||||||
| CS Skate America | 7th | ||||||||||
| Golden Spin | 8th | 5th | |||||||||
| Moscow News | 2nd | ||||||||||
| Ondrej Nepela | 1st | ||||||||||
| Piruetten | 6th | ||||||||||
| Skate Israel | 1st | 2nd | 8th | 3rd | |||||||
| National | |||||||||||
| Israeli Champ. | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||
| CS = Became part of Champions Series in 1995–96 season (later renamed Grand Prix) | |||||||||||
