Michael_Shmerkin References

Michael Shmerkin
Michael Shmerkin
Born	5 February 1970 (age 54); Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Israel
Skating club	Canada Centre, Metulla, ISR
Retired	2002

Michael "Misha" Shmerkin (Hebrew:

מיכאל "מישה" שמרקין, born 5 February 1970) is an Israeli former competitive figure skater.^[1] He is a two-time Skate Canada International silver medalist (1994 and 1995), 1993 Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, and 1995 Skate Israel champion. He competed in the final segment at two Winter Olympics (1994, 1998), six World Championships, and four European Championships. He is currently a figure skating teacher/coach for many young adults and children . He is located in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York.

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.^[5]

Season	Short program	Free skating
2000–2002 ^[6]^[7]	Russian gypsy dance	Swing

GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)

^ Sivorinovsky, Alina (2000). Inside figure skating — Google Books. MetroBooks. ISBN 9781586630058. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Author Battling Antisemitism at the Ice Rink –". Forward.com. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
^ ^a ^b . 17 February 1994 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. {{ cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= ( help)
^ ^a ^b "Jewish athletes in the Olympics — then and now | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". J. Jweekly.com. 9 February 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
^ "Figure skating coaches". Aviator Sports & Events Center. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017.
^ "Michael SHMERKIN: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 October 2002.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
^ "Michael SHMERKIN: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2001.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
^ ^a ^b "Michael SHMERKIN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.

Michael Shmerkin
Born	(1970-02-05) 5 February 1970 (age 54) Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Israel
Skating club	Canada Centre, Metulla, ISR
Retired	2002