Timothy Goebel

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Goebel performs a hydroblading maneuver, one of his signature moves, in 2003.

Timothy Goebel is a figure skater from the United States. He is Catholic and was adopted as an infant.

Goebel is the first skater in history to perform a quadruple salchow jump and the first American skater to perform a quadruple jump of any kind. Goebel is also the first skater in history to perform three quadruple jumps in one program. At the 2002 Olympics, he became the first skater to land a quadruple salchow jump in combination at the Olympics. He is the first and so far only skater to land 6 quadruple jumps in one competition.

He has landed 76 career quadruple jumps, the most of any skater in history.

Because of these accomplishments, he was nicknamed the Quad King. However, after the 2003-2004, Goebel began struggling with the quad. He did not land it successfully at all in the 2005-2006 season.

Goebel won the bronze medal at the 2002 Olympics. It was a close call for the silver between him and reigning World Champion Evgeni Plushenko. That close call would be repeated at the 2003 World Championships where Plushenko narrowly beat Goebel out for the gold.

Goebel dealt with injuries in later seasons. An injury forced him to withdraw from the 2004 Nationals and give up on the rest of the season. At the 2005 Nationals, the mother of Angela Nikodinov, a good friend of Goebel, died in a car crash. Goebel spent a lot of time at that competition in mourning. With Nikodinov watching, Goebel started crying partly through his free skate. He finished the program in tears. He placed 2nd.

Goebel was unable to qualify for the 2006 Olympic team. He retired from competitive skating after the 2006 Nationals. He is now a student at Columbia University. He works as a technical specialist, the person who watches a skating program and tells the judges what each element was and how difficult it was.

During his career, Goebel was known primilariy as a "jumping bean", a skater whose skating is mostly jumps. But Goebel worked hard to overcome this reputation. His free skate in the 2002 season was the highlight of his career and opened a door into a different kind of artsitry for Goebel.

Goebel was also known for his daring hydroblading maneuvers. He was one of the skaters who popularized this move in the United States.

Geobel has not yet pursed a professional skating career, but has not announced that he never will.