[3] He never included the triple Axel in competition, having a low success rate in practice, but did perform a one-footed back flip.
[6] In the 1990–91 season, he also trained in pair skating; his partner was Liberte Sheldon and was coached by Irina Rodnina.
Figure Skating Championships in 1991, Mattis protested what he thought was underscoring from the judges by executing a backflip, an illegal movement in national and international competitions.
Despite landing 6 clean triple jumps in the program, the judges took significant deductions for the backflip, resulting in a 13th place finish in his final eligible competition.
[12][9] As a writer, he published poems, essays and short stories and worked for Disney and Universal Studios.