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A Touch Of Triskaidekaphobia

The number 13 in vintage typeset

Triskaidekaphobia, a word you'd never want to wind up with in a spelling bee, is defined as a fear of the number 13. For centuries, people around the world have considered the number unlucky. There have been suggestions that the ancient Babylonians and Mayans were wary of the number. In a 2015 article in "National Geographic" magazine, a scientist from Newark named Thomas Fernsler attributed fears of the number 13 to the fact that numerologists considered 12 a whole number. "There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus," he noted. To this day, there are many hotels without a thirteenth floor or room and scores of people who avoid travelling or doing business on the thirteenth day of the month, particularly if its a Friday.

Over the years, figure skating has its own fair share of superstition surrounding the number 13... some of it good, some bad. Barbara Ann Scott considered the number 13 lucky because her armband at the 1948 Winter Olympics was the number 13 and she skated on Friday the 13th at that year's World Championships in Davos. Dorothy Hamill won her Olympic gold medal in Innsbruck on 1976 on Friday the 13th. Karen Magnussen was 13th in the starting order in the free skate at the 1972 World Championships and won a medal in her home country. A handful of skaters have placed 13th at the World Championships and then gone on to win World titles in the years that followed. 

Russian figure skaters Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov
Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov. Photo courtesy Chicago Public Library.

The first were Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov in 1958. They were followed by Diane Towler and Bernard Ford, Tim Wood, Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov, Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay, Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh, Roman Kostomarov, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, Brian Joubert and Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte. The most recent skaters to translate a 13th place at the World Championships to gold were Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. The only skater in history to translate a 13th place finish at the Olympics to a gold medal at a future Games was Shizuka Arakawa.

German figure skaters Anuschka Gläser, Stefan Pfrengle and Claudia Leistner
Anuschka Gläser, Stefan Pfrengle and Claudia Leistner

For many skaters, placing 13th at the World Championships appeared to be something of a curse. German pairs skater Stefan Pfrengle placed 13th at the World Championships three times with two different partners. Skaters who very well could have been World Champions like Toller Cranston, Elizabeth Manley, Sergei Chetverukhin, Petr Barna, Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko and Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto may have had a 13th place finish at the World Championships to blame for their bad luck.

Italian figure skater Anna Galmarini
Anna Galmarini

Several skaters who have placed 13th at the World Championships have sadly died under tragic circumstances. Hana Mašková and Anna Galmarini both perished in automobile accidents. Rob McCall placed 13th at two consecutive World Championships with his first partner and died as a result of HIV/AIDS complications. Chris Reed, who placed 13th at the 2011 World Championships and 13th at the 2018 Olympics, died of cardiac arrest in 2020 at the age of thirty. Denis Ten, who was 13th at the 2010 World Championships, was murdered at the age of twenty-five in 2018. His birthday was on June 13th.

THIRTEENTH PLACE FINISHERS AT THE WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES

Prior to 1928, there were always fewer than thirteen entries in every discipline at the Winter Olympic Games. The skater marked in bold went on to win an Olympic gold medal.

Year

Men

Women

Pairs

Ice Dance

1928

Montgomery Wilson

Edel Randem

Kathleen Lovett and A. Proctor Burman

N/A

1932

(none)

Elizabeth Fisher

(none)

N/A

1936

Erle Reiter

Angela Anderes

Irina Timcic and Alfred Eisenbeisser-Ferraru

N/A

1948

Zdeněk Fikar

Dagmar Lerchová

Grazia Barcellona and Carlo Fassi

N/A

1952

Kalle Tuulos

Vevi Smith

Bjørg Skjælaaen and Reidar Børjeson

N/A

1956

Allan Ganter

Joan Haanappel

(none)

N/A

1960

Peter Jonas

Dany Rigoulot

Marcelle Matthews and Gwyn Jones

N/A

1964

Charles Snelling

Kumiko Okawa

Margit Senf and Peter Göbel

N/A

1968

Philippe Pélissier

Linda Carbonetto

JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley

N/A

1972

Didier Gailhaguet

Cathy Lee Irwin

Florence Cahn and Jean-Roland Racle

N/A

1976

Pekka Leskinen

Emi Watanabe

Ingrid Spieglová and Alan Spiegl

Susan Carscallen and Eric Gillies

1980

Rudi Cerne

Karin Riediger

(none)

(none)

1984

Mark Cockerell

Elizabeth Manley

Claudia Massari and Leonardo Azzola

Jindra Holá andd Karol Foltán

1988

Petr Barna

Charlene Wong

Lisa and Neil Cushley

Sharon Jones and Paul Askham

1992

Masakazu Kagiyama

Patricia Neske

Danielle and Stephen Carr

Anna Croci and Luca Mantovani

1994

Michael Tyllesen

Lenka Kulovaná

Anuschka Gläser and Axel Rauschenbach

Aliki Stergiadu and Juris Razgulajevs

1998

Szabolcs Vidrai

Shizuka Arakawa

Danielle McGrath and Stephen Carr

Kateřina Mrázová and Martin Šimeček

2002

Ivan Dinev

Sarah Meier

Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn

Sylwia Nowak and Sebastian Kolasiński

2006

Emanuel Sandhu

Susanna Pöykiö

Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem

Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali

2010

Artem Borodulin

Min-jeong Kwak

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett

Nóra Hoffmann and Maxim Zavozin

2014

Brian Joubert

Kaetlyn Osmond

Maylin and Daniel Wende

Sara Hurtado and Adrià Díaz

2018

Daniel Samohin

Ha-nul Kim

Tae-ok Ryum and Ju-sik Kim

Kana Muramoto and Chris Reed

2022

Deniss Vasiljevs

Viktoriia SafonovaNicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise     Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha

THIRTEENTH PLACE FINISHERS AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Prior to 1914, there were always fewer than thirteen entries in every discipline at the World Championships. Skaters marked in bold went on to win World titles.

Year

Men

Women

Pairs

Ice Dance

1914

Sergei Wanderfliet

(none)

(none)

N/A

1922

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1923

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1924

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1925

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1926

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1927

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1928

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1929

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1930

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1931

Theo Lass

(none)

(none)

N/A

1932

(none)

Elizabeth Fisher

(none)

N/A

1933

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1934

(none)

Ester Bornstein

(none)

N/A

1935

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1936

Toshikazu Kagiyama

Audrey Peppe

(none)

N/A

1937

(none)

(none)

(none)

N/A

1938

(none)

(none)

A. Wächter and Fritz Lesk

N/A

1939

(none)

Britta Rahlen

(none)

N/A

1947

(none)

Gun Ericson

(none)

N/A

1948

Per Cock-Clausen

Suzanne Morrow

Joan Ogilvie and Bobby Thompson

N/A

1949

(none)

Beryl Bailey

(none)

N/A

1950

(none)

Valda Osborn

(none)

(none)

1951

(none)

Betty Hiscock

(none)

(none)

1952

(none)

Eva Weidler

(none)

(none)

1953

György Czakó

Elaine Skevington

(none)

(none)

1954

(none)

Rosi Pettinger

(none)

(none)

1955

Tilo Gutzeit

Ilse Musyl

(none)

Claude Weinstein and Claude Lambert

1956

Hans Müller

Fiorella Negro

(none)

Lucia Fischer and Rudolf Zorn

1957

Yukio Nishikura

Joan Haanappel

(none)

(none)

1958

Norbert Felsinger

Margaret Crosland

Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov

Adriana Giuggiolini and Germano Ceccattini

1959

Hubert Köpfler

Carla Tichatschek

(none)

(none)

1960

Hubert Köpfler

Sonia Snelling

(none)

(none)

1962

Sepp Schönmetzler

Eva Grožajová

Mieko Otwa and Yutaka Doke

Marlise Fornachon and Charly Pichard

1963

Hugo Dümler

Karen Howland

(none)

Helga and Hannes Burkhardt

1964

Robert Dureville

Kumiko Okawa

(none)

Diane Towler and Bernard Ford

1965

Tim Wood

Hana Mašková

Ingrid Bodendorff and Volker Waldeck

Gabriele Rauch and Rudi Matysik

1966

Robert Dureville

Sally-Anne Stapleford

Susan and Paul Huehnergard

Annerose Baier and Eberhard Rüger

1967

Sergei Chetverukhin

Rita Trapanese

Betty Lewis and Richard Gilbert

Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov

1968

Michael Williams

Linda Carbonetto

Betty and John McKilligan

Donna Taylor and Bruce Lennie

1969

Tsuguhiko Kozuka

Rita Trapanese

Evelyne Schneider and Willy Bietak

Ilona Berecz and István Sugár

1970

Toller Cranston

Charlotte Walter

Evelyne Scharf and Willy Bietak

Teresa Weyna and Piotr Bojańczyk

1971

Jacques Mrozek

Kazumi Yamashita

Linda Connolly and Colin Taylforth

Anne-Claude Wolfers and Roland Mars

1972

Didier Gailhaguet

Gerti Schanderl

Gabriele Cieplik and Reinhard Ketterer

Teresa Weyna and Piotr Bojańczyk

1973

László Vajda

Gerti Schanderl

Gale and Joel Fuhrman

Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay

1974

Bernd Wunderlich

Barbara Terpenning

Florence Cahn and Jean-Roland Racle

Anne and Harvey Millier

1975

Didier Gailhaguet

Emi Watanabe

Grażyna Kostrzewińska and Adam Brodecki

Susan Carscallen and Eric Gillies

1976

Christophe Boyadjian

Karena Richardson

Gabrielle Beck and Jochen Stahl

Judi Genovesi and Kent Weigle

1977

Kurt Kurzinger

Heather Kemkaran

Kyoko Hagiwara and Sumio Murata

Susi and Peter Handschmann

1978

Konstantin Kokora

Claudia Kristofics-Binder

Gabrielle Beck and Jochen Stahl

Stefania Bertele and Walter Cecconi

1979

Brian Pockar

Natalia Strelkova

Elizabeth and Peter Cain

Karen Barber and Nicky Slater

1980

Jean-Christophe Simond

Carola Weißenberg

Susan Garland and Robert Daw

Marie McNeil and Rob McCall

1981

Falko Kirsten

Manuela Ruben

(none)

Marie McNeil and Rob McCall

1982

Grzegorz Filipowski

Elizabeth Manley

Luan Bo and Yao Bin

Wendy Sessions and Stephen Williams

1983

Gary Beacom

Sanda Dubravčić

Susan Garland and Ian Jenkins

Judit Péterfy and Csaba Bálint

1984

Mark Cockerell

Karin Telser

(none)

Isabella Micheli and Roberto Pelizzola

1985

Petr Barna

Susan Jackson

Shuk-Ling Ngai and Kwok-Yung Mak

Noriko Sato and Tadayuki Takahashi

1986

Grzegorz Filipowski

Agnès Gosselin

Kerstin Kimminus and Stefan Pfrengle

Sharon Jones and Paul Askham

1987

Falko Kirsten

Claudia Villiger

Shuk-Ling Ngai and Cheuk-Fai Lai

Sharon Jones and Paul Askham

1988

Neil Paterson

Yvonne Gómez

Anuschka Gläser and Stefan Pfrengle

April Sargent and Russ Witherby

1989

Axel Médéric

Yvonne Pokorny

(none)

Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko

1990

Oliver Höner

Beatrice Gelmini

Sharon Carz and Doug Williams

Małgorzata Grajcar and Andrzej Dostatni

1991

Oliver Höner

Simone Lang

Cheryl Peake and Andrew Naylor

Małgorzata Grajcar and Andrzej Dostatni

1992

Michael Slipchuk

Tatiana Rachkova

Anuschka Gläser and Stefan Pfrengle

Anna Croci and Luca Mantovani

1993

Konstantin Kostin

Lisa Ervin

Svetlana Pristav and Viacheslav Tkachenko

Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas

1994

Aren Nielsen

Rena Inoue

Natalia Krestianinova and Alexei Torchinski

Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh

1995

Vasili Eremenko

Marina Kielmann

Marina Khalturina and Andrei Krukov

Elizaveta Stekolnikova and Dmitri Kazarlyga

1996

Takeshi Honda

Tatiana Malinina

Dorota Zagórska and Mariusz Siudek

Kati Winkler and René Lohse

1997

Laurent Tobel

Nicole Bobek

Silvia Dimitrov and Rico Rex

Kateřina Mrázová and Martin Šimeček

1998

Michael Tyllesen

Joanne Carter

Marsha Poluliaschenko and Andrew Seabrook

Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov

1999

Stefan Lindemann

Lucinda Ruh

Valerie Saurette and Jean-Sébastien Fecteau

Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski

2000

Vitali Danilchenko

Sabina Wojtala

Kateřina Beránková and Otto Dlabola

Anna Semenovich and Roman Kostomarov

2001

Sergei Rylov

Tatiana Malinina

Inga Rodionova and Andrei Krukov

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder

2002

Brian Joubert

Zuzana Babiaková

Yuko Kawaguchi and Aleksandr Markuntsov

Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto

2003

Ryan Jahnke

Ludmila Nelidina

Jacinthe Larivière and Lenny Faustino

Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin

2004

Ben Ferreira

Sarah Meier

Kathryn Orscher and Garrett Lucash

Svetlana Kulikova and Vitali Novikov

2005

Ivan Dinev

Idora Hegel

Marilyn Pla and Yannick Bonheur

Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin

2006

Tomáš Verner

Mira Leung

Marilyn Pla and Yannick Bonheur

Christina and William Beier

2007

Christopher Mabee

Elena Sokolova

Dominika Piątkowska and Dmitri Khromin

Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte

2008

Adrian Schultheiss

Valentina Marchei

Laura Magitteri and Ondřej Hotárek

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev

2009

Sergei Voronov

Susanna Pöykiö

Stacey Kemp and David King

Alexandra and Roman Zaretski

2010

Denis Ten

Alena Leonova

Anaïs Morand and Antoine Dorsaz

Ekaterina Rubleva and Ivan Shefer

2011

Ryan Bradley

Cynthia Phaneuf

Zhang Yue and Wang Lei

Cathy and Chris Reed

2012

Adam Rippon

Elena Glebova

Maylin Hausch and Daniel Wende

Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill

2013

Andrei Rogozine

Alena Leonova

Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir

Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland

2014

Ivan Righini

Gabby Daleman

Maylin and Daniel Wende

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron

2015

Sergei Voronov

Anna Pogorilaya

Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch

Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam

2016

Alexei Bychenko

Nicole Rajičová

Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen

2017

Moris Kvitelashvili

Anna Pogorilaya

Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen

2018

Keiji Tanaka

Nicole Schott

Annika Hocke and Ruben Blommaert

Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac

2019

Moris Kvitelashvili

Ekaterina Ryabova

Minerva Hase and Nolan Seegert

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson

2021

Han Yan

Madeline Schizas

Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel

Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu

2022

Deniss Vasiljevs

Ekaterina Kurakova

(none)

Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler

2023

Deniss Vasiljevs

Madeline Schizas

Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba

Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya


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