Learn all about the fascinating world of figure skating history with Skate Guard Blog.
Explore a treasure trove of articles on the history of figure skating, highlighting Olympic Medallists, World and National Champions and dazzling competitions, shows and tours. Written by former skater and judge Ryan Stevens, Skate Guard Blog also offers intriguing insights into the evolution of the sport over the decades. Delve into Stevens' five books for even more riveting stories and information about the history of everyone's favourite winter Olympic sport.
Mirai Nagasu. Photo courtesy C. Nabe, shared via Creative Commons license, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).
When the IJS System was introduced, it was a 'wiping of the slate' in a way. Never before had jumps been evaluated individually by a technical panel to determine their cleanliness.
With the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships taking place this week in San Jose, California, I thought it might be fun to take a little look at some more recent history - the first American singles skaters to land each triple or quadruple jump in senior ISU Championships held under the IJS System.
Nathan Chen's short program at the 2017 Four Continents Championships
JUMPING FIRSTS UNDER THE IJS SYSTEM
Solo and combination jumps receiving a 0 or positive GOE were considered when compiling this data. In cases where multiple skaters successfully landed the same jump in the same competition, the starting order was used to determine which skater achieved the jump first.
Element
Olympic Games
World Championships
Four Continents Championships
Triple toe-loop (men's)
Johnny Weir (2006, short program)
Johnny Weir (2005, qualifying group)
Matt Savoie (2005, short program)
Triple toe-loop (women's)
Rachael Flatt (2010, short program)
Sasha Cohen (2005, qualifying group)
Amber Corwin (2005, short program)
Triple Salchow (men's)
Matt Savoie (2006, free skate)
Evan Lysacek (2005, qualifying group)
Derrick Delmore (2005, free skate)
Triple Salchow (women's)
Emily Hughes (2006, free skate)
Sasha Cohen (2005, qualifying group)
Amber Corwin (2005, free skate)
Triple loop (men's)
Evan Lysacek (2006, free skate)
Timothy Goebel (2005, qualifying group)
Evan Lysacek (2005, free skate)
Triple loop (women's)
Sasha Cohen (2006, free skate)
Sasha Cohen (2005, free skate)
Jennifer Kirk (2005, free skate)
Triple flip (men's)
Matt Savoie (2006, short program)
Evan Lysacek (2005, qualifying group)
Matt Savoie (2005, short program)
Triple flip (women's)
Kimmie Meissner (2006, short program)
Sasha Cohen (2005, qualifying group)
Jennifer Kirk (2005, short program)
Triple Lutz (men's)
Johnny Weir (2006, short program)
Evan Lysacek (2005, qualifying group)
Matt Savoie (2005, short program)
Triple Lutz (women's)
Emily Hughes (2006, free skate)
Michelle Kwan (2005, qualifying group)
Katy Taylor (2006, free skate)
Triple Axel (men's)
Johnny Weir (2006, short program)
Johnny Weir (2005, qualifying group)
Evan Lysacek (2005, short program)
Triple Axel (women's)
Mirai Nagasu (2018, team event free skate)
none
none
Quadruple toe-loop (men's)
Nathan Chen (2018, free skate)
Jeremy Abbott (2008, short program)
Evan Lysacek (2007, free skate)
Quadruple Salchow (men's)
Nathan Chen (2018, free skate)
Max Aaron (2013, short program)
Max Aaron (2013, short program)
Quadruple flip (men's)
Nathan Chen (2018, free skate)
Nathan Chen (2017, short program)
Nathan Chen (2017, short program)
Quadruple Lutz (men's)
Nathan Chen (2018, free skate)
Nathan Chen (2017, short program)
Nathan Chen (2017, short program)
If you found this information interesting, have I got the book for you! "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" includes a table that is identical to this one, but highlighting international firsts, of which American skaters play an important role.
You will also find chapters on the waltz jump, toe-loop, Salchow, loop, flip, Lutz, Axel, backflip and pairs throws, side-by-side jumps and twists and plenty of other interesting data and material. The foreword is written by 1962 World Champion Donald Jackson, the first skater to land a triple Lutz jump in competition. You can buy your copy in Kindle E-Book, paperback or hard cover editions on Amazon.
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
The wait is over! "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating" are now on sale via Amazon in paperback, hard cover and Kindle eBook editions. If you've enjoyed reading the blog over the last ten years, I really think you're going to love both of these books!
TECHNICAL MERIT: A HISTORY OF FIGURE SKATING JUMPS
"Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" chronicles the history and evolution of figure skating jumps from a historical perspective, with chapters on the waltz jump, toe-loop, Salchow, loop, flip, Lutz, Axel, backflips and pairs throws, side-by-side jumps and twist lifts. 1962 World Champion Donald Jackson, the first skater to land a triple Lutz in competition, has so kindly written the foreword to this book.
What this book is: A chapter-by-chapter deep dive into the history of figure skating jumps, from a historian's perspective - the who, what, when, where and why.
What this book is not: The how. If you are looking for a book that explores physics or jump technique from a coach or technical specialist's perspective or a book that extensively covers the impact of changes in boot and blade design, that is not what this is.
Paperback: $24.99 CAD (Free 2-day shipping for Amazon Prime members)
Hard Cover: $38.02 CAD (Free 2-day shipping for Amazon Prime members, with a lead time of up to 2 weeks)
Kindle eBook: $7.99 CAD (free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers)
"A Bibliography of Figure Skating" is the ultimate guide to reading about skating. This reference book catalogues non-fiction figure skating books and periodicals dating back to the late 19th Century, with helpful tips on tracking down hard-to-find skating literature. If you ever wonder how I do my research for my blog, want to grow your skating library or learn more about your favourite skaters, this book will prove to be a wonderful resource for you.
What this book is: A meticulous catalogue of hundreds of skating books and periodicals - many of which you may not be familiar with.
What this book is not: A chapter-by-chapter read or a collection of book reviews.
Paperback: $19.99 CAD (Free 2-day shipping for Amazon Prime members)
Hard Cover: $32.17 CAD (Free 2-day shipping for Amazon Prime members, with a lead time of up to 2 weeks)
Kindle eBook: $7.29 CAD (free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers)
Nothing would make me happier than getting these books into the hands of more people... and there are two super easy ways you can help:
- Pop into your local library and suggest they add these books to their collections or visit their website and fill in a 'Suggest a Book' or 'Recommend a Purchase' form.
- Head over to Amazon and/or Goodreads and leave honest reviews for these books or "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating".
Thank you so much for your support and I hope you enjoy reading these books as much as I loved creating them!
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
Two days before New Year's Eve, I knocked a cup of coffee all over my laptop. I was absolutely weak. I had spent many, many hours reworking several potential follow-up's to my first book. Not being the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes, I hadn't backed any of my work up. I rushed my computer over to a local repair shop for them to try to salvage whatever data they could, trying to be optimistic but deep down worried that all of my hard work had gone down the drain like the coffee I wrung out of a J-Cloth. The next week, I got a call saying that my laptop was as good as new and I hadn't lost any of my data whatsoever. It is truly a New Year's miracle that any of that work is even seeing the light of day and I couldn't be more excited to share it with you... which brings me to some really exciting news.
I'm thrilled to announce that you will very soon be able to add two more amazing figure skating books to your collection!
If you've already picked up your copy of "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", you will know that it is very much a reference book. "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" is a completely different style of book. If you enjoy the style and flow of the Skate Guard blogs, this book will be right up your alley. If you're a lover of skating history, it is very much a book you will struggle to put down. "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" chronicles the history and evolution of figure skating jumps from a historical perspective, with chapters on the waltz jump, toe-loop, Salchow, loop, flip, Lutz, Axel, backflips and pairs throws, side-by-side jumps and twist lifts. At the end, there are jump charts and a listing of firsts under the IJS System. As the topic has long been a subject of debate by some, I have meticulously footnoted the book from start to finish so you can see exactly how I did my research. I'm so honoured to share that the foreword for the book was penned by 1962 World Champion Don Jackson, the first skater to land a triple Lutz in competition.
Like "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", you will find that "A Bibliography of Figure Skating" is absolutely a reference book. It is truly the ultimate guide to reading about figure skating! The book catalogues non-fiction figure skating books and periodicals dating back to the late 19th Century, with helpful tips on tracking down hard-to-find skating literature. If you ever wonder how I do my research for my blog, want to grow your skating library or learn more about your favourite skaters, this book will prove to be a wonderful resource for you.
You can pre-order the Kindle eBook editions of both books now and receive automatic free international wireless delivery on January 27 via Amazon Whispernet. Hard-cover and paperback editions will both be available for purchase on Amazon on or before February 1. It is my sincere hope that you will enjoy flipping through these fascinating books as much as I enjoyed researching them and putting them together.
Pre-order link for "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps": https://a.co/d/8mkzhtM
I would love to hear what you think about these books and "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating" - please leave an honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads! It would be an incredible help in getting this important history out there to more people.
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
Over the years, many international figure skating competitions have come and gone. Prominent events like England's St. Ivel and Richmond Trophy and Germany's Nations Cup once drew top skaters from around the world, but are now relegated to the history books. So too is a short-lived but unique figure skating competition that took place only twice in the eighties... Canada's La Coupe Excellence.
Figure skaters from three countries (Canada, France and the United States) participated in the first year of the event. Competing in what would ultimately be their last event as representatives of Canada, Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay won the gold the ice dancing event, defeating Americans Lois Luciani and Russ Witherby and fellow Canadians Michelle McDonald and Patrick Handley. Americans Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner won the pairs event, ahead of Canadians Christine Hough and Doug Ladret and Isabelle Brasseur and Pascal Courchesne. To the delight of the Montreal crowd, Quebec's Nathalie Sasseville won the women's event, ahead of Kathryn Adams, Julie Brault, Tracey Wainman and Jill Frost. Christopher Bowman won the men's event and a young Kurt Browning was fifth.
Christopher Bowman
In 1986, a blue-collar workers' strike left La Coupe Excellence's organizers scrambling at the last minute to find a new venue. The event was ultimately cancelled. An article in "The Montreal Gazette" noted, "Tournament organizers felt they could wait no longer for an end to the strike, as more then $70,000 had been committed to air fares and half that amount must be paid despite the cancellation."
Sharon Jones and Paul Askham
La Coupe Excellence returned in 1987 with skaters from Canada, the United States, West Germany and the UK participating. Brits Sharon Jones and Paul Askham won the ice dancing competition; Canadians Laureen Collin and John Penticost the pairs. Tonya Harding came from behind to win the women's event, ahead of West Germany's Patricia Neske and Canada's Diane Takeuchi. American Danny Doran was victorious in the men's competition, besting Matthew James Hall, Jaimee Eggleton, Daniel Weiss and three others.
Having fulfilled its mission of offering competitive opportunities for would-be 1988 Olympians, La Coupe Excellence fell by the wayside, but it's an important part of Quebec skating history we shouldn't forget.
MEDALLISTS AT LA COUPE EXCELLENCE
MEN
Year
Winner
2nd
3rd
1985
Christopher Bowman
Daniel Doran
Marc Ferland
1987
Daniel Doran
Matthew Hall
Jaimee Eggleton
WOMEN
Year
Winner
2nd
3rd
1985
Nathalie Sasseville
Kathryn Adams
Julie Brault
1987
Tonya Harding
Patricia Neske
Diane Takeuchi
PAIRS
Year
Winner
2nd
3rd
1985
Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner
Christine Hough and Doug Ladret
Isabelle Brasseur and Pascal Courchesne
1987
Laureen Collin and John Penticost
Natalie and Wayne Seybold
Cheryl Peake and Andrew Naylor
ICE DANCE
Year
Winner
2nd
3rd
1985
Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay
Lois Luciani and Russ Witherby
Michelle McDonald and Patrick Mandley
1987
Sharon Jones and Paul Askham
April Sargent and Russ Witherby
Penny Mann and Richard Perkins
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
Roger Wickson, Barbara Gratton, Suzanne Morrow and Roger Wickson.Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
The disappearance of a U.S. Air Force C-54 transport plane and its thirty-six passengers somewhere over the Yukon was front page news. Eileen Barton had just recorded her hit song "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake" and after years of being creative on the ration, Canadians could finally afford the ingredients to bake their favourite cakes thanks to the post-World War II economic boom in Canada.
The first Polaroid camera had just been manufactured but every young skater in Canada just wanted a Barbara Ann Scott doll under their Christmas tree. The year was 1950, and from February 2 to 4, Canada's best figure skaters gathered at The Winter Club of St. Catharines to compete in the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
The event marked the first and only time The Garden City in the Niagara region played host to the Canadian Championships. It was also the first time a new scoring system for school figures was used, which had been tested at the North American Championships the year prior. Previously scores were announced after each compulsory figure, but under this system no scores were released until after all skaters finished. The reason for this, explained referee Donald B. Cruikshank, was to eliminate "any possible disadvantage to the first skaters... and give judges a chance to get an over-all picture in their marking." Some skaters and coaches undoubtedly had their own opinions about the move to embrace Closed Marking, potentially viewing it as a step backward. Now that we have some background, let's take a look back at how things played out on the ice! THE JUNIOR EVENTS
Peter Dunfield (left) and Peter Firstbrook (right). Photos courtesy Hamilton Public Library, Local History & Archives.
In the junior men's event, Toronto's Peter Firstbrook claimed the gold medal which had eluded him the year prior at the Canadians in Ottawa. Peter Dunfield finished second - winning his first of several medals at the Championships.
Dawn Steckley (left) and Erica Batchelor (right). Photos courtesy Hamilton Public Library, Local History & Archives.
Thirteen year old Barbara Gratton built upon an early lead in the school figures to win the junior women's event. Her older sister Elizabeth moved up from fourth to take the silver, while Dawn Steckley of Ottawa dropped off the podium entirely. Erica Batchelor, then skating out of Calgary, finished off the podium as well. Just three years later she would become the European Silver Medallist, representing the UK.
Top: Elizabeth and Barbara Gratton. Photo courtesy Hamilton Public Library, Local History & Archives. Bottom: Jane Kirby and Donald Tobin being presented with their trophies.
Jane Kirby and Donald Tobin of Ottawa won the junior pairs. Kirby was third in junior women's, while Tobin medalled in the senior men's event and all three dance events. In those days, it wasn't a rarity for competitors to skate in multiple events at the national level. It was the norm. THE PAIRS AND ICE DANCE COMPETITIONS
When Toronto's Marlene Smith and Donald Gilchrist had won the senior pairs event the year prior in Ottawa, they had faced stiff opposition from two other teams. In St. Catharines, they were the only team entered. According to the CFSA's rules, they still had to skate 'to a standard' and earn three quarters of the possible total points in order to win the title. All five judges gave them a score of more than eighty percent.
There were three separate dance events in 1950 - the Tenstep, Waltz and Silver Dance competition. The same five couples competed in the trio of contests, with Joy Forsyth and William de Nance Jr. of taking the Tenstep and Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden the Waltz. After all five couples skated the Waltz, Rocker Foxtrot, Paso Doble and Tenstep in Silver Dance, the judges thought several of the teams so close in ability that they required them to come back for a reskate. After the marks were tallied, Ottawa's Pierrette Paquin and Donald Tobin were declared the victors. Of mention were the two teams that finished fourth and fifth in both events. Oshawa's Geraldine Fenton would go on to become a three time World Medallist, while her partner Dick McLaughlin would later become the CFSA's President. June Hockley skated with Roger Wickson, the defending Canadian Champion in men's singles. Two months after the Canadians, the first CFSA Gold Dance tests were held in Toronto. Paquin and de Nance took turns judging and being judged. THE MEN'S COMPETITION
Mary Rose Thacker and Roger Wickson.Photo courtesy Hamilton Public Library, Local History & Archives.
In the men's school figures, twenty-one year old Bill Lewis, a commerce student at the University Of Washington who hailed from New Westminster, British Columbia managed to defeat the defending Canadian Champion, twenty-two year old Roger Wickson, a student at the University Of British Columbia from Vancouver. Spectators were on the edge of their seat considering the possibility of an upset in the free skate. It wasn't to be. Wickson rebounded with a fine performance, and Lewis dropped to third behind Donald Tobin of Ottawa. It was the first time ever that two skaters from Western Canada had placed in the top three in the senior men's event at the Canadian Championships. Though Wickson and Lewis repeated their top three result in 1951, it would be almost three decades before two Western Canadian men would be on the senior podium together again. THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
Though she was only nineteen, Toronto's Suzanne Morrow had already won medals at the Winter Olympic Games, World, North American and Canadian Championships in pairs skating. After her partner Wally Distelmeyer's retirement in 1948, she had focused her attention solely on singles skating and won the 1949 Canadian women's title in Ottawa. Much like her predecessor Barbara Ann Scott, Morrow amassed a fifteen point lead in the school figures, making it next to impossible for her rivals to catch up - competent free skaters or not. Clad in a black sequined dress and tiara, she was the toast of St. Kitts with her performance set to the strains of Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán.
Marlene Smith, a tall blonde from Niagara Falls, wore a fuchsia dress and skated to a medley of music by Viennese composer Fritz Kreisler to take the silver. Her success was remarkable in that she was treated throughout the event for a particularly nasty case of influenza. The bronze went to seventeen year old Vevi Smith of Toronto, junior champion of Canada in 1947.
Left photo courtesy "Skating" magazine
Behind the scenes in St. Catharines, progress was being made. In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves recalled, "The CFSA announced a competition to design new medals... [and] the professionals met with members of the American Skaters Guild and chose a representative to attend the Pro Skaters Guild meetings in Washington during the U.S. Championships." Following the competition, CFSA President Alfred H. Williams of Calgary announced that Canada would sponsor Morrow, Wickson, Smith and Gilchrist to compete at Worlds in London. He told a reporter, "This year's champions have proved they are of better quality than in previous championships. Some of them, especially Suzanne, are of word class, and I expect they will give some stiff opposition to strong opponents in the World Championships."
If you enjoyed today's blog and would like to learn a little more about Canadian figure skating in the 1950's and the skaters that were mentioned, now is a fabulous time to get yourself a copy of "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating". This fascinating reference book is available in hard cover, paperback and Kindle E-Book editions on Amazon. Click here to order the book today!
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
"Like a lot of parents, I became interested when my two daughters started to skate. I skate purely for fun. My greatest reward has been watching so many youngsters take up this wonderful sport, develop into fine citizens and then see their children in turn follow in their parents skate-steps." - Bert Penfold, "Skating" magazine, May 1966
The son of Frederick and Harriett 'Hattie' (Tubb) Penfold, Bert Penfold was born August 14, 1898 on the Isle of Wight. Frederick, a journeyman who made do by painting houses, died of a cerebral hemorrhage when Bert was only a year old. Harriett struggled to make ends meet as an impoverished widow. One of her daughters went into service and Bert and other siblings were separated and put into Barnado's Homes. Bert was shipped off to Canada in 1907 and boarded with a German Methodist family on a farm in the Muskoka region of Ontario for a time before being sent to live with another family, the Moore's, in Regina, Saskatchewan. He was one of the Home Children.
Bert Penfold's parents
When The Great War broke out, seventeen year old Bert joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, serving with the 162nd and 122nd Battalions on the front lines in France. Upon returning to Canada, he worked with the John Deere plow company and as a bookkeeper for the federal tax office. He began his forty year career with the Independent Electric Company in 1925. In his spare time, he enjoyed shooting, lawn bowling, canoeing... and skating.
Bert was first exposed to figure skating during World War II, when his daughters Joan and Margaret seriously took up the sport at the Wascana Winter Club. After serving as the Club's President, he became the first Chairman of the first Section in Canada - the Western Canada Section of the Canadian Figure Skating Association - in 1947. Two years later, the CFSA had a Western President, Alf Williams of Calgary. When influential CFSA officials from Ontario tried to oust the CFSA's second Western President, Herb Larson, in 1954, Bert travelled all over the Prairies trying to drum up proxy votes from skating clubs. The coup backfired and Larson was re-elected.
Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine
After four years as the CFSA's Vice-President and chair of the Membership Committee, Bert was elected as the Association's President. A long-time judge, he served as the manager of the World Team in Colorado Springs in 1965, when Petra Burka won the gold medal. As President, he pushed for more coverage of the sport on television and advocated for more support for skaters from Western Canada. Most notably, he spearheaded a Publicity Committee and urged organizers of skating events in Canada to develop strong relationships with the media. His efforts helped bring skating out of newspaper's society pages and on to front pages was key to the sport's development. Over the years, he served as chairman of the Western Canadian Figure Skating Championships, North American Championships and Canadian Championships. He was awarded the Centennial Medal for his contributions to figure skating in Canada in 1968.
Bert Penfold presenting Donald Knight with the winner's trophy at the 1967 Canadian Championships
Bert passed away on May 28, 1968 at the age of sixty-nine. He was posthumously inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall Of Fame in 1975. His nephew by marriage, Les Aspin, served as President Bill Clinton's first Secretary of Defense but died in office in May of 1995. His daughter Margaret Sandison made history as the first international figure skating judge from Saskatchewan.
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
Looking through a modern lens, it's hard to imagine a time when things like television, YouTube, podcasts and blogs didn't exist. Today, with a tap on an touchscreen or a quick click of a button, we can watch a live stream of a competition or a Facebook Live interview with our favourite skater. It's like magic in a way... a concept that would have seemed completely foreign and even frightening to skating fans of decades past.
In the roaring twenties, skating news was mainly disseminated in magazines, newspapers, personal letters and books. Unless you were lucky enough to watch a grainy newsreel clip of a skater gracefully gliding over the ice in your local theatre, you gleaned knowledge about the sport by reading - not by watching or listening. That began to change in the thirties when skating started to be covered on the radio and a new-fangled invention - the television.
Photo courtesy BBC Archive
One of the first skating-themed radio broadcasts in England occurred in 1937, when commentary of the women's free skating at the British Championships at the Empire Pool, Wembley was presented, supplemented by performances by Reginald Foort on the BBC Theatre Organ. Two years later, an exhibition performance given by Daphne Walker during the intermission of a hockey game between teams from Earl's Court and Streatham was aired on television.
Skating disappeared from television and radio in England during wartime, reappearing in December of 1945 when Michael Barsley and Peter Eton ran a segment on their radio show "People's Pleasures" called "Round The Rinks" which offered some fun facts and 'figures' about the people who ran ice rinks.
From 1946 to 1948, a handful of skating performances were aired on the BBC and in February of 1949, television history was made when the first televised ice show in England was aired in its entirety. It was a skating carnival put together by Miss Gladys Hogg at Queen's Ice Rink featuring Jennifer and John Nicks, Marion Davies and Michael Carrington that was hosted by 1936 Olympian Geoffrey Yates. That autumn, English audiences saw Cecilia Colledge skate during a broadcast of highlights of Tom Arnold's ice revues and in December, the British Championships made their national television debut.
The same year that Miss Gladys Hogg's ice show was broadcast on television, history was also made when what is believed to be the first skating-themed radio show made its debut. "The Skater's Radio Programme" was first broadcast on Radio Luxembourg half an hour before midnight on March 25, 1949.
The weekly radio show was the brainchild of sportswriter Howard Bass, then the editor of the magazine "The Skater". Bass' goal in producing the show was 'to promote ice-mindedness' . In his book "This Skating Age", he recalled, "These programmes, broadly speaking, comprised interviews with famous skaters of the day, interspersed with recordings of music to which they frequently skated, and it was certainly enlightening to realize just how musically entertaining such a programme could be made. I was not ashamed at the unoriginal signature tune. Even if you are a little tired of hearing Waldteufel's 'The Skater's Waltz' do please listen to the instrumentally superb recording of it by the Boston Promenade Orchestra, the finest contrapuntal arrangement I know, and still among the best possible accompaniments for skaters of all grades. Certainly we had variety, too, varying from 'The Sabre Dance' (New Promenade Orchestra), Saint-Saëns' 'The Swan' (Melachrino) and Gounod's 'Ballet Music From Faust' (National Symphony) to the contrasting rhythmic tempos of 'In The Mood' (Glenn Miller) and 'I've Got The Sun In The Morning' (Joe Loss)'."
"The Skater's Radio Programme" was co-hosted by Howard Bass and Ron Priestley, an English born Australian professional skater and barrel jumper who had made a name for himself performing in "Enchanted Night" and "The Brahman's Daughter" with Belita and the Brunet's and Phil and Megan Taylor's "Switzerland" tour in Australia and New Zealand prior to World War II. Guests on the show included Jeannette Altwegg (then the reigning Olympic Bronze Medallist), Maj-Britt Rönningberg, Marion Davies, Carol Lynne, Terry Brent and Phil Romayne, Baddy and Buddy and The Jive Trio. Valerie Moon, the runner-up at the 1948 and 1949 I.P.S.A. Professional Championships, treated audiences to her mezza-soprano rendition of the song "This Is My Lovely Day". The show reached audiences throughout Europe - even behind the Iron Curtain and the B.O.A.R. zone in Germany.
Photo courtesy "The Skater" magazine
Though "The Skater's Radio Programme" received rave reviews, it was short-lived - only lasting one season. The exact reason why it didn't continue is unknown, but its late hour and the rise of television may have been the culprit. After all, Howard Bass admitted, "Skating... [is] so essentially visual." Sadly, no known recordings of "The Skater's Radio Programme" survive today. At the time, those producing radio content rarely considered the concept of archiving material for long-term use and making recordings was prohibitively expensive... if one even had the means of doing so. "The Skater's Radio Programme" may have relegated itself to the footnotes of skating history, but it was this pioneering effort that paved the way for the skating podcasts of today.
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
Engraving of Gillis Grafström used in promotion of the 1931 World Figure Skating Championships. Courtesy National Archives of Poland.
Held from February 28 to March 1, 1931 at the Berlin Sportpalast in Germany, the 1931 World Figure Skating Championships marked only the second time in history the ISU presented the World Championships in men's, women's and pairs skating in the same place at the same time.
Though the Nazis hadn't yet officially seized control of Germany, they were very much a presence in the country at the time. It wasn't all roses on the ice either. An article published in the "Wiener Sporttagblatt" on the opening day of the competition noted that many visiting skaters complained that they were not given ample time to become accustomed to conditions in the rink. This was because German skaters - even those not participating in the competition - were given preferential treatment.
George E.B. Hill, Roger Turner, Ernst Baier, Herbert Haertel, Marcell Vadas, Dr. Hugo Distler, Karl Schäfer, Rudolf Praznowsky, Leopold Maier-Larbergo and Theo Lass at the 1931 World Championships
Though attendance was comparably poor for the school figures, more than eight thousand people showed up to watch the free skating competitions that year, which started at five o'clock in the evening. The March 2, 1931 issue of the "Wiener Montagblatt" reported, "It was a frightful place. The driveway of the cars lasted for hours and the air was stagnant. The start of the contest was delayed by this, but moreso because of the non-presence of some of the pieces of music the skaters were to use." Sweden's Gillis Grafström, opting not to compete, gave a special exhibition for the Berlin audiences. He performed several dances he had adapted to the ice.
Karl Schäfer, Sonja Henie and Gillis Grafström
By this point in time, the Austrian press had all but given up on Fritzi Burger and Melitta Brunner, whose previous attempts to dethrone Sonja Henie had been unsuccessful. Their attention - and the eyes of the skating community - were focused squarely on little Hilde Holovsky, who was being hailed as the new rising star in the sport.
Let's take a look back at how Henie, Holovsky and the rest fared that year in Berlin! THE PAIRS COMPETITION
EmÃlia Rotter and László Szollásin Berlin. Photos courtesy National Archives of Poland, "Skating" magazine.
Nine teams vied for the 1931 World pairs title in Berlin and quite frankly, the results were all over the place. Turning the tables after that year's European Championships in St. Moritz, Hungary's EmÃlia Rotter and László Szollás managed to narrowly defeat their teammates Olga Orgonista and Sándor Szalay by just one ordinal placing.
One judge tied the two teams, three gave Rotter and Szollás the nod, two preferred Orgonista and Szalay and Finnish judge Walter Jakobsson had Austrians Lilly Scholz and Willy Petter first. In an equally close contest for the bronze, Scholz and Petter lost out to their Austrian teammates Idi Papez and Karl Zwack. The only non-European team to participate, Maribel Vinson and George 'Geddy' Hill
placed a creditable fifth. Otto Kaiser, who won the World title with Lilly Scholz in 1929, finished eighth with his new partner Hansi Kast. THE MEN'S COMPETITION
Ernst Baier and Sonja Henie at a practice session in Berlin
An unlucky thirteen men squared off in Berlin in what was perhaps one of the most erratically judged men's events in the history of the European Championships. Karl Schäfer's victory was a decisive one, though the marks of the only judge to place him second offer the first glimpse into exactly how nutty the judging in Berlin that year was.
In one of the blatant displays of national bias ever, the Czechoslovakian judge had his own skater, Josef SlÃva, first. SlÃva actually finished twelfth - second to last - and no other judge had him higher than ninth in either the figures or free skating! But no, the fun didn't stop there. America's Roger Turner, who claimed the silver, was eighth on the German judge's scorecard. Germany's Ernst Baier, who claimed the bronze, was only seventh best as far as the Austrian judge was concerned. Dr. Hugo Distler of Austria, who placed fourth, had marks ranging from second through eighth. Germany's Leopold Maier-Labergo's marks ranged from second through seventh. Hungary's Marcell Vadas, who ended up sixth, had marks ranging from third through eleventh. If it were up to the judges from Hungary, Great Britain and Czechoslovakia, Finland's Marcus Nikkanen would have won the bronze. Instead, he finished seventh! In hindsight, I think it's safe to assume that at least a few of the men on that year's judging panel got into the Riesling.
Marcell Vadas. Photo courtesy National Archives Of Poland.
How did they skate? The March 2, 1931 issue of the "Wiener Montagblatt" offered a detailed account of many of the men's free skating performances: "The first was (Marcus) Nikkanen (Finland), who made many mistakes and disappointed. His pirouettes were good, but his jumps were not pure. [Leopold] Maier-Labergo (Berlin) was characterized by his elegant attitude. His program was nicely arranged together, if not too difficult. [Karl] Schäfer brought the rink to a frenzy... He performed all manner of skating elements, jumping, turning pirouettes, dancing and developing an unprecedented musical feeling. He skated to an American piece of music and his program didn't have the smallest mistake. His performance was the highlight of the night."
The report continued: "[Marcell] Vadas, skating after Schäfer, appeared somewhat nervous and fell. Dr. [Hugo] Distler skated very softly and musically, but once touched the ice with his hand. He was uncertain and nervous for no reason at all. [Herbert] Haertel (Berlin), a splendid skater, performed very well despite a fall. [Rudolf] Praznowsky (Troppau) partly copied Schäfer quite well, but was far from the skater his great role model who lived far away was. Theo Lass (Berlin), for the first time in such a large competition, skated very musically. [Josef] SlÃva (Czechoslovakia) skated to a brisk march. He was the best in pirouettes but also his dancing steps were pleasing. After an Axel Paulsen, he came to fall." The Austrian reporter covering the competition offered no observations of Roger Turner, Ernst Baier, Pierre Brunet or George Hill's performances.
Karl Schäfer. Photo courtesy Bildarchiv Austria.
However, Maribel Vinson, covering the event for "Skating" magazine, did. She remarked, "[Baier's] figures no doubt due to an attack of grippe the week before, were not as good as I have seen him do [but] next to Schäfer [he] did the most spectacular free skating of the evening. His countrymen gave him tremendous applause and well they might. His program was fireworks, skated without error and at high speed. Both Americans were among the last to skate... [They] made their impression and gained their applause by their evenly skated, flowing, graceful programs rather than by staccato jumps, toe point jumps, twists, spins and dances. Geddy skated his best and did an excellent inner spin. Roger, too, did himself proud, skating with more ease and poise, sureness and grace than ever before. He gave the audience the feeling that night that he was a seasoned campaigner and couldn't possibly make a mistake. All the American in Berlin were very proud of both of them."
Karl Schäfer. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
Following the event, Roger Turner - who had chivalrously declined money for travel expenses from the USFSA so that Maribel Vinson could have more - shared his thoughts on the event in "Skating" magazine: "One of my first impressions of the World Championships which were recently held in Berlin, Germany, was the exhaustive enthusiasm of the press for acrobatic skating. It would be unfortunate if the exponents of the Art should acquire an indelible image on their minds of acrobatics... rather than a free and harmonious expression... There is danger, if perverted opinions predominate of losing much of the glory and fineness of the present style and figure skating, like the Russian ballet which has given way to a coarser school, would decline."
THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
Sonja Henie and Karl Schäfer in Berlin. Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.
Following the competition, ISU and government officials gathered with skaters at a banquet held at the Hotel Esplanade on Potsdamer Platz, which was frequented by stars like Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo in the roaring twenties. Prizes were awarded, Spätburgunder flowed freely and Karl Schäfer received a special award from the German Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sonja Henie - furious about rumours saying she planned to turn professional - allegedly had an outburst at her hotel, slammed her door and locked herself in a room for a while. She came out eventually and won two more Olympic gold medals and five more World titles.
Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.
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