The 1969 World Figure Skating Championships

Sly and The Family Stone's "Everyday People" topped the music charts, newspapers and radio stations couldn't stop talking about the FLQ bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange and the Boeing 747 made its maiden flight. Yet, for figure skating fans the only news that mattered came out of the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

From February 25 to March 2, 1969, the venue played host to the World Figure Skating Championships for the fourth time. Hank Beatty, a former USFSA President who'd played an instrumental role in the three previous Colorado Springs Worlds, returned as the event's General Chairman for the fourth time. Though the event drew considerable praise for its efficient management, the organizers had little power over the usual grumblings about the location. At nearly one mile above sea level, skaters with little experience skating at high altitudes struggled with conditioning. 

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Behind the scenes, many members of the American skating community mourned the death of Charlotte Wilkinson McDaniel, who passed away suddenly while attending the event with her husband Delaplaine 'Delly' McDaniel, a fellow USFSA judge. Mrs. McDaniel was a long-time member of the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society. Representatives of the International Professional Skating Union and ISU sat down for a historic first meeting during the event.

Commemorative badge from The 1969 World Figure Skating Championships

Media coverage of the Championships was extensive. Dick Button and Chris Schenkel commentated ninety minutes of coverage which aired on ABC's "Wide World Of Sports". Button wasn't the only skating luminary in attendance. The Jenkins brothers, Hans Gerschwiler, Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy, Tenley Albright, Bob Paul and the wife of the late Gillis Grafström all took in the event. Former Olympians Christine Haigler and Tina Noyes served as in-arena announcers for the women's and ice dance events. Olympic Gold Medallist Manfred Schnelldorfer, who was coaching the West German team, was seen rinkside in a fifteen-gallon black cowboy hat and sheriff's badge. In "Skating" magazine, an unattributed writer quipped, "He looked... like a fugitive from 'Wagon Train'." The same writer also remarked, "The Russians may have a Santa Claus complex. They would reach into their pockets and pull out photos, pins, handpainted wooden bowls, dolls and vodka (the last reserved for the Broadmoor staffers). Most speak English; all are gregarious. Tamara Moskvina's English is beautiful, and she often served as interpreter for other team members when the going got rough." Let's take a look back at how all the excitement played out during that fateful week just before the dawning of "The Age Of Aquarius"!

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

For the first time at the World Championships, the number of compulsory dances was reduced from four to three to make way for the ISU's newest addition to international ice dance competition - the OSP. To no one's surprise the three-time and defending World Champions Diane Towler and Bernard Ford were unanimously first in all three compulsories - the Viennese Waltz, Paso Doble and Tango - with marks ranging from 5.3 to 5.7.

Diane Towler and Bernard Ford. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

The OSP, which didn't have a 'prescribed rhythm', introduced a mishmash of styles and music choices. As with anything new, there was much criticism and pushback, with many critics calling for "better rules" and the need for a second mark for presentation or artistic impression. Some drew parallels between the OSP and compulsory pairs program, stating that ice dancing was becoming too much like pairs. Americans Judy Schwomeyer and James Sladky performed the Peanut Polka, Britons Susan Getty and Roy Bradshaw the Paso Doble and West Germans Angelika and Erich Buck the March. Soviets Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov drew praise for their waltz to "Beryozka", as did Britons Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane, who performed a Sailor's Hornpipe in the reverse direction. Towler and Ford again took top honour but not without some controversy. One of the rules gave teams the option to change position up to six times per circuit. There was some debate as to whether or not they exceeded this. They also received deductions from two judges because Diane trailed Bernard on her knee, which was another 'no-no' as far as the Dance Committee was concerned.

Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov

In the free dance, Towler and Ford brought the house down with a lively, syncopated free dance that climaxed with music from "Zorba The Greek". Though their marks were mostly 5.8's and 5.9's, Canadian judge Barbara Lane gave them a 5.3 and 5.4, placing them third in the free dance behind Pakhomova and Gorshkov and the Bucks, who finished fifth overall. Reviewing the event in "Skating World" magazine, coach Alex McGowan referred to Lane's marks as "laughable". When the marks were tallied, Towler and Ford were still unanimously first overall, even on Ryan's scorecard. Pakhomova and Gorshkov finished a strong second, making history as the first Soviet ice dancers to stand on the World podium. Canadians Donna Taylor and Bruce Lennie placed eleventh, while Schwomeyer and Sladky took the bronze... furthering the already incessant talk about the legitimacy of the judging at the North American Championships. Though there was no movement among the top eight teams, Americans Debbie Gerken and Raymond Tiedemann made a notable jump from unlucky thirteenth to ninth with a charming free dance. Both Bernard Ford and Jaochim Iglowstein wore boot covers that matched their partners, a novel costuming concept at the time.

Ice dance medallists. Photo courtesy Judy Sladky.

Judy Schwomeyer was believed that she and Jim Sladky's controversial loss at the North American Championships played a part in them not winning the silver in Colorado Springs, and ultimately never winning the World title: "At the Worlds, it was a really big deal about who was going to be third, because Towler and Ford were quitting after that... It was all opened up because the British were starting to move around and I actually heard a judge at the competition - not one of our judges - say, 'Oh, well they couldn't even win North Americans'. I think that started the whole thing running. The British had been there forever and it was, "Who is going to be next?' The Russians of course wanted [the silver] and that's the way it went. "

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Three-time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medallist Peggy Fleming's decision to turn professional meant that a new women's champion would be crowned in 1969. Several women were considered to be in the medal conversation, but when they arrived in Colorado Springs they started dropping like flies.

Linda Carbonetto, Jay Humphry and Karen Magnussen practicing in Squaw Valley in the spring of 1969. Photo courtesy Jay Humphry.

Karen Magnussen in her wheelchair. Photo courtesy World Wide Photos.

1968 Canadian Champion Karen Magnussen went to Squaw Valley to train after finishing second at the North American Championships in Oakland. In her book "Karen: The Karen Magnussen Story", she recalled, "I'd been feeling some pain in my legs for quite a while. It actually started in early October, but I thought I was just out of condition from the summer and that if I really worked, my muscles would get stronger and there would be no problem... One morning at Squaw Valley the pain came back and started working into the backs of my legs. It got so bad I had to get off the ice right away. I went to a doctor and his diagnosis was 'pulled Achilles tendons.' So it was back on the ice, then over to Colorado Springs for the final practices. On the Sunday evening we were practicing when I felt a pain like a sledgehammer was hitting me in both legs. Both my feet were beginning to swell. However, Tenley Albright was there and said, 'I'm sure you'll be fine in the competition tomorrow. You're skating so well!' But the pain was so bad I had to be taken to a hospital... to see a bone specialist. He gave me a sequence of tests, some of which I just couldn't do at all, like rolling up my toes, and took some X-rays. It was midnight by that time, with the championships starting the next day., when the specialist came back with the verdict: 'No way you can skate, my dear. You have stress fractures in both legs.'... That was it. I had to listen to the doctor, finally. I was to stay in a wheelchair. Tenley Albright came up again the next day and said, 'My God, if you can skate like that with two broken legs, what are you going to do next year?'" For much of the event, Karen parked her wheelchair next to Dick Button, taking notes on her competitors for Vancouver newspapers.

Gaby Seyfert

Olympic Bronze Medallist Hana Mašková arrived in Colorado Springs nursing a back injury. Before the event, she told Associated Press reporters, "I took a bad fall during my free skating practice last night. The pain is so bad I can hardly move. It is an old injury that was reactivated. I am going to see the doctor. I hope to skate but I am not sure that I will be able to do so." She skated the first four school figures, finishing behind Austrian figure specialist Trixi Schuba and twenty-year-old East German student Gaby Seyfert, the Silver Medallist at the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble. Her ultimate withdrawal after the LFO-RFI paragraph double three was to the advantage of Hungary's Zsuzsa Almássy, who'd already outpointed her but was behind on ordinals. Sitting behind Schuba, Seyfert and Almássy after the figures were a pair of Americans, seventeen-year-old Julie Lynn Holmes - a Colorado College freshman from South Pasadena - and fifteen-year-old Janet Lynn of Rockford, Illinois, the prodigal student of Slavka Kohout.

Gaby Seyfert takes a tumble. 

In the free skate, Trixi Schuba skated a strong but conservative program, landing double Lutzes, flips and toe-loops. Her marks ranged from 5.3 to 5.6. Eighteen-year-old Zsuzsa Almássy's program featured crowd-pleasing illusion spins and Arabians, but was criticized by Dick Button for its lack of fluidity and choreography. The Italian judge didn't agree, giving her a 5.8 for artistic impression. Gaby Seyfert delivered a more gutsy program but took a tumble on one of her double Axel attempts. Despite her error, all but one of the judges gave her 5.9's for technical merit. She told Associated Press reporters, "I can't explain what caused me to fall [on the double Axel]. This is a jump I can do in my sleep." 

Wearing a 'shocking pick' chiffon dress, Julie Lynn Holmes brought down the house with a flawless performance that featured two double Axels, a double inside Axel and a double flip. Despite the fact she skated cleanly and landed two double Axels to Gaby Seyfert's one, every single judge gave her lower technical marks. Janet Lynn landed two double Axels of her own, but popped a double Lutz and omitted a double Salchow/double Salchow sequence. Three judges rewarded her beautiful artistry with 5.8's.

Canada's Linda Carbonetto, only ninth after figures, delivered an inspired and athletic performance that featured a double Lutz, walley into double Axel, delayed Axel, Axels in both directions and unique combination spins.

When the marks were tallied, Seyfert took the gold, Schuba the silver and Almássy the bronze. Though Holmes and Carbonetto finished second and third in the free skate, they placed only fourth and sixth overall. The fact that their marks were lower than Seyfert's drew a loud chorus of boos and catcalls from the knowledgeable American skating crowd. For the first time since 1963, a North American woman wasn't on the podium at the World Championships. Canadian journalist Jim Proudfoot declared, "It damages skating when judges are staring off into space instead of watching the athletes, suggesting they've made their mind up in advance. And the marks they post often reaffirm that suspicion."

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov 

Though reigning Olympic and World Silver Medallists Tatyana Zhuk and Alexander Gorelik were out of the picture as Tatyana was expecting a baby, the trio of Soviet pairs teams that showed up in without peers. At the European Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov, Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov and Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin made history by sweeping the podium for the Soviet Union for the first time. Rodnina and Ulanov's victory over the legendary Protopopovs gave critics cause to spout that their style was outdated and their programs lacked the technical difficulty of their rivals. Upon his arrival in Colorado Springs - where he'd won his first World title back in 1965 - Oleg fired back to an Associated Press reporter, "We have lost some small skirmishes but we shall not lose the war... Comparing our style of skating with the more aggressive style featuring jumps and spins is like comparing the Bolshoi ballet with vaudeville or popular music with Bach and Beethoven. Bach and Beethoven will live forever. Similarly, there can be no death to our style of pairs skating. It is classic. Others may win but the victory belongs to us."

Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov

Despite Oleg's unwavering confidence and the fact both teams skated quite well, the thirtysomething Protopopovs lost the compulsory short program to nineteen-year-old Rodnina and twenty-one-year-old Ulanov. Oleg wasn't discouraged, he was infuriated. He told an Associated Press reporter, "This isn't pairs skating; it is two people skating single."

Heidemarie Steiner and Heinz-Ulrich Walther practicing for the 1969 World Championships. Photo courtesy German Federal Archive.

In the free skate, the teams in fourth and fifth (Americans Cynthia and Ron Kauffman and East Germans Heidemarie Steiner and Heinz-Ulrich Walther) took unfortunate tumbles, as did the Protopopov's, who faltered on Axels, double loops and even in their footwork.

 Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov celebrating their victory

Rodnina and Ulanov skated brilliantly, landing side-by-side double Salchows, Axels in both directions and displaying an array of difficult lifts. Their marks were all 5.8's and 5.9's. Moskvina and Mishin drew applause with a rousing, athletic program set to folk music which featured a variation on the forward inside death spiral they called 'the flower'. They received mostly 5.7's and 5.8's, but three judges gave them 5.6's for artistic impression.

Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin

However, the 'stars of the show' were teenagers JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley. They brought down the house with a delightful and daring performance, earning the only standing ovation of the evening. Their marks, mostly 5.6's and 5.7's, were loudly booed. The French judge who gave them a 5.4 and 5.5 got the most abuse from the crowd.

When the marks were tallied, Rodnina and Ulanov, Moskvina and Mishin and the Protopopovs were first through third, repeating their history-making Soviet podium sweep from Europeans at Worlds.  Starbuck and Shelley were only able to move up from seventh to sixth overall, which didn't exactly go over well with the crowd.

Following the event, Oleg Protopopov told Associated Press reporters, "I was strong and skated as well as ever, but Ludmilla - she is still weak from two attacks of the grippe. She was very ill before our own national championships but the public and authorities asked us to compete. It was the same in the Europeans."

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Notably on the missing list in Colorado Springs were Austrians Wolfgang Schwarz and Emmerich Danzer, the reigning Olympic and World Champions and Olympic Bronze Medallist Scotty Allen. Schwarz and Danzer had both turned professional, and Allen was devoting more time to his studies at Harvard. The favourite was twenty-year-old Tim Wood, a pre-law student at John Carroll University in Cleveland. Wood, the youngest of Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Wood's four sons, had joined the Detroit Skating Club at the age of two and lost the gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble to Schwarz by the narrowest of margins. After the first four figures, he amassed a sixty-nine point lead over eighteen-year-old Ondrej Nepela of Czechoslovakia. On his fifth figure - the LBO-RBI paragraph loop - he earned the highest mark of any of the men in figures, a 5.5. After the final figure, the RBO-LBI paragraph bracket was completed, Wood had a unanimous one hundred and twenty-six point lead over Nepela and France's Patrick Péra.

Ondrej Nepela, Tim Wood and Patrick Péra in Colorado Springs. Right photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

In hindsight, it's fair to say that the men's free skate in Colorado Springs in 1969 was one of the best-skated competitions of the sixties. The standing ovations were successive, and even the skater who placed eighth in the free skate - Canada's David McGillvray - landed three triple jumps and had the audience on its feet. Tim Wood's performance featured a triple Salchow and toe-loop and earned him perfect marks of 6.0 for artistic impression from the American, West German and East German judges.

Tim Wood's American teammates, John 'Misha' Petkevich and Gary Visconti, also skated fabulous programs chock full of difficult technical content. Canada's Jay Humphry, who'd jockeyed positions with Visconti in the figures, delivered one of the finest performances of his career, landing a triple toe-loop and two double Axels. It's worth noting that although Péra and Nepela placed fifth and sixth in the free skate, they landed triple jumps as well. When the marks were tallied, Wood was unanimously first and Nepela and Péra held on for silver and bronze on the strength of their scores in figures. Visconti was fourth, just ahead of Petkevich and Humphry, who placed second and third in the free skate.

It's interesting to note that although Humphry received a standing ovation and was in the top three in the free skate with marks as high as 5.9, he dropped a spot in the standings based on his point total, though his ordinals were lower than both Visconti and Petkevich. This was a testament to both the depth of the field and the 'confusing' nature of the computerized judging system in place at the time. After being declared the winner, Tim Wood told reporter Loudon Kelly, "This was the best performance of my life." He became the first American man since David Jenkins in 1959 to stand atop the podium at the World Championships.

Gaby Seyfert and Tim Wood

On the closing day of the competition, many of the stars of the event participated in an afternoon exhibition. One of the many highlights was a 'sextet' performance by Moskvina and Mishin and West German pairs Gudrun Hauss and Walter Häfner and Brunhilde Baßler and Eberhard Rausch.

That evening, skaters and judges alike celebrated at a lavish awards banquet at the Broadmoor Hotel before embarking on the first-ever post-Worlds Tom Collins tour, which visited North American cities instead of European ones.

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 the 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.

E.B. Cook, A Colourful American Fancy Skating Pioneer

Photo courtesy Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University

"Years ago when the Central Park Lake (New York City) had frozen over and opened to skaters for the first time, Plimpton met on skates Eugene Beauharnais Cook (of Hoboken, NJ) who was the founder, the creator of American 'Fancy Skating.'...Plimpton was an inventor.... He had worked too hard and on the advice of his physician took to outdoor exercise. He could not hold up on his one-bladed skates and envied E.B. Cook who flew about like a bird. They became friends on the ice and Cook laughingly suggested that he ought to invent a skate on which he could hold up at once. It chanced to be a long winter and before its close Plimpton followed Cook's advice and used four small blades similar to miniature old-fashioned country sleighs. The principle was exactly the same as the one used for roller-skates: the four blades always remained flat on the ice whilst diverging and converging." - Excerpt from letter from George E. Vail to Edgar Syers, 1898

The son of Martha (Walker) and General William Cook, Eugene Beauharnais 'E.B.' Cook was born May 19, 1830, in Manhattan, New York. To say that his family was well-to-do was something of an understatement. His father, a West Point graduate, was a decorated military man and personal friend of U.S. President Martin Van Buren. His mother was an accomplished editor who translated a biography of legendary Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. With no less than six servants at their beck and call in the family home in Bordentown, New Jersey, Cook, his older sister Celia and younger sister Edith lived a life of uncommon privilege.

Educated in his youth by private tutors, Cook was shipped off to Princeton College when he was only sixteen. Smart as a whip, he was soon ranked first in his class in civil engineering. Studious almost to a fault, he spent his vacations from school with his nose buried in one book or another. It all caught up to him quickly. According to a biographical sketch penned by W.R. Henry that appeared in "American Chess Magazine" in February 1898, "Hard study and over-application induced tension of the brain, and so much deranged his nervous system that while in the second term of the Junior Class, he became completely prostrated, and was compelled to leave college, without hope of ever being able to resume his studies. He was for a long time dangerously ill, and remained for several years an invalid."

While convalescing, Cook developed something of an obsession for the development and solution of chess problems and by the time he was in his early twenties, the first of many of these problems was published in "The Albion". When his health improved, Cook took to the great outdoors in pursuit of fresh air and better health. In the summers, he pursued mountaineering with the same vigour that he'd shown to chess. In a letter penned to F.M. Teed, he claimed, "In summer I climbed mountains. I have ascended more than 230 mountains and lofty eminences." He became so entranced by his new hobby that he took up annually took up summer residence at Ravine House in Randolph just to be close to the White Mountains and became quite involved in trail-making.

In the winters, Cook left Hoboken and took up residence wherever skating conditions were the best. In an interview that appeared in the March 20, 1903 issue of "The Sun", he claimed, "It was on a King's pond that I learned to skate. Joseph Bonaparte had a place down at Bordentown and there was a pond on it. I learned to skate on that pond. That's why I was able to put so many frills on  my figure work, I suppose." If the name Joseph Bonaparte rings a bell, congratulations... you're a loyal Skate Guard reader! Back in 2015, we explored the story of the notoriously haunted skating pond on Bonaparte's Point Breeze estate in one of the blog's Hallowe'en-themed features.

Cook soon became a regular on the ponds of New York City's Central Park and 59th Street in Manhattan and by the late 1850's was widely regarded as one of the finest 'fancy' skaters of the region. By 1863, he was the New York Skating Club's resident meteorologist, the chairman of the club's Artistic Committee and a frequent judge at the Championships Of America. In 1868, he developed a 'programme of movements' for the American Skating Congress... one of the earliest attempts to level the playing field by streamlining the figures performed in 'fancy' skating competitions. Years later, he played yet another important role in figure skating's early history as a founding member of the National Amateur Skating Association of the United States, working alongside George Dawson Phillips.

Cook's talent as a skater was considerable for the era in which he skated. Fred M. Foster, who published the indispensable "Bibliography Of Skating" in March of 1898 called Cook "the authority of skating in America." Various newspaper accounts praise his grapevines, rocking turns and Philadelphia twists. His specialities were a spread eagle from a backward entrance, a one-foot eight with loops added top, bottom and centre and flat-foot spins. He introduced the term 'pivot circling' in what he called the 'Intoto' position on alternating feet, a figure later built upon by Jackson Haines. He told F.M. Teed, "Skating seemed to offer the most enticing exercise. The problems of balance were very attractive, and I amused myself by creating the possibilities of single movements and of difficult combinations. My repertoire of movements was acknowledged to be considerably more extensive than that of any other skater. An unusual flexibility of limbs enabled me to accomplish many feats which remained my own." A modest skater too...

Eminent skating historian Dennis L. Bird recalled how James L. Plimpton, a pioneer in roller skate design, met Cook on the ice at Central Park in New York City. In a 1933 issue of "Skating" magazine he recalled, "He had worked too hard and on the advice of his physician took to outdoor exercise. He could not hold up on the one-bladed skates and envied E.B. Cook who flew about like a bird. They became friends on the ice and Cook laughingly suggested that he ought to invent a skate on which he could hold up at once. It chanced to be a long winter and before its close Plimpton followed Cook's advice and used four small blades similar to miniature old fashioned country sleighs. The principle was exactly the same as the one used for roller-skates: the four blades always remained flat on the ice whilst diverging and converging."

Marvin R. Clark, a skating critic who penned "The Skater's Textbook" with Frank Swift (William H. Bishop), recalled in the late nineteenth century that Cook "gathered together from all sources, all fundamental movements and their developments and combinations, placing them in proper order according to difficulty of execution and proper order of progress for the learner. Mr. Cook gave his system, the result of many years of study and hard work to the world, and it still remains the programme of all skating contests and congresses, as well as the most valuable library of instruction to learner and professional alike, although condensed into one page, letter size." This 'system' of Cook's creation was adopted by the American Skating Congress.

Though Cook remained quite involved in the skating world as a builder in the late nineteenth century, he became almost obsessively devoted to his love of chess. He took up residence on Hudson Street in Hoboken, New Jersey with Mary Kaley, an Irish widow who acted as his housekeeper and companion and curated one of the largest libraries of chess and skating books in the world. To afford his book collection, he supplemented an inheritance from his father by frequently publishing chess problems in literary magazines and penning the books "American Chess-Nuts: Collection Of Problems By Composers Of The Western World" and "The Poetry Of Motion In Skating". In his spare time, he played the violin and collected art.

The great Irving Brokaw, who was one of a small group of men who helped popularize the Continental Style of skating in America, praised him highly. Cook himself was highly critical of the English Style of skating and T. Maxwell Witham in particular, who wrote that few innovations had been made to figure skating since 1880 except for the introduction of rocker and counter grapevines. "He did not know [O.G] Brady, Jenkins and [James B.] Story," bemoaned Cook. "The very different things that one can do at the same time with one's feet is remarkable, and the combinations are very numerous... Our trans-Atlantic brethren seem to put too little value on the two-foot movements."

Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France

According to Brokaw, Cook last skated on March 17, 1898, but the March 20, 1903 issue of "The Sun" noted that he skated that year at a reunion of 'old-timers' at the St. Nicholas Rink in New York City. An unnamed peer quoted in that article stated, "He is the grandfather of figure skating, and apparently he has got on the same red necktie he used always to wear away back in the 60s. He was gray then, and he is gray now, and barring the fact that he is a little shaky on his pins when he gets on the ice, he does not appear to me to look a day older than he did when I first saw him. Figure skating in New York dates from him. He used to show us all how to do it."

In 1896, George Dawson Phillips remarked, "The man who has probably done more to foster figure skating in this country than any other is Eugene B. Cook, who has been a delegate to all the various conventions where action has been taken upon the formation of programmes, and whose ideas are largely followed to-day by all figure skater. Mr. Cook has been, to my knowledge, a first-class figure skater for thirty-five years, and he is considered practically the father of figure skating in this country." Jackson Haines likely would have had something to say about that proclamation.

Cook was found dead in the bed of his Hudson Street home in Hoboken at the age of eighty-five, on March 13, 1915. His obituary in "The New York Times" mused, "Recently when his house was on fire, Mr. Cook stood at the door of his library and refused to allow the firemen to enter, fearing they would damage his collection of books". Following his death, the contents of that library were donated to Princeton University. Cook Path in the White Mountains was named after him. Chess enthusiasts still revere him as something of a genius over a century later...but most skating fans haven't the foggiest clue who this colourful skating pioneer was.

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 "Jackson Haines: The Skating King" and pre-ordering "Sequins, Scandals & Salchows: Figure Skating in the 1980s", which will be released this fall where books are sold: https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Subterranean Skating

If you feel like you're barely scratching the surface of skating history, why not dive deep underground? Today, we're about to uncover the secrets of two extraordinary ice rinks!

THE DOBŠINSKÁ ICE CAVE

Part of the Stratená Cave System, the Dobšinská Ice Cave was naturally formed in the Middle Triassic period near the Slovenské Rudohorie mountains. Only a short distance from the mining town of Dobšiná, the Ice Cave was first discovered by royal mining engineer Eugen Ruffíni on July 15, 1870. Although its entrance was previously known by shepherds and hunters, what Ruffini and the three men who joined him on his expedition found underground that summer day in the nineteenth century was simply stunning. In the Ice Cave's Grand Hall, a natural ice floor was discovered and as early as 1871, the people of the region were skating underground.

Ten years later, experiments with electrical lighting began in the Ice Caves and by July 3, 1887, the underground natural rink was opened spectacularly as the first illuminated subterranean skating rink in Europe. Temperatures in the Ice Cave allowed for year-round skating and attracted skaters from neighbouring countries. It was the Hungarians who were behind a great number of important skating events that were held there over the years.

On July 16, 1893, the first (known) skating festival held in a cave took place in the Dobšinská Ice Cave. Studying primary sources (the Rozsnyói Híradó and Sajó vidéke), King Székely and Pavol Horváth determined that "the event was attended by nearly 100 performers, including 32 pairs [which] were members of a skating club. The performance was watched by 300 enchanted viewers. Guests from Budapest arrived in Roznava, there was not a sufficient number of carriages on [the first] trip, so Earl Géza (Gejza) Andrássy [sent for more]. During the ice festival, which lasted from 14 to 16 hours, 32 pairs [danced] a waltz, then violinist Lajos (Louis) Radics from Miskolc danced the French quadrille. The lack of capacity of accommodation at the Cave [left] participants dancing all through the night... G. Rohoncz at the final toast stated that to maintain the ice festival and its developments [festival goers should] establish a joint stock company. Its proposal soon was presented to leaders... The project was supported by several prominent personalities of Hungary."

In early August 1894 (despite one skater withdrawing because the prizes weren't flashy enough) a competition was held in the Ice Cave with skaters from Prussia and Hungary participating. Gypsy bands provided live musical accompaniment for the skaters competing. Figure skaters Artur Dezso and Jeno Christi practiced there, as did several other skaters from Budapest and Vienna over the years. Even World Champion Lili Kronberger made her way underground to show off her finest skating in the summer of 1908.

Olympic and World Silver Medallist Karol Divín trained in the Ice Cave in his youth under his father, as did military speed skaters. Divin recalled, "In the postwar years, when [we had] not yet the opportunity to train in indoor halls as now, we skated in the Dobšinská cave. It was from 1947 to 1952. It was the summer period of June, July and August. My father, who had led me to figure skating, had every year [to] execute permission from the Monuments Office (I guess in Bratislava). Of course, I was not the only one who trained there. Joint training participated also other skaters in Bratislava and also from Prague... Eva Grožajová, Ivan Mauer, Franz Landl, Dagmar Lerchová, Alexandra Black, Jindra Kramperová, Vera Zajícková and others. The system was such that we skated two days, the third day was free for reconstruction [of the] ice... In 2008, I made a trip to the scene... On the surface, where we then skated, it would now not work, because during the time there grew up a huge hill (about 7- 8 m high). However, the nature and surroundings of the cave is beautiful, as it was then." Skating was permitted year-round in the cave until 1946 but as Divin described,conditions deteriorated over the years. Today, you can certainly tour the Dobšinská Ice Cave, but skating isn't the possibility it once was.

THE JUNGFRAUJOCH EISPALAST

At an elevation of over four thousand meters, Jungfraujoch is a glacier saddle of the Bernese Alps, connecting the summits of the Jungfrau and Mönch mountains. In 1912, a railway was constructed to bring tourists to Jungfraujoch and several restaurants, an observatory and hiking trails were established. In 1933, two guides from the railway set to work chiseling out an attraction that would thrill visitors to the remote region for years to come - the Jungfraujoch Eispalast or  'Famed Glacial Ice Rink Of Switzerland'.

The Jungfraujoch Eispalast in 1953. Photo courtesy Jungfraubahnen.

An advertisement for the rink that appeared in "World Ice Skating Guide" in 1961 read, "There is little doubt that the most curious and interesting of all the ice skating rinks in this old world of ours is the 100 X 60 ice rink in the Jungfraujoch Glacier at Interlachen, Switzerland. Straight down into the heart of the glacier some sixty feet or more steps are chiseled out of solid ice. Then you enter a yawning cavern of ice and lo, and behold the familiar sight of figure skaters going through 'school' figures and free skating meets your frost covered eye. The rink floor is a polished sheet of smoothness, while overhead arches and the ceiling of age old glacial ice gives an eerie effect. The walls, of course, are also of ice as are the rest benches and skate counters. Surely, it is one of the most interesting sights in the universe."

Posters advertising the Jungfraujoch Eispalast - 1937 (left) and 1950 (right). Photos courtesy Jungfraubahnen.

Today, the Jungfraujoch Eispalast is operated as a museum and is filled with beautiful ice sculptures. Kathrin Naegeli, the Head of Corporate Communications at Jungfrau Railways explained, "It isn’t possible to go figure/ice skating in the Eisplast anymore. We don't have an exact time frame when it was stopped. But you see in the posters from 1937 and 1950 that it was still possible in the fifties."

Tours of the Dobšinská Ice Cave and Jungfraujoch Eispalast are still very popular. Don't just sit there... dig below the surface and trace the history of skating underground for yourself by visting these unique places!

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 "Jackson Haines: The Skating King" and pre-ordering "Sequins, Scandals & Salchows: Figure Skating in the 1980s", which will be released this fall where books are sold: https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Land Of The Midnight Sun

On January 6, 1930, cultures collided on the ice in the most magnificent of ways. The backdrop was New York City's majestic Madison Square Garden. Sponsored by the USFSA and the Skating Club Of New York, the event was "The Land Of The Midnight Sun" carnival (alternately titled "A Night In St. Moritz") and the undisputed star (in her first North American appearance) was none other than the reigning Olympic Gold Medallist, Sonja Henie of Norway. Fourteen thousand people attended that sold out-show which was" described as "New York's outstanding social event of the year." 

Despite the success of a similarly large-scale show in the Garden in 1928, "The Land Of The Midnight Sun" was originally slated for the smaller upstairs rink in Madison Square Garden. Mary Louise Adams, in her outstanding 2011 book "Artistic Impressions: Figure Skating, Masculinity, and the Limits of Sport" noted that Papa Henie agreed to seventeen-year-old Sonja's participation "on the condition that the show be moved to the main arena. The club agreed to the upgrade only after Wilhelm Henie offered to rent the arena himself and to keep for his family any profits from the show. Club officials declined his offer, but inspired by his confidence, moved the show downstairs. Father Henie then went out to work drumming up an audience among the large Norwegian community in New York. Twelve thousand tickets were bought the first day they went on sale. The show easily sold out the Gardens." Rinkside boxes went for two hundred and fifty dollars with individual tickets going for twenty-five dollars apiece. With inflation today, that's approximately three hundred and fifty dollars a ticket. This was not a social event or skating show for the average working New York citizen. In addition to those hefty ticket costs, attendees on that chilly winter day were sold coffee, sandwiches, candy and cigarettes for the charity of choice, the New York Music Week Association.

The list of attendees at that show, many decked out in jewels and ermine, read like a who's who of New York high society. Honorary guests were the Norwegian Minister to the United States, Mr. Harvard H. Bachke, the Norwegian Consul General, Mayor James J. Walker and then New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also in attendance were industrialist Myron Charles Taylor, Brooke Astor, the socialite wife of Vincent Astor (the son of Titanic victim John Jacob Astor) and eccentric millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle I, a boxer and writer who raised alligators as pets.

The theme of the show was tailored around its Norwegian star. The January 12, 1930 issue of "The Pittsburgh Press" noted, "There was nothing about Madison Square Garden to remind one of the prize-fights and the howling hoi polloi. A bit of Norway with rockbound coasts and frozen fjord, the scene of revelry was one gorgeous display of icy splendor. That radiant display known as the 400 gleamed and glittered... as others from the gilded arc skimmed and scintillated over miniature ice fields... Lila Agnew Stewart, famed executive of society's charitable events, corralled every maid, matron and beau on the island who could skate and used them to add color to the carnival and pageant which was adapted from an ancient Viking legend of affection, passion and hate." The lighting was designed by Johann Kliegl, the famous German-born stage light inventor.

Irving Brokaw

Sonja Henie wasn't the only skater of historical significance in the show. The account from "The Pittsburgh Press" explained, "Irving Brokaw, a leading high-hatter and one who cuts a mean figure on the ice, both literally and figuratively, entered with all pomp and splendor as king of the carnival. Followed a feast and dances for his delectation. Mrs. Blanchard and Nathaniel W. Niles, pairs champions, led off with an intricate terpichorean fantasy which straightway gained the royal favor. They gave way to a gypsy quadrille costumed in colorful array by Charles LeMaire... The most beautiful dance of the night was the 'veiling of the sun', a scarf and balloon dance, to the old waltz tune, 'Blue Danube'. Mr. Ole Windingstad led the orchestra and a chorus of 350 voices." The lighting effects for this scarf and balloon dance were described as being like The Northern Lights and this act in particular proved so captivating that representatives from the Minto Skating Club in attendance invited the Skating Club Of New York to later exhibit it at the Minto Follies show later that winter. Maribel Vinson, Beatrix Loughran, Willy Böckl, Cecil Smith and her sister Maude, Melville Rogers and his wife Isobel, Norval Baptie and Gladys Lamb... they were all in the show too.

As impressive as these other acts were, Sonja Henie stole the show. She appeared first briefly in a duet with future U.S. and North American Medallist Gail Borden III. The act was inspired by Norse mythology, with Borden playing Prince Sigurd and Henie a Norse maiden. The Pittsburgh Press described this dramatic duet thusly: "[Sigurd] engages in a duel with Atle, the villain, and is victorious. Atle is borne off dying to his ship, which, according to the old Norwegian tradition, is sent out to the sea in flames. Believe it or not, the fire was real and made a unique appearance against the shivering background." Sonja returned for a solo performance which was described as "beautiful, graceful [and] skillful... Dressed like a golden swallow, in her skating costume of cloth of gold, she flitted here and there and completely captivated her audience." Her final appearance in the show, described in Goodfellow's book, was "a Viking scene in which Norway's 'Golden Girl' was the central figure. Before she came to America Miss Henie was called 'Our Sonja' throughout Scandinavia; her appearance in this Carnival made her everybody's Sonja." I don't know about you, but the "Our Sonja" and "Everyone's Sonja" references instantly made me think of Cecilia Colledge drawing out "My Sonja" in an imitation of Papa Henie when interviewed for the nineties documentary "Reflections On Ice".

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

In her book "Wings On My Feet", Sonja Henie recalled, "Standing in the skaters' entrance to the Madison Square Garden ice the opening night of the Ice Carnival, waiting for my cue, I looked into the dark beyond the spotlights and saw the dim faces of 17,000 people rising row above row to the rafters. It was an awesome sensation... My part in the tremendous 'Land of the Midnight Sun' pageant was fatiguing, but excellent practice for the championship to be held on the same spot two weeks later. Long, sober, and rather pompous, the carnival involved some hundred skaters and lasted four hours. My number was the finale, and waiting through all the preceding program, keeping myself keyed up to do my best long after midnight, was pretty much of a strain. The late and irregular hours we had to keep throughout the run of the carnival were bad for training, but the compensation of becoming acclimated to the Garden ice and for me, to the American crowd, more than made up for it."

If you're going to make a grand entrance, I'd say selling out Madison Square Garden with a burning Viking ship and a future U.S. President in the audience is probably one way to go. With not only a who's who of high society in attendance but key figures from both the American and Canadian skating communities there as well, it's safe to say that North America certainly knew the name 'Sonja Henie' well a month before she claimed that year's World Championships in that very city. In fact, her performance in "Land Of The Midnight Sun" directly contributed to the impressive ticket sales at that competition. Long before she claimed two more Olympic medals, before the tours, before the movies, the name Sonja Henie was on everyone's lips.

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 "Jackson Haines: The Skating King" and pre-ordering "Sequins, Scandals & Salchows: Figure Skating in the 1980s", which will be released this fall where books are sold: https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Four Decades Of Asian American Figure Skating Pioneers

A young Kristi Yamaguchi. Photo courtesy Don Willis.

In 1991, Kristi Yamaguchi and Natasha Kuchiki made history at the World Championships in Germany. It was the first time two Asian American skaters had won medals at the same major ISU  Championship. The following year, Yamaguchi became the first Asian American skater to win an Olympic gold medal. In the decades that followed, skaters like Michelle Kwan, Nathan Chen, Mirai Nagasu, Kyoko Ina and Maia and Alex Shibutani have amazed us with their incredibly special talents on the ice. Decades before their successes, several lesser-celebrated Asian American skaters paved the way for future generations. In today's blog, we'll explore some of their stories.

Ed and Carmel Bodel with Barbara Jean Stein and Ray Sato. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

In 1955, Raymond 'Ray' Sato made history as the first Asian American skater to win a U.S. title, when he took the Silver Dance title with partner Barbara Jean 'Bobby' Stein. Ray was a thirty-two year old Californian who roller skated in his spare time and supported his skating with a job as a sales clerk at a supermarket. He continued to ice dance competitively for almost two decades, amassing an impressive collection of cups and medals at Pacific Coast and summer competitions. In the late fifties, he partnered two future (consecutive) U.S. Champions -  Diane Sherbloom and Yvonne Littlefield. Over a decade after winning the U.S. Silver Dance title, he won the senior dance event at the first Arctic Blades Invitational Championships in 1969 with Eleanor Curtis. Ray was a member of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club for thirty-seven years and served on the club's board for fifteen of those years. He turned professional in 1973 to coach young skaters and sadly passed away in 1990. 

Mitsuko Funakoshi. Photo courtesy City Of Vancouver Archives.

In 1964, nineteen-year-old Joanne Mitsuko Funakoshi made her professional debut as a featured soloist at the Ice Capades of 1964's show in Honolulu, Hawaii, skating to Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2". George Eby, President of the Ice Capades told reporters, "I have been in the ice show business for nearly 25 years and I believe Mitsuko is one of the most exciting young skating stars I have ever seen. She has the grace, beauty and talent to thrill every audience."

The Sansei daughter of Japanese immigrants Willie and Kinu Funakoshi, Mitsuko was born in Chicago. She moved to Los Angeles when she was two and started skating at the age of eleven at the Culver City ice rink. Her family would shuttle her back and forth from Pacific Palisades to Hollywood so she could train four to six hours a day until the commuting became too much and they moved to Hollywood. Studying under Peter Betts and Bob Turk, she earned the USFSA's silver medal in 1963. That same year, she became a certified USFSA judge - the youngest in the country at the time. She enjoyed knitting and collecting gold charms from each city she visited on tour and was one of the first Asian American women in history to be featured as a soloist with the Ice Capades.

Wen-An and Torrey Sun. Photo courtesy Colorado Springs "Gazette-Telegraph" Archives.

Wen-an-Sun, the thirteen-year-old daughter of a Chinese-born eye doctor from Ames, Iowa defeated Mary Lynn Gelderman - future coach of Elaine Zayak - by five ordinal places and 1.06 points to claim the novice women's title at the 1967 U.S. Championships in Omaha, Nebraska. Sun also competed in pairs with her older brother Wen-chu Torrey Sun, winning the 1966 Midwestern senior title. The Sun siblings trained in Colorado Springs.

Wen-an Sun (left) and Torrey Sun (right)

Wen-an and Torrey Sun weren't the only Asian American skaters to make an impact in the late sixties and early seventies. Portland's Christy Ito won the novice women's title at the 1967 Pacific Coast Championships in Berkeley, California. Berkeley's own Lynn Yonekura claimed the junior women's title at the same event in 1963. Debbie Takeuchi won the juvenile girls event at the 1968 Southwest Pacific Championships and took the silver in the junior women's event at the first Glacier Falls Invitational in Paramount, California in 1969. Famed fashion designer Vera Wang struck gold at the North Atlantic Figure Skating Championships and won the silver medal in junior pairs at the 1968 Eastern Championships with her partner James Stuart.

Peggy Porter, Christy Ito and Sally Berens at the 1967 Pacific Coat Championships. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Audrey (King) Weisiger, best known for her achievements as a coach and choreographer, won a pair of bronze medals in the U.S. novice and junior events. In her March 2013 interview with Allison Manley on The Manleywoman SkateCast, she recalled, "My father grew up in Europe. I'm Chinese by background, but I’m one of those American Chinese that don’t speak very fluent Mandarin. My grandfather was an ambassador from China to several European nations, and my whole family were outdoor winter sports buffs... I skated kind of a groundbreaking program to Madame Butterfly in 1969. It was one of those moments that was unexpected, I was a first-year junior lady and I was only 14. That may seem old by today’s standards, but back in the day you had to do your figures first, so it was pretty unusual to have young kids get through all eight figure tests and get into senior before they were 15 or 16 years old. So I was the new kid on the block, and my coach, Jerry Renault, choreographed this fantastic, beautiful, sensitive piece for me that got me a standing ovation at Nationals in 1969. I think I’m remembered for that moment because people were not expecting this young girl to come out and do that."

Left: Ginger and Archie Tse. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine. Right: Ginger and Archie Tse in a lift.

In #TheSk80s, a small but extremely talented group of Asian American skaters began wracking up accolades at the Sectional and National levels. Ginger and Archie Tse won the U.S. junior pairs title in 1984.

Christina and Keith Yatsuhashi

Another sibling pair - Christina and Keith Yatsuhashi took home a bronze medal in ice dance at the World Junior Championships in 1983. David Liu and Alex Chang both competed nationally in the eighties and later went on to represent Taiwan at the World Championships. 

Suggie Oh

At the 1983 U.S. Championships in Pittsburgh, Suggie Oh struck gold in the novice women's event, moving up from fifth after figures with a superb free skate that featured three double Axels and a triple toe-loop. At the age of eleven, she was the youngest competitor in any discipline at that year's Nationals. Suggie started skating at the age of four and trained in California at the Santa Barbara Figure Skating Club with coach Terry Tonius. The year after she won the U.S. novice title, her family moved to Los Angeles, and she began training at Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank. In 1984, she won the junior women's event at the Arctic Blades Invitational and Southwest Pacific Regionals. At the Arctic Blades event, another young Asian American skater, Loreen Koshi, won the senior pairs event with her partner Doug Williams.

Left: Winners at the 1982 Arctic Blades Invitational. Suggie Oh is second from left, next to a young Debi Thomas. Loreen Koshi and Doug Williams are in the top right. Photo courtesy Suggie Oh. Right: Suggie Oh at the 1983 U.S. Championships. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Suggie's skating career ended prematurely in 1985 when the financial toll of the sport became too much and her parents divorced and filed for bankruptcy. It all might have gone so differently. Suggie recalled, "Post-Nationals, I was invited to visit the figure skating club in Seoul, Korea where I was offered the opportunity to represent South Korea in the future instead of the U.S. Had the judging system in those days been similar to today's ISU system, perhaps it could have been something to consider; however, under the good ol' 6.0 system, competing for a country that was unknown in the sport of figure skating at the time would have been akin to skating suicide, so it was never in question that I would represent the U.S. had my skating career progressed on the international level." Suggie never experienced any overt discrimination during her skating days. She remembered, "I think I was too young to recognize if there had been any discrimination for being one of the few Asian Americans in a predominantly white sport. I don't recall anything blatant, such as name-calling or slurs. I have no idea if my parents might have experienced anything negative, but if they did, they never mentioned it to me. Growing up in Santa Barbara, which was also predominantly white back then, I only remember the amazing support I received from members and coaches at the ice rink as well as among my friends and teachers at school. For example, during Nationals, I received many encouraging and congratulatory telegrams (remember those?) from numerous members of the Santa Barbara Figure Skating Club both before and after the results of the event. Upon winning Nationals, my school ran an article about me, the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table chose me as the 1983 Athlete of the Year, the local news station ran a TV spot, and I even received a congratulatory letter from the California Senator at the time, Gary K. Hart. I suppose back then it was big news for a relatively small city, and folks were very supportive, regardless of race/ethnicity."

In June of 1983 in Sun Valley, Idaho, Berkeley, California's George Takashi Yonekura made history as the first Asian American person to be elected as President of the USFSA. His road to the top of the largely white American skating administration was a really big deal. During World War II, he and his parents Katsuzo and Masako were among the thousands of Japanese American families interned at The Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. It was in this 'camp' that he met and married his wife Margaret Wakayama in 1945.

George T. Yonekura. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

George first became interested in skating in 1958, when his daughter Lynn took up the sport. He was first elected to the USFSA Executive Committee nearly a decade later, after having served for many years on the board of the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club. He also served as an international judge and America's Team Leader at both the 1978 and 1979 World Championships. Off the ice, George was President of Blaco Printers, Inc. He used his connections to create and print World Team booklets as well as test and competition forms. It was during George's term as USFSA President that Tiffany Chin made history in 1985, as the first Asian American figure skater to win a U.S. senior title and a medal at the World Championships.

Tiffany Chin in 1985. Photo courtesy Los Angeles Public Library.

Like Suggie Oh, Tiffany Chin made the big move from her hometown (San Diego) to the Toluca Lake district of Los Angeles. Before the 1982/1983 season, her mother Marjorie had driven her to L.A. two or three times a week to train with Frank Carroll. After the move, Tiffany began training with John Nicks at Costa Mesa in Orange County. When she won her first U.S. senior medal at the 1983 U.S. Championships in Pittsburgh, "Skating" magazine praised her for making "history by being the first Oriental ever to qualify for the U.S. World figure skating team." The following year, she became the first Asian American skater to represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics. She finished in the top three in both of the free skating events but missed a spot on the podium because of a disappointing twelfth-place showing in the school figures. The first American woman to attempt a triple Axel in practice, Tiffany was a skater far ahead of her time.

Ida Tateoka. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Tiffany Chin wasn't the only Asian American to make history at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Ida Tetsuko Shimizu Tateoka solemnly studied the skaters in the men's event, making history as the first Asian American judge to serve at the Olympics. Ida grew up in California but moved to Utah as a result of World War II. She had taken up skating while living in Los Angeles and was one of the founding members of the Utah Figure Skating Club in the early fifties. She took up judging in 1953 and was mentored by World judges Margaretta Spence Drake and Edith Shoemaker. It took her ten years to work her way up from a trial and low test judge to the national level, and another ten to become a World judge. While she was judging, she continued to skate three times a week in Salt Lake City. She also served on the USFSA Board Of Directors and on the Pacific Coast Judges Committee. In "Skating" magazine in 1983, she recalled, "Judging is a lot of work and there are many people working to improve their judging and climb ahead... The best rewards, however, have come from watching the young novice skaters work and improve. Scott Hamilton, Elaine Zayak, and Rosalynn Sumners I have known for many years. I have known Rosalynn since she was seven, so you really follow the skaters. In the last fifteen years, I have judged seven Nationals and watched our skaters as they fulfilled their goals."

Through a modern lens, it's not always easy to appreciate that skaters of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage haven't always been well-represented in the sport. As we sift through history, we celebrate the trailblazers who have paved the way for a sport that has become much more diverse and inclusive as the years have passed by. There's always more work to do to promote inclusivity in figure skating.  Make no mistake - that's something we all play a part in.

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 "Jackson Haines: The Skating King" and pre-ordering "Sequins, Scandals & Salchows: Figure Skating in the 1980s", which will be released this fall where books are sold: https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Asian Heritage Month

May is Asian Heritage Month! Skate Guard celebrates the important history of skaters of Asian heritage with extensive timelines from Canada and the United States, photos and a required reading list of past stories featured on the blog.

You can find all of the special content for Asian Heritage Month right here:

Representation matters. To nominate skaters of Asian heritage to the Skate Canada Hall Of Fame, click here.