The 1923 North American Figure Skating Championships

On February 23, 1923, Canadian and American skaters gathered in Ottawa, Ontario for the very first North American Championships, then known simply as an 'International Figure Skating Competition'. In addition to being the first North American Championships, this event also marked the first time a Canadian skating club hosted an international competition sponsored by the Figure Skating Department of the Amateur Skating Association of Canada, then the governing body of figure skating in Canada.

The event came about because the Minto Skating Club had wanted to host an international competition in singles and fours, which they had done several times previously outside of the Figure Skating Department's auspices but using ISU rules. This time, they 'played nice' and asked the permission of the ASA. In cooperation with A. Winsor Weld, the President of the newly founded USFSA, the event was formed as a "close, friendly competition" between skaters of two nations.

Louis Rubenstein and A. Winsor Weld, then Presidents of the Figure Skating Department of the Amateur Skating Association Of Canada and the USFSA

In looking at the results of the competition, the event was essentially a draw. American skaters claimed the top two spots in both of the singles competitions, while the pairs title was won by Canadians Dorothy Jenkins and Andrew Gordon McClennan. In the fours competition for the Connaught Cup, donated by the Duke of Connaught, the Minto Four of Elizabeth 'Bet' Blair, Florence Wilson, Philip Chrysler and C.R. Morphy outskated teams from New York City and Boston.

Interestingly, the deed of gift for the Connaught Cup stated that the contest be held in Ottawa, and after this event the Cup wasn't awarded again at the North American Championships until 1933, when the Duke agreed the cup could move from Ottawa. With the Americans taking the men's and women's titles and the Canadians the pairs and fours, the 'tiebreaker' was in essence the informal Waltzing competition, which featured an impressive thirteen couples. The winners were Florence Wilson and Joel B. Liberman. She was from Ottawa; he from New York City.

To gain a better sense of what the competition was like, we can look to the memoirs of Joseph Chapman, penned in 1936: "Once while staying at Placid, during the winter of 1922-23, I received a very nice invitation to act as a judge in what I believe were the first North American Championships ever staged. I was a duly qualified judge under the regulations of the newly formed United States Figure Skating Association, and by these new championships, established through the friendly cooperation of the Canadian Skating Association and our own association, an opportunity was to be given for competition in skating between the Canadian and 'USAtian' enthusiasts. Ruth and I boarded a local train late one afternoon running from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake, in which latter village we landed at seven p. m. and forty below zero. We spent a hectic night in the distinctly unsophisticated six-room hotel in the village, barely able to keep ourselves warm by not only using all the blankets available in our room but also the carpet off the floor. Next morning we boarded another local train running through the back country between Tupper Lake and the town of Ottawa, Canada. Had there been no tracks upon the right-of-way occupied by the small railroad upon which we had to depend, no one could have recognized that right-of-way from any other back-country road. In Ottawa at the Chateau Laurier we found that Tee Blanchard, Nat Niles, Sherwin Badger and Bea Loughran, the United States competitors, were already on hand. Early next morning all of us adjourned to the semi-private rink then used by the Minto Skating Club and it was on this ice surface that I first had the pleasure of meeting Melville Rogers, a handsome young man who was to compete for Canada. It may be some surprise to you to be told that in those particular times at least, the Canadian figure skating ability was by no means on a par with the ability of the skaters from the United States. In the competition which I judged, Sherwin Badger, then U.S. man champion, easily won first place, with Nat Niles a fairly close second and Melville Rogers a trailing third. Bea Loughran and Tee Blanchard fought to the death for first place in the ladies’ singles. Bea [demonstrated] crisp and sweeping vigour [in] her school figures, [showing] the convincing bite of her skate blade as she performed her 'Salchow Rockers', as compared to the more gentle 'Fuchs Rockers' of Tee Blanchard, those Fuchs Rockers as taught by George Mueller to the Boston Skaters, by which they had been greatly assisted in winning championships up to that time... In the evening all hands adjourned to the public rink in Ottawa for the free skating, 'Fours', and dancing competitions. I had believed that I was experiencing something in the nature of cold at the morning events, but I found on arriving for the evening performances I hadn’t 'seen nothing yet' as far as cold temperatures were concerned. I had no thermometer close at hand and therefore can make no guess as to whether the air in the place was very close to the temperature at which air becomes liquid, but I know that within five minutes after my arrival my blood had at least become solid. I still have the vision of Mr. and Mrs. Henry [Wainwright] Howe sitting on a radiator, as though it were their last hold on life, in their endeavor to keep some slight memory of what heat felt like as they waited for their cue to take the ice in the waltz competition, for be it known to you that in those days at least the rinks in Ottawa were served by Mother Nature alone as far as the freezing of the ice was concerned - and therefore no more effeminate obstructions were placed in the walls of those rinks to stand between the vigour of our Universal Mother and the struggling circulation of us skaters - than was absolutely necessary. Our delightful Canadian friends, however, were well used to these conditions and their champion Four of that day performed as though in tropic heat, vanquishing the frozen, first New York 'Four' with agile ease. It was a surprise, however, to me - and maybe to you - to see how inferior the Canadian ice-dancing of that era turned out to be. At the gay party held next day on the outdoor rink of Government House, where we were courteously welcomed by the then Governor-General Byng, of Canada, and his Lady, all of our Canadian friends waltzed with gay abandon but in a 'form' leaving much to be desired. But how the level of their skating has risen! What envied perfection they have reached today in their dancing, group skating, and individual work!"

They may not have even attempted double Lutzes led alone quads, but the brave skaters and judges who convened in Ottawa in 1923 didn't have the luxuries of air travel or heated rinks. They braved the elements to pursue their passion at a time long before the television cameras were rolling or prize money was doled out. They did it because they loved figure skating.

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.

The Epic Thaells

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The children of Isaac James and Sarah (Park) Thaell, Clifford Ernest Thaell and Verona 'Rona' Thaell were born December 4, 1910 and June 28, 1912 in Salford and Manchester, England. Their father was a master tailor. As youngsters, both Rona and Cliff both learned to skate at the Manchester Ice Palace but they didn't actually team up as a pair until their late teens.

After achieving limited success in the amateur ranks, they turned professional in the mid thirties and got their start in the 1937 ice ballets "Enchanted Night" and "The Brahman's Daughter". They then headed to Australia to teach and produce ice shows at the Sydney Glaciarium. While Down Under, the siblings became something of a phenomenon with the Australian people. They lent their names and faces to advertisements for Schumann's Mineral Spring Salts and their summer 1938 show "Swiss Chalet" - featuring a cast of over one hundred skaters - was a bona fide hit.

While holidaying in Hawaii following the success of "Swiss Chalet", they put on a show in Honolulu with Sidney Froebel. A later show program noted, "They skated in Honolulu when the temperature was well over the 100 degree mark and regaled themselves by eating pineapple frozen into their portable artificial rink for decorative purposes."

Heading to North America, they appeared in Sonja Henie's revue at Madison Square Garden and Wirtz's Arthur M. Wirtz's All Star European Revue "Hello America!". On May 27, 1940 in Miami, Florida, Rona married John Caruana, who managed the S.S. Brighton and was the European director of Wirtz's productions. The couple's witness was none other than ice show star Laverne Bush.

During World War II, Rona and Cliff skated in Ice Capades, Ice Follies and Wirtz's "It Happens On Ice" and "Stars On Ice" shows at the Center Theater on Broadway. They also taught skating at the Glencoe Club in Calgary. Cliff enlisted in both the Canadian and British Armies, but was rejected for physical reasons.

After the War, Rona returned to England and taught at Earl's Court in London. Interviewed in the "Sydney Morning Herald" on March 12, 1949, she recalled, "We had 70 to 80 children in our group classes at Earl's Court. They were divided into four groups of 20 each, and we took them through all stages of skating. We used to give them lessons of an hour, and during the last half hour would get the whole lot together on the ice and instruct them through a microphone." Cliff became a respected coach in America, teaching in Lake Placid, at the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society and operating the Cliff Thaell Ice Skating Schools in a studio rinks in Philadelphia and Delaware.

Cliff's wife Edwina Blades

Rona moved to Australia in 1948, when her husband took a job as manager of the Sydney Glaciarium. She served as the club's head pro until the rink closed in 1955. Cliff married Edwina Blades, whom he toured with in Wirtz's revue. Edwina was billed as a South African skater, but she was actually born in England. Cliff and Edwina's daughter Ginny (Thaell) Page recalled, "The ice shows that she was skating in thought the idea of Mum being from South Africa was much more exciting that her being born in England!"

Cliff lived in Blades, England when he was quoted in piece on dance blades in the November-December 1989 issue of "Professional Skater Magazine". Cliff expressed his confusion over the word 'blades' being used in North America. In England, the word 'blade' referred to a knife, razor or lawn mower blade, not a skate. In North America, skaters referred to skates as the boot and blade combined. In Great Britain, skaters referred to a skate and boot separately.

Rona in the middle. Photo courtesy Australian Professional Skaters' Association.

Cliff later returned to the United States, living in Lake Placid and later, Collier, Florida. He passed away December 15, 1996 at the age of eighty six. Rona remained in Australia and coached many Australian Champions. In 2012, she passed away at the age of one hundred. Prior to her death, she was still driving her car and going to aqua aerobics classes three times a week. Though this remarkable duo may never have won an Olympic or World medal, their contributions to the world of professional skating remain nothing short of epic.

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.

The Estanque Del Retiro

"Bring me, Dorilla, the bowl,
Fill'd up with luscious wine,
For only from seeing the snow
My limbs are shaking with cold."

- "De La Nieve", Juan Meléndez Valdés

There is absolutely no question that Javier Fernández has put Spanish figure skating on the map. After becoming his country's first European and World Champion, he added first Olympic Medallist in figure skating to the list two months ago in Pyeongchang. Though these accomplishments are certainly historic, they aren't the only milestones in Spanish skating history worth celebrating.

The Buen Retiro Park in Madrid has long played host to the Estanque Del Retiro, a 280 X 140 meter artificial lake that still exists close to the park's northern entrance. Throughout the middle of the nineteenth century, the winters in the Madrid were so unseasonable that the Buen Retiro froze and played host to what was perceived as an incredible novelty to the Spanish novelty: ice skating.

In 1836, an article by an anonymous 'resident officer' appeared in "Waldie's Select Circulating Library" called "Madrid In 1835: Sketches Of The Metropolis Of Spain And Its Inhabitants And Of Society And Manners In The Peninsula". This unnamed British military man wrote that at the Estanque Del Retiro, "A frost strong enough to bear a man's weight is quite an event, producing the greatest sensation. The whole population turns out, and the sides of the estanque are lined with spectators, admiring the evolutions and enjoying the occasional falls of the skaters, who are few in number, and almost exclusively men of the north."

Some seventeen years later "Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion" posted a second account of skating in the Madrid park: "It is an error to suppose that countries situated in southern latitudes are always exempt from the rigours of winter. Thus the inhabitants of Madrid almost annually enjoy the pleasure of skating at Buen Retiro, a place situated at the extremity of the most elevated point of the city of Madrid. The basin is generally, in the depth of winter, covered with ice, for it is exposed to the cold winds from the summits of the chain of the Somno Sierra, which are covered with snow from the end of October... Situated a short distance from the Prado, which is connected by avenue of trees, the Retro is still considered the Sitio Real, or Royal Habitation, and it enjoys, under this title, numerous privileges... The comparatively small portion devoted to a public promenade, and planted with as fine trees as can be seen in Madrid, terminates in the basin Estanque."

British accounts of skating at the Estanque Del Retiro persisted throughout the mid-Victorian era. On December 23, 1865, the journal "Once A Week: An Illustrated Miscellany Of Literature, Art, Science And Popular Information" noted, "As soon as the snow-storm ceased, and the hardy barrenderos, or scavengers, had, with the aid of spades, and carts... begun to clear its effects away, every inch of skating ground was crowded with patinadors, female as well as male. The available area, however,
is sadly limited. It was almost laughable to see crowds of anxious experts (and inexperts) waiting for their turn round the Estanque, in the Retiro Gardens, calling up the image of the borders of the Pool of Bethesda, while its dimensions would invoke the nickname of a basin from any genuine northern votary of the skates." Early in the Edwardian era, L. Higgins' book "Spanish Life And Country" noted, "I have seen the Estanque Grande in the Retiro covered with ice several inches thick... All Madrid turned out to see the wonder and watch the foreigners skate." Both the 1836 account and Higgins' 1902 book note that the majority of the skaters who took to the ice at the Estanque Del Retiro during this era were not Spaniards, but visitors to the area, who had been presumably been exposed to skating elsewhere. This makes a lot of sense, as it is highly unlikely that many of Madrid's residents would have even have access to ice skates at that time.

At any rate, it's fascinating to think about the fact that the seeds of skating were sown in Spain so early. Winter temperatures in Madrid these days average out around six degrees Celsius, so it's highly unlikely you would have the chance to go skating on the Estanque Del Retiro anytime soon. However, tales like this one only go to show you that what may seem improbable is certainly not impossible.

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.

Unravelling The Russian Judge Stereotype

Death scene from the 1986 Sierra On-Line game "King's Quest III"

"You don't want to get Mrs. Randall for your driving test. She's like the Russian judge!" Let's face it. The trope of 'the Russian judge' has almost become a water cooler stereotype for any seemingly biased or unreasonably harsh adjudicator. Although skating judges from all corners of the world have been jeered and chastised, why is it that 'the Russian judge' has earned a spot in pop culture as the bad guy? The answer lies in figure skating's rich history.

Although skaters from Russia had of course participated in the World Championships many years previous, skaters representing The Soviet Union made their World debut in 1958. They were joined that year in Paris by Alexey Andrianov, the first Soviet judge at the World Championships. Aside from giving the top Soviet men's skater his highest placement in the free skate, Andrianov didn't really make any major judging foibles in Paris. In fact, prior to the time that skating was widely televised it was more often than not the Austrians who justly earned a reputation for questionable judging.

Vladimir Kovalev, the Soviet skater who benefited from Mikhail Drei's generous marks at the 1976 sWinter Olympic Games

By the seventies, increased media coverage of figure skating in print and on television and radio put a spotlight on the issue of questionable (Bloc) judging. One might think the Cold War 'us versus them' mentality was the reason the trope of the 'Russian judge' holding up a low score stuck moreso than say, the Yugoslavian judge, but it wasn't all smoke and mirrors.

Questionable judging was so blatantly rampant by the mid seventies that the ISU instituted mandatory biennial judging seminars in an effort to ensure all judges were adequately educated. This meant everyone... The Soviet Sports Committee's judges included. By this time, Soviet judges were earning a persistently bad reputation for offering high marks and placements to their own skaters and making covert attempts to 'influence' judges from Satellite nations. The 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck was a prime example. In the men's short program, Soviet judge Mikhail Drei placed Vladimir Kovalev in a tie for third when he placed sixth. In the free skate, the same judge placed Kovalev in a tie for first. The majority of the rest of the judges had him outside of the top four. Drei was suspended by the ISU following the incident. During the sixties, the ISU handed out a total of only seven suspensions. By 1975 - three years before the Soviet Union's ultimate suspension - they had handed out twenty seven! Soviet judges Tatiana Danilenko, Igor Kabanov, Boris Anokhin, Valentin Piseev and Evgenia Bogdanova received ISU suspensions from 1970 to 1977. In fact, Danilchenko, Kabanov and Bogdanova were suspended twice! At thirteen during this period, Soviet judges won the 'prize' for the most judging suspensions.

At the 1977 European Championships in Helsinki, previously suspended judge Evgenia Bogdanova placed a trio of Soviet men - Vladimir Kovalev, Yuri Ovchinnikov and Konstantin Kokora - first through third. They placed second, third and sixth overall. When Soviet skaters claimed three of the four gold medals awarded at the 1977 World Championships in Tokyo - with more flagrant bias exhibited from the judges - the ISU had enough. At a tension-filled meeting following that year's ISU Congress, the ISU Council took the unprecedented step of banning all Soviet judges from judging international competitions for an entire year "due to repeated national bias" shown during the previous four seasons. The decision was historic and spoke to an endemic problem in the amateur ranks in the seventies. ISU historian Benjamin T. Wright noted, "The rule in question [by which the Soviets were banned] provided that if the Judges of a Member had proved to be unsatisfactory or incompetent for several years, although the Member had been warned, it would lose the right to nominate judges for Championships. The theory behind the rule... is that since the Member is responsible for the training and knowledge of its Judges, it is also responsible for their performance."

Tatiana Likhareva during her own competitive career. She was a three time Soviet Champion in the fifties.

After a failed protest campaign led by the Soviet Olympic Committee, like the cat that came back the very next day, the Soviet judges returned after their year long suspension. They were quickly up to their old tricks. The Soviet dance judge at the 1983 World Junior Championships received a three year suspension for "the violation of the basic principle of good sportsmanship, having attempted to influence other Judges in an attempt to obtain their support for skaters." At the forty first ISU Congress in late May 1986 in Velden, Austria, Tatiana (Likhareva) Danilenko, whose judging career was already stalled by the earlier blanket ban and her own previous judging suspensions, was again suspended for three years. She'd ignored the ISU's rule that a mandatory 0.1 deduction had to be given to any skater that fell on a jump and gave defending champion Alexandr Fadeev a 5.9 at that year's World Championships in Geneva when he'd fallen twice and missed another jump. Danilenko had Fadeev first on her scorecard and no other judge had him higher than third. He ultimately finished fifth in the free skate that year. In the February 11, 1988 "Free-Lance Star", American judge Claire Ferguson reflected on the incident, perhaps naively saying, "As judges, we wondered whether she just got confused. We can't imagine she would do that just because the Soviet Union told her she had to put her skaters first." Danilchenko was joined in exile that same year by another Soviet judge, Ludmila Kubashevskaya, who was suspended for one year for biased judging decisions over the two years previous.

Who can forget Ukraine's Yuri Balkov, who was caught on tape at the Nagano Olympics trying to rig the ice dance competition? After a one year ban, he was back. He was in Salt Lake City judging when the shit hit the fan... and was in Sochi rubbing elbows with Russian judge Alla Shekhovtseva, who was controversially seen hugging Adelina Sotnikova a big ol' hug after she sat on the panel of judges who judged her to be worthy of Olympic gold in Sochi. But wait, there's more... A May 1, 2002 article from "The New York Times" reminds us that "in 1999 Svyatoslav Babenko, a Russian judge, was barred for three years and Alfred Korytek of Ukraine for two years after they were caught on videotape exchanging signals during the pairs competition at that year's world championships. Appeals cut Babenko's suspension to 18 months and Korytek's to a year." Not to be outdone, Ukrainian judge Natalia Kruglova got herself a two year ban in 2012 and both Irina Nechkina of Russia and Liudmila Mikhailovskaya of Ukraine faced suspensions in 1993. The list goes on...

Why judges from Russia have always seemed to find themselves in the midst of controversy is anyone's guess. In his 1979 book "The Soviet Road To Olympus", author N. Norman Schneidman makes a rather bold hypothesis: "Since Soviet ethics does not recognize morality in general but rather a class and Communist morality which differs considerably from the ethical values and norms accepted in the West, the behaviour and actions of (Soviet athletes) are often misunderstood and misinterpreted by (Westerners) who are guided in their thoughts and actions by a code of values which makes it possible to pass judgement on members of Western society, but which may be useless when applied to people and athletes raised and educated in the Soviet state... While judges representing any country are exposed to the political influence and public pressure of their fellow-citizens, and most. . . tend to support athletes from their own countries, representatives of the Soviet Union have much less freedom in exercising their duties than their Western confreres." 

Like everywhere else in society - from politicians to doctors to teachers to your own co-workers - there will always be people great at their jobs and others who aren't. Although it's important to recognize that judges from many countries - Canada, the U.S., Great Britain, Hungary, France, the Czech Republic and Finland included - have at one point been singled out by the ISU for being 'bad at their jobs', I can tell you from my own experience judging that a great MANY judges are educated, unbiased and passionate about what they do. But I can't help but chuckle at this quote from "Thin Ice", Jacqueline du Bief's book: "If I were asked for statistics, I would say that out of ten judges, four are incompetent, three are 'consciously' dishonest, and three are good judges." 

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.

Brackets With The Baron: The Nils Posse Story

Born May 15, 1862 in Säby, Sweden, Nils Posse was the son of Baron Knut Henrik Posse and Sophia Lilliestråle. As nobility had run in his bloodline since the sixteenth century, he too was automatically given the title of Baron at birth. As his father was the chief at the Military High School in Marieberg, Posse was naturally educated in the military school system. By 1881, at the age of nineteen was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Livgrenadjärregementet (Life Grenadier Regiment) and two years later, he was transferred to the Svea artilleriregemente (Svea Artillery Regiment). Though his regimented upbringing prepared him for a life in the military, Posse wisely took advantage of his military sponsored education at the Royal Gymnastics Central Institute and resigned from the military after graduating in 1884.

Special figures of Posse's design

About a year prior to his graduation, Posse joined the Stockholms Allmänna Skridskoklubb. He astonished many when he entered the club's annual figure skating competition in 1883 and defeated five far more experienced skaters, finishing only second to C.F. Mellin. The following year, skaters from the Wiener Eislaufverein attended the competition, but Posse took the main prize, defeating Mellin. According to the 1894 book "Tio vintrar på Nybroviken" penned by Ivar Boktryckeri, "Posse stood out for [having a] very stylish way of skating. He often performed small, intricate figures and his ability was admirable in that he did so without any apparent effort to obtain speed. He realized that moderation in motion and elegance [were important.]... He was eclipsed after only a short time, retiring by 1885."

The reason for Posse's premature retirement from the figure skating world was actually a pretty sweet job opportunity. He was hired to teach at an institute which educated gymnastics teachers in Boston, Massachusetts called the Normal School of Gymnastics. On June 29, 1887, he married a Boston school teacher named Rose Moore Smith and in the years that followed, he wrote and lectured prolifically on physical education and the Swedish gymnastic system. He was widely credited as being a leader in bringing Swedish gymnastics to America and in 1890, he opened a similar institute on his own called The Posse Gymnasium. He also published a journal called "The Special Kinesiology of Educational Physical Gymnastics" and acted as Commissioner for Swedish Tourist Association, Swedish Yachting Association, Stockholm's Gymnastic Association at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, where he ensured these areas were well-represented in the Swedish exhibit.

Though better known for his important role in the history of gymnastics, Posse really played an incredibly important role in the development of figure skating in Sweden. Among his many books was an 1889 instructional manual called "Handbok i figuråkning å skridskor", which focused mainly on the technique behind special figures but also included detailed sections on ice dancing and free skating. The figures described in Posse's book juxtapose completely with the English Style that was most prominent in many skating textbooks of the period and his inclusion of early ice dance patterns designed for outdoor ice clearly show how skating in Scandinavia was developing in a completely different way than in America and Great Britain at the time. While in America, he served as the Chairman of the Judges' Committee at an 1893 figure skating competition in Salem, Massachusetts and helped educate the competitors about the Scandinavian style of figure skating.

A position from one of Posse's gymnastics textbooks which eerily resembles a spiral

Just when he was in the prime of his life's work, Posse died suddenly of heart failure on December 12, 1894 at the age of thirty three. An obituary penned by future ISU President Viktor Gustaf Balck that appeared in the magazine "Mind and Body: A Monthly Journal Devoted to Physical Education" in 1894 recalled, "Highly endowed in head and heart, his hand was always open for his countrymen in need. Overtaken through work, he was lately in poor health, and last Wednesday night occurred suddenly his death, which, to judge from a human standpoint, too early ended at an age of thirty-three years, his industrious and useful life."

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.

#Unearthed: The Pleasures Of Skating

When you dig through skating history, you never know what you will unearth. In the spirit of cataloguing fascinating tales from skating history, #Unearthed is a once a month 'special occasion' on Skate Guard where fascinating writings by others that are of interest to skating history buffs are excavated, dusted off and shared for your reading pleasure. From forgotten fiction to long lost interviews to tales that have never been shared publicly, each #Unearthed is a fascinating journey through time. Today's 'buried treasure' is a piece called "The Pleasures Of Skating" which appeared in the December 1889 edition of "Puck's Library". The author, novelist Charles Morris, released it under his pseudonym Paul Pastnor. I think you'll find that this particularly delightful piece really captures the essence of pleasure skating during the Victorian era.

"THE PLEASURES OF SKATING" (CHARLES MORRIS)

Lives there a man with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said: "I'll go a-skating?" Probably not. At some period of our lives we have all us done more or less ground and lofty tumbling on Nature's polished winter floor. It may have been so long ago that we have almost forgotten how we used to bind on the dear old-fashioned steel blades, with the ends curled up in front like a banker's signature; or perhaps, we are just out of our halcyon days, and have no more complicated process to recall than the deft snap with which we attached our "Ice Kings" to our shoes, and sped away on the instant.

But, whether tied with twine, strapped, screwed or clamped, it was all the same when our skates were once on our feet. Oh, the bird-like delight of skimming over that broad, glistening expanse of ice! How the blood leaped in our veins, and the glorious exhilaration tingled to the very tips of fingers and toes!

And then it was such fun to watch the beginner - the tyro in the art. With what infinite caution he raised himself from the friendly bank; and, then, with what wild consternation he found himself mysteriously slipping away, with no power under heaven to stop that insidious motion which seemed to possess him as the magnet possesses the steel. Bending fearfully forward, with arms abroad, and eyes riveted upon the gleaming ice, so he slid, until his feet parted and flew from beneath him, the force of gravity seized him by the back, down he came, wild-eyed and sprawling, while his head smote the frozen expanse with a far-resounding thud. Up again in an instant, upon foot and knee, he surveyed his laughing companions with a sickly smile, and gladly accepted the proferred assistance which got him upon his treacherous skates again, and sent him bowing and balancing away, beating the air like an animated windmill.

But the fun was soon over; for in less than an hour the tyro had mastered the first principles of the art, and was darting hither and thither like a squid, with quick, uneven strokes, ending in a triumphant glide that rejoiced his soul to the very core. Those were the days when we had our little loves, as sweet and innocent as spring flowers. Who can ever forget the thrill of ecstasy with which he strapped his sweetheart's skates to the trim little foot resting on his knees? And then the unspeakable pride and pleasure of clasping those two red-mittened hands in one's own, and "sculling" backward, while one initiated the fair beginner in the mysteries of the forward stroke.

Do you remember, reader, those long hand-in-hand expeditions along the wooded river shore? How she laughed when the shell-ice tripped her, and she swayed into your arms for a sweet instant, knitted hood and flying hair brushing your cheek! Such roses as bloomed in those happy days will never bloom again - the glow of health and the flush of young romance. Do you not sometimes find yourself wondering whether there will be skating in paradise - and red-cheeked, red-hooded, laughing girls?

It was a magnificent thing, too, that skating by firelight! The great bonfire on the shore, leaping and crackling; the reflection of the blaze on the glare ice; the shadowy figures gliding in and out like spectres; the ring of the "shinny" stick, and the wild shouts of the players; the dim white fields and hills, melting away into night; the hoot of the troubled owl; the far-off, silvery sound of sleigh bells — what boy or girl of the olden time can not call up such a picture as this in memory?

Far into the night we played our weird games, and glided away on our winged flights into the gloom. Then some impatient horn would blow from a distant farmhouse; the fun would stop; little groups would melt away, chattering, into the darkness; and by-and-by only a few reckless enthusiasts would remain, silently swinging up and down the ice in the pale glimmer of the dying blaze.

Alas! but the choicest pleasures of skating are so evanescent - confined to the brief holiday of youth! Men and women, it is true, find a sober delight in sweeping around the rink, or launching out on the blue-black lake for a two and a half hours' spin. But what becomes of the red mittens, and the knit hoods, and the young mirth, and the "shinny" sticks, and the bonfire, after thirty? Grim old Father Time takes the raisins out of the pudding, then. We have had our romance; more's the pity if we did not make the most of it! But Father Time can not take away memory- that lingering taste of the good things of life.

Ye who have skated, away back in the first and second decades of your existence, hail! Let us sit down together, in this Midwinter twilight, and barter a smile for a tear.

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.

Uisutamine, Uisutamine, Uisutamine: Three Estonian Figure Skating Pioneers

Say it thrice like Beetlejuice if you must... "Uisutamine" is the Estonian word for ice skating. Today, we'll meet three fascinating Estonian figure skating pioneers, each with an off-ice story as compelling as their role in the early development of the sport in their country. Track down a bottle or three of Luscher & Matiesen wine and ponder over what life must have been life for this trio of talented athletes!

EDUARD KÕPPO

Photo courtesy Estonian Sports And Olympic Museum

Born May 30, 1894 in the historic town of Paide in Järva County, Estonia, Eduard Kõppo was a versatile athlete who excelled at weightlifting, skiing, wrestling, bandy, swimming, rowing, volleyball... and yes, figure skating.

Photo courtesy Estonian Sports And Olympic Museum

After finishing second at the first recorded Estonian Figure Skating Championships in 1917, he returned to Tallinn the following year to claim the men's title. Though he never proved his skating mettle at the Olympics, he led the weightlifting contingent at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Berlin. A tireless promoter of sports, Kõppo also fought in the Vabadussõda (Estonian War Of Independence) and in North Africa during World War II. Spending his latter years in the administration of Estonia's postal service, he passed away in Tallinn on November 6, 1966 at the age of seventy two.

DR. ELLEN FREY

Dr. Ellen Frey and Aleksander Reeder. Photo courtesy Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum.

Born January 5, 1892 in Moscow, Russia, Ellen Frey was perhaps the one of the first women in history to combine an ambitious medical career with a decade long stint as a champion figure skater. In the twenties, Frey studied at both the Moscow Faculty Of Medicine and the University Of Tartu, graduating cum laude in 1925 as a doctor from the latter. After her graduation, she practiced in a medical clinic at the University Of Tartu before working as a surgeon in a Tartu hospital and as a specialist in children's medicine in Põltsamaa.

During this exact same period, Frey won no less than no less than eight medals at the Estonian Championships including gold medals in singles skating in 1926 and 1927 and pairs skating with Aleksander Reeder in 1922, 1926 and 1927.  In 1939, she moved to Germany, where she worked as a doctor during World War II. She retired in 1970 and passed away ten years later in Bonn. Her partner Aleksander Reeder, who passed away in 1977, was imprisoned from 1941 to 1959.

EDUARD HIIOP

Born December 19, 1889 in the town of Otepää in the Valga region in southern Estonia, Eduard Hiiop was one of the most well-rounded athletes out there. While living in Tartu in 1908, he started training in gymnastics, cycling, athletics and figure skating. Prior to World War I, he won a silver medal in the long jump at an international sporting competition in Russia and following the war, won Estonian titles in the 4 X 100 relay, decathalon, long jump, 100 meters, hurdles, tennis and bandy. Perhaps most impressive were his figure skating accomplishments.

Photo courtesy Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum

Competing concurrently in singles and pairs, Hiiop won an unprecedented twenty three medals at the Estonian Championships. After acting as Estonia's flag bearer at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Hiiop returned to the Olympic stage in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936, placing an unfortunate last place with partner Helene Michelson in the pairs figure skating competition. At forty six years old, he was one of the oldest figure skaters at those Games. He later shifted his focus to coaching, working in Helsinki and Tallinn. In August 1941 - three months after the Nazis occupied Estonia - he was arrested and later declared missing. He is presumed to have been killed the same month.

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.

Quenched In Queen City: The Netherland Plaza Ice Shows

As bombs reigned over Europe during World War II, residents of Cincinnati, Ohio flocked by the thousands to the Netherland Plaza Hotel to escape the summer heat and take in the novelty of one of the country's hottest trends: the hotel ice show. The eight hundred room hotel on Fifth and Race Streets, completed in 1931 to the tune of thirty million dollars was - as far as venues for hotel ice shows went - as good as it got.

The hotel was part of a half-block area building which included the Carew Tower and many stores. It was in the Restaurant Continentale (aka Continental Ballroom) that the Netherland Plaza Hotel's ice shows reigned supreme. You could be served your supper by head waiter Albin Bratfisch for $1.75 or a cocktail by sommelier Toni Lamare for $0.40 and be entertained by dizzying spins and electrifying jumps on tank ice, accompanied by live musicians. It was a spectacle that many in Cincinnati had never been exposed to. In his book "States of Desire Revisited: Travels in Gay America", Edmund White recalled his experience at the Netherland Plaza Hotel's ice shows thusly: "During World War II my mother and I would inch into town on rationed gas on a weekday afternoon and I'd lunch on a tidy little chicken pot pie and a single scoop of chocolate ice cream in a frosted silver goblet as we watched an ice show at the Netherland. Everything about the skating seemed fascinatingly 'indecent'; the darkness of the room by day, the gently misting slab of ice, the band members lit from below by their hooded lamps, the fixed impersonal grins of the skaters, their thick makeup, the slash of blades and the sudden shower of ice dust through the gelled spotlights..."

1943 menu from the Netherland Plaza Hotel

The format for the shows was quite consistent throughout the forties. There would usually be two or three strong solo acts (one usually being a comedy or novelty act), an adagio pair, a crooning emcee, live band, ensemble numbers and a six woman line act known as The Six Lovely De-Icers. The November 7, 1942 edition of "Billboard" magazine featured a review of one such production: "Donn Arden turned in a corking production job on the fourth edition of the Frederick Bros. Ice Revue Of '42, which bowed in here Friday (16). Toting the same principals as the preceding show, with the exception of Edi Scholdan, skating juggler who replaced Red Bennett, and with only change in the Six Lovely De-Icers line, unit moves swiftly and smoothly, is excellently gowned and in general stacks up stronger than any of its predecessors. Billy and Betty Wade, most popular and talented team ever to show on ice here, now in their 14th week, register their usual success in three numbers. Mary Jane Lawson, 16-year-old figure skater, now in her 10th week, continues to please with her refreshing style and outstanding routines. Edi Scholdan, in addition to good skate work, gives the unit extra entertainment value with his pleasing juggle work. Ronnie Mansfield, WLW tenor, still upholds the show's good continuity with his emcee warbling. The Six De-Icers never worked better, and Burt Farber's orchestra continues to turn in a good job on the dance and show chores. The Restaurant Continentale, which opened its season with icers last June 28, will continue with them until late in December, according to present plans."

By the following year, the hotel adopted an all-year ice policy and "Billboard", on November 27, 1943, described the show thusly: "This swanky chamber; the town's leading dine, dance and show bistro, continues to pull a walloping business with its steel-blade frolics, a steady feature here since June, 1942. The quality of the room's ice revues has fluctuated little, but the new layout which opened Tuesday (16) shapes up as the soundest offered here since the steady ice diet made its blow. Starred is Adele Inge, easily the most talented ice principal ever to show here. She uncorks a set of ice-skate surprises that had the first-show clientele applauding almost continuously. Her wizardry on the ice is punctuated with a vast assortment of daring spins, whirls and leaps across that made for thrills, and she wraps it all up in a package that spells confidence, showmanship and polish. A highlight is her forward somersault without the use of her hands, but she anti-climaxes things by springing with it too early in her first season. Miss Inge is destined for a long stay. Also new in the current offering are Genevieve Norris and Gerry Verden, a nice-appearing youthful pair, who fared okay with their adagio nifties and standard skate bits. Need a little more work together to stack up with some of the teams seen here in the past. Producer Donn Arden has turned in his usual bang-up job with this latest offering. Taking the circus as the locale, Arden has succeeded in capturing the big top spirit with a fine assortment of routines, excellent wardrobe and appropriate circus 'business' and music. His best has the Six Lovely De-Icers in a high-school horse routine. Not only is it novel, but the costuming and trappings are outstanding. The Six Lovely De-Icers, incidentally, have never shown to better advantage than in this show. Only holdover from the opening layout is lovely Dotty Rodgers, who has become a prime favourite here. The four Magazine Cover Girls have added a bit of skating ability to their good looks to make for a sounder asset. Norman Ruvell, who enters his fourth month here as singing emcee, gives the revue excellent pacing with his circus-spieler chatter and his quality barltoning of the show's music, both pops and semi-classics. Some of those highly touted singing juves have nothing on this lad, either in looks or ability. Discharged from the army eight months ago and now in 4-F, Ruvell is swoon material and definitely movie timber."  

In the subsequent two years, featured stars of the Netherland Plaza Hotel's ice shows included Viennese born New Yorker Trudy Schneider and former U.S. Eastern Champion Joan Hyldoft, who held the title of Miss Cincinnati. It wasn't uncommon at the time for hotel show skaters to move around from city to city doing stints in different hotel skating productions, so the casts often varied slightly even if the format remained markedly consistent.

Joan Hyldoft

I have to share just one more of these "Billboard" reviews with you, mostly because I just love the "extra, extra! read all about it!" tone of the unnamed reporter who covered these shows. This one comes from the October 22, 1946 edition: "With W. Carl Snyder out as icer impresario here, Truly McGee is given the opportunity to cook up this latest tanker strictly on her own. The finished product, sluggled 'Tally-Ho', stacks up as one of the gayest and most entertaining offerings to play here since the room adopted its icer policy six years ago. What's more, it's done with one of the lowest budgets ever allotted the show. New icer boasts of no particular star but Miss McGee takes a capable assortment of tank talent, plus an outstanding line (6) all look good by her deft production weaving. The show takes as its theme hunting in its various forms, with enough tongue-in-the-cheek, leeway to allow for some cute tricks and effects. Lighting is good, the wardrobing is brilliant and original and the show's pacing doesn't allow for a single drag. Norena and Morris, mixed pair, who looked just like another ice team in the previous show, uncork an assortment of new wrinkles, lifts and spins that make them appear as outstanding in their field. They copped the show's skating honours. Bain Lightfoot and Jinx Clark, new members, show off well individually and as a team, and add much with their appearance and youthfulness. Lightfoot, however, should do something for that unruly hair. In skating ability and looks, the Six De-Icers top any of their predecessors. The girls are Glorida McGowan, Jane Montanary, Martha Collins, Mary Lou, Betty Mueller and Lillian Byers. Marian Spellman again steals much of the show with her topnotch song-spinning. She's worthy of a crack at a good air shot. Show's new male warbler, Paul Westbrook, turns in a good effort, but he was a bit nervous and too dramatic at his first look-in. Burt Farber does his usual fine job of directing his band on the show stint. His ditching of the three fiddles in favour of three brass adds immeasurably to the ork's solidness on the show tunes."

Jinx Clark with Rudy Richards

If one of the names from that last review doesn't sound familiar, it should. Remember Jinx Clark? She was the tough talking, shotgun toting owner of the haunted pub in the 2014 Skate Guard blog "The Ghost, The Skater And The Shotgun".

Not to be confused by the tour of the same name, a new "Holiday On Ice" show opened at the Netherland Plaza Hotel on February 24, 1947. It featured Vince and Gloria Haydock, Lew Nelson and Marilyn Ross and feature star Jack Roach, who also signed on to coach skaters at the then-new Cincinnati Arena which was under construction on "the Old Chester park site." The format changed slightly in 1947 and by 1948, the hotel's management had slashed the budget for its ice shows significantly. June Arnold, Bruce Sheffer and Bissell and Farley appeared in 1948, but with the lowered budget, the line performers had by then been eliminated altogether. Ice shows at the Netherland Plaza Hotel were on their way out.

In May 1956, the Netherland Plaza Hotel was sold to the Hilton Hotel chain. It continued to operate sans ice shows for many years and thanks to its designation of National Historic Register and National Landmark status in 1985, the hotel won't be going anywhere anytime soon. You might not be able to get a goblet of ice cream and a chicken pot pie for $1.75 in the hotel restaurant these days but the next time you're in Cincinnati, turn off the WKRP and listen quietly. You just may hear the etching of blades into tank ice, the clatter of silverware and the echo of Lutzes and laughter... How times have certainly changed.

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.

The 1963 World Figure Skating Championships

The Stadio del Ghiacco

After a failed bid from Innsbruck, the host city for the 1964 Winter Olympic Games, the 1963 World Figure Skating Championships were awarded by the International Skating Union to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The event was held in the open-air Stadio del Ghiacco, the venue of the 1956 Winter Olympic Games, from February 28 to March 3, 1963. As Cortina d'Ampezzo's altitude was approximately twelve hundred meters above sea level (being in the Dolomite Mountains) many skaters arrived early to acclimatize themselves to the thinner air. The men's and women's school figures commenced before nine in the morning each day. The weather was sunny and mild and skaters and judges alike wore sunglasses to lessen the sun's glare.

Marika Kilius and Sjoukje Dijkstra sharing a laugh during a practice session

In contrast, many of the free skating and ice dancing events were held late in the evenings, when temperatures dipped between minus fifteen and twenty degrees Celsius. Not only did the skaters, judges and spectators freeze their buns off, but the ice became hard and brittle in the bone-chilling cold. There were many complaints that skaters who drew earlier starting orders had a considerable advantage over those who performed later. The weather was so frigid, Lorna Dyer recalled, that several pairs skaters couldn't feel their arms when they were doing lifts.

Perhaps grab yourself a hot drink to think warm... and join me on a look back at the stories and skaters that made this event so memorable!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

The first title decided in Cortina d'Ampezzo was the pairs event. As the reigning World Champions Maria and Otto Jelinek of Canada had turned professional, the event was wide open. Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell, who had finished fourth the year before in Prague, were among the medal favourites. They were forced to withdraw prior to the event after a mishap in a photography shoot on an outdoor rink near their hotel. Guy lost his balance on the slushy ice and dropped Debbi from mid-air. She suffered a skull fracture and later recalled in her book "Ice Time", "My memory is still shaky about what happened next, but I am told the ISU representatives insisted that we compete despite the injury. Paralysis in half my face put an end to that idea. Then they insisted that we at least skate in the tour. The Canadian government intervened and quickly got me on connecting flights back to a hospital in Toronto. Doctors there decided there was no concussion because I wasn't getting dizzy. It took them a few days to realize that skaters don't get dizzy. The constant rotation and spinning develops a finely tuned inner balance."

Left: Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler posing for photographers in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Right: Marika Kilius with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, who is showing off his weightlifting skills. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Though a dual program system had been tried by the International Skating Union at the European Championships in Budapest, pairs skated only one program in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The audience for the pairs competition was very much pro-German. Swedish skating historian Gunnar Bang estimated that "80% of the audience consisted just of [Marika] Kilius and [Hans-Jürgen] Bäumler's countrymen."

Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler posing with the owner of the Bavarian boot making firm Zwerger. Photo courtesy "World Ice Skating Guide".

Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler skated third of the twelve couples, an hour before Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov. They didn't have any major mistakes but they clearly fought through their program and didn't skate with the same ease as they had in Budapest. Writing in "Skating" magazine, historian Dennis Bird recalled, "Their dramatic cartwheel lifts and triple Axel lift aroused some controversy, for on strict interpretation of the ISU regulations they appear to be of a doubtful legality. The judges did not, however, let this deter them from giving the Germans the best marks, and I for one have no quarrel with the result."

Another American writing for "Skating" magazine, Mary Meredith, remarked, "The crowd was the most enthusiastic I've ever known, and many of them knew their skating... Much cheering - booing of judges - but all cheerful. It was bitter cold that night and while, waiting for the results (quite a wait, and none left), everyone was too cold for comfort. One end of the arena began singing a twist song and soon the whole seething mass of muffled and bundled people did the twist. It was a humorous sight and gay. Soon other sections took it up and nearly the whole downstairs, where the standees were, twisted and twisted. They love the twist over here and were so thrilled when some skaters put in the free dance or in an exhibition. I've never known such a lively appreciative crowd."

After the marks were tallied and everyone was done twisting again like they did last summer, Kilius and Bäumler were unanimously first. Heinz Maegerlein recalled, "There was much applause for Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler when the victory was established. Some of the spectators knew how hard the road had been for them... so the applause was the recognition of many great achievements the couple had accomplished in the last few years. Perhaps it was quite good that they were not quite as perfect as they had done in Budapest in Cortina d'Ampezzo, because when things do not go well, the effort that comes before the completion is visible again."

Gertrude Desjardins and Maurice Lafrance. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Belousova and Protopopov were second on all but the Canadian and Italian judges scorecards. Those two judges preferred Canadians Gertrude Desjardins and Maurice Lafrance, who disappointingly lost out on the bronze medal to Soviets Tatyana Zhuk and Alexander Gavrilov by half an ordinal placing. Canada's only other entry after Wilkes and Revell's withdrawal, Linda Ann Ward and Neil Carpenter, placed eleventh.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Sjoukje Dijkstra performing school figures in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Photo courtesy Dutch National Archives.

Twenty one year old defending World Champion Sjoukje Dijkstra amassed an almost Trixi Schuba-like lead in the figures. Nearly sixty points ahead of Austria's Regine Heitzer and over one hundred ahead of France's Nicole Hassler, Dijkstra certainly had some leeway in the free skate. Rather than phone the performance in, she added the double Lutz to her program for the first time and skated marvellously, even if her program was somewhat front-loaded. Regine Heitzer delivered what was perhaps the finest free skate of her career, but received low marks. Nicole Hassler performed two double Axels in her free skate to finish second in that phase of the event and Miwa Fukuhara of Japan, only ninth in figures, included a triple Salchow in her program. Sixteen year old Petra Burka and eighteen year old Wendy Griner of Canada, both skated less than their best and were unable to make up ground. Equally disappointingly, Great Britain's Diana Clifton-Peach struggled in the free skate after delivering some of the finest figures of her career and fifteen year old Christine Haigler of the United States fell on the closing note of her excellent performance to Spanish music. Gunnar Bang complained that so many of the women skated to Vivaldi music that one "wondered how often the gramophone was changed."

Left: Sjoukje Dijkstra being interviewed by Dick Button for ABC's Wide World Of Sports. Right: Women's medallists. Photos courtesy Dutch National Archives.

When the marks were tallied, Dijkstra had 2318.8 points and was unanimously first overall, though the Soviet judge tied her with Heitzer and the Canadian and French judges had her behind Hassler in the free skate. Heinz Maegerlein remarked, "Sjoukje skated well... and was justly justified in receiving the highest praise." Wendy Griner, who placed fourth behind Dijkstra, Heitzer and Hassler later recalled, "It was not an equal playing ground. Sjoukje skated when the sun was out, and I was second to last in the program, and had to skate when it was dark and bloody cold. Being on the ice at midnight changed the whole texture of the ice - it became brittle and shattered. It just wasn't fair." Petra Burka finished fifth, and Canada's third entry, Shirra Kenworthy, placed twentieth. In fourteenth was Switzerland's Fränzi Schmidt - the World Champion in roller skating.

Wendy Griner and Donald McPherson

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

It was anticipated that Czechoslovakian brother/sister team of Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman would have no trouble defending their World title in Cortina d'Ampezzo, as both the second and third place teams from the 1962 World Championships in Prague were not returning. When Linda Shearman and Michael Phillips - only fourth the year prior at Worlds - upset the siblings at the European Championships in Budapest, it became clear that Eva and Pavel would have a fight on their hands.

After eighteen teams from ten countries weaved their way through the compulsory dances, six judges had Shearman and Phillips first. Eva and Pavel received first place ordinals from the Austrian and Czech judges, while Paulette Doan and Kenneth Ormsby were first on the scorecard of Canadian judge Sandy McKechnie. Adding insult to injury, the French judge had Eva and Pavel fourth.

Two of the most interesting stories from the free dance related to teams who placed well outside of the top five. Hungarians Györgyi Korda and Pál Vásárhelyi pushed the envelope by skating to national folk music, which was in those days considered rather 'outside the box'. The judges didn't know quite what to do with them. The French judge had them third, while the Italian judge had them sixteenth. Americans Yvonne (Littlefield) and Peter Betts, who had eloped just prior to heading to Italy, had their stop their program about two minutes in after the heel screws came out of his boot. After Peter secured his boot to his blade with ye olde trusty screwdriver, the referee allowed the team a reskate . The exact same thing happened about a half a minute in. The judges marked only the small part of the program they were able to complete and doled out marks ranging from 3.0 to 3.8. They dropped all the way from ninth to seventeenth overall. Betts later said, "Two judges told us they would have placed us third in the free dance if we had continued."

Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman with their trophy. 

The top three teams all skated well despite less than ideal ice conditions and freezing temperatures. The judging panel was a four/four split between the Czechoslovakians and the Britons, with the Canadian judge again voting for Doan and Ormsby. When the marks were tabulated, Eva and Roman came out on top by one ordinal placing, with Shearman and Phillips taking the silver and Doan and Ormsby the bronze. The other two Canadian couples, Donna Lee Mitchell and John Mitchell and Carole Forrest and Kevin Lethbridge, placed fifth and tenth. In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves recalled, "The Canadian judge was blamed for Linda and Michael's loss. They might legitimately have won for technical efficiency and immaculate style, but Eva and Pavel sparkled to prove that their home-town win in 1962 was not a fluke."

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Left: Scotty Allen of the United States. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine. Right: Malcolm Cannon of Great Britain.

In the two years preceding the men's event in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the entire U.S. figure skating team had been killed in the Sabena Crash and Canada's Donald Jackson had managed to upset Karol Divín in Czechoslovakia to win the 1962 World title, landing the first triple Lutz in international competition in the process. Since his win, Jackson had turned professional, leaving the World title up for grabs. The favourites were Divín, European Champion Alain Calmat of France, West Germany's Manfred Schnelldorfer and seventeen year old Donald McPherson of Canada, whose father had to cash in an insurance policy to finance the trip. Schnelldorfer left for the event eight days prior, driving from West Germany to Italy with his father in the family 'Strolchi', which was weighed down with luggage. American Tommy Litz, who had finished second to McPherson at the North American Championships in Vancouver, made the trip to Italy but did not compete. After North Americans, he'd twisted his ankle on a double flip while skating at an outdoor rink in Pennsylvania.

Donald McPherson practicing in Cortina d'Ampezzo

Tensions were high as the men took the ice to perform their school figures. Schnelldorfer won the first figure, Divín the second, Schnelldorfer the third, Divín the fourth. The next morning, fourteen year old Scotty Allen of Smoke Rise, New Jersey - the bronze medallist at the North American Championships - came out of nowhere to win the back loop change loop. Allen's win pushed Schnelldorfer back into the overall lead. Calmat won the final figure, the paragraph double three. When the marks of the school figures were tallied, five judges had Schnelldorfer first, the Czechoslovakian and French judges voted for Divín and the American judge stood alone in voting for Calmat. Schnelldorfer stood first, followed by Divín, Calmat and McPherson. In a show of good sportsmanship, Divín applauded Schnelldorfer.

Donald McPherson

Temperatures dipped as low as minus twenty Celsius during the men's free skate. The second group started after eleven o'clock; the third shortly before midnight. Tommy Litz recalled, "These poor guys were out there in twenty below weather and I thought, 'I'm glad I'm not out there.' It was horrifying." As a consequence of the freezing temperatures and the cold, brittle ice, few skaters performed up to their usual standard. Emmerich Danzer, the bronze medallist at the European Championships in Austria, landed a triple Salchow in one of the earlier groups and Scotty Allen managed a more or less clean performance, but the top four skaters after the figures were all far from their best. Divín skated cautiously. Calmat fell on a triple loop attempt, as did McPherson. However, the Canadian did manage to land two double Axels and a triple Salchow and earn marks from 5.7 to 5.9 for artistic impression.

Donald McPherson

Manfred Schnelldorfer's mother recalled the event thusly: "Divín looked like a phenomenon from a generation of earlier years... Calmat fell once, the first part of his program was unclean, but he caught up again only to get a much lower score than in Budapest... Sepp Schönmetzler had fallen, was completely exhausted, could not keep his mouth from the effort and cold, and cursed at the entrance over the devastating ice. He was as dissatisfied with himself as I had never seen him. A group of Italians was very loud as Manfred set out to start. The music was much too soft and Manfred was too late for the first jump. The pace was too fast, he could not adjust it and I saw the disaster coming... He fell so badly backwards that he lost a lot of time to get up again. In those seconds he wondered whether to give up. He did not want it anymore and had to leave some difficulties out. He jumped only simple jumps, no more doubles and dragged to the end. It was cruel. McPherson, a good head smaller, entered the arena. He fell as he attempted to jump the triple Rittberger, but he got everything else and he owed it, as he later confessed, to the midnight training that Dick Button had done with him in Cortina. He was used to the splinter-hard ice. In the cloakroom, nobody could figure out who would take the first, second and third places. My husband and I were being pursued by many curious eyes. I laughed, I consoled Manfred that he would be better off without the additional burden of a World Championship. He had just failed, he was not used to it, he was otherwise reliable, and the tremendous sense of duty had, of course, raised too many hopes, even among our own people. I was annoyed that my husband could not understand that these young athletes are flesh and blood and not machines. Then came the announcement: 'World Champion 1963, Donald McPherson, Canada. Second Alain Calmat, France. Third Manfred Schnelldorfer, Germany.'... There were a few contemptuous looks, there were some articles in magazines which were vaguely imaginative, which brought Manfred's third place in connection with a 'love' in his beloved sport. But could not he ever fall in love? About 20 hours after his unfortunate performance he skated in the same ice... His double Axel was big, everything else elegant... not a single fault - only 20 hours too late."

Incidently, the marks took more than half an hour to compute. McPherson, a student of Dennis Silverthorne, was first on all but the American judge's scorecard in the free skate, but overall, he had only two first place ordinals but five second places. His point total combined with his majority of second places narrowly gave him the win over Calmat and Schnelldorfer, who had three firsts and Divín, who had one. McPherson became the youngest man in history to win the World title, while his Canadian teammates Donald Knight and Bill Neale finished eighth and fifteenth. He later remarked, "To be a champion, you have to have the desire to prove that you can be the best, even if it means giving up everything else. It's a marvellous feeling when you finally achieve your goal, but the work along the way means so much more."

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