1948 Winter Olympics / Figure Skating
Figure skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics |
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Competition venue | Badrutts Park / Kulm ice rink |
Nations | 12 |
Athletes | 64 (27 ![]() ![]() |
date | 2-6 February 1948 |
decisions | 3 |
← Garmisch 1936 |
Three figure skating competitions were held at the 5th Winter Olympics in St. Moritz in 1948 . The venues were the Badrutts Park Olympic ice rink and the Kulm ice rink for the compulsory runs for men and women. The artificial ice rinks had the standardized size of 60 × 30 m. The competitions all had to take place during the day as there was no suitable lighting system for evening events.
Balance sheet
Medal table
space | country |
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total |
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1 |
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1 | - | 1 | 2 |
2 |
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1 | - | - | 1 |
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1 | - | - | 1 | |
4th |
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- | 1 | 1 | 2 |
5 |
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- | 1 | - | 1 |
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- | 1 | - | 1 | |
7th |
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- | - | 1 | 1 |
Medalist
competitor | gold | silver | bronze |
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Men's |
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Ladies |
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Couples |
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Results
- K = freestyle
- P = compulsory
- Pz = place number
- Pts = points
Men's
space | country | athlete | P | K | Pz | Pt. |
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1 |
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Richard Button | 1 | 1 | 10 | 191.177 |
2 |
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Hans Gerschwiler | 2 | 3 | 23 | 181.122 |
3 |
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Edi Rada | 3 | 4th | 33 | 178.133 |
4th |
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John Lettengarver | 4th | 2 | 36 | 176,400 |
5 |
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Ede Király | 3 | 5 | 42 | 174,400 |
6th |
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James Grogan | 9 | 6th | 62 | 168.711 |
7th |
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Graham Sharp | 6th | 8th | 67 | 167.044 |
8th |
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Hellmut May | 7th | 7th | 68 | 165.666 |
9 |
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Helmut Seibt | 8th | 12 | 79 | 162.655 |
10 |
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Vladislav Čáp | 10 | 11 | 96 | 160.233 |
11 |
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Fernand Leemans | 11 | 14th | 104 | 157.822 |
12 |
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Wallace Diestelmeyer | 13 | 9 | 110 | 156.322 |
13 |
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Zdeněk Fikar | 12 | 13 | 114 | 154.155 |
14th |
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Karl Enderlin | 14th | 10 | 110 | 154.244 |
15th |
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Carlo Fassi | 16 | 15th | 135 | 145.966 |
16 |
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Per Cock-Clausen | 15th | 16 | 135 | 145.533 |
Mandatory: February 2, 9:30 a.m.
Freestyle: February 5, 2:45 p.m.
16 figure skaters from 10 countries took part in this competition. A duty with five figures and a five-minute freestyle had to be shown. The required figures were: turn, counter turn, double triple paragraph, loop paragraph, counter triple paragraph (see also: figure skating elements ).
The reigning world champion Hans Gerschwiler from Switzerland and the reigning European champion Richard Button from the USA were considered favorites . Surprisingly, Button was already leading in almost all figures in the compulsory run. His superior jumping technique was also shown in the freestyle. He was the first runner to jump a double axel and also showed elements that were otherwise only known from floor exercises. A straddle jump with a height of 1.50 m was part of his demonstration. He was superior to the Olympic champion ahead of Gerschwiler and the Austrian Edi Rada . Ten thousand spectators had come to the ice rink for the freestyle competition and thousands stood on the surrounding slopes with binoculars and opera glasses. The ice was soft. There was a minor mishap during Vladislav Čáp's lecture when suddenly the record failed and he was forced to perform his program without background music.
Ladies
space | country | athlete | P | K | Pz | Pt. |
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1 |
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Barbara Ann Scott | 1 | 1 | 11 | 163.077 |
2 |
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Eva Pawlik | 3 | 2 | 24 | 157.588 |
3 |
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Jeannette Altwegg | 2 | 6th | 28 | 156.166 |
4th |
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Jiřina Nekolová | 4th | 4th | 34 | 154.088 |
5 |
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Alena Vrzáňová | 7th | 3 | 44 | 153.044 |
6th |
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Yvonne Sherman | 8th | 5 | 62 | 149.833 |
7th |
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Bridget Adams | 5 | 16 | 69 | 148.644 |
8th |
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Gretchen Merrill | 6th | 11 | 73 | 148.466 |
9 |
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Martha Bachem | 14th | 7th | 103 | 144.456 |
10 |
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Marion Tiefy Davies | 11 | 12 | 104 | 144.766 |
11 |
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Eileen Seigh | 10 | 10 | 110 | 144.111 |
12 |
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Marilyn Ruth Take | 12 | 13 | 110.5 | 143.722 |
13 |
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Dagmar Lerchová | 15th | 8th | 112 | 144.433 |
14th |
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Suzanne Morrow | 9 | 15th | 117 | 143.655 |
15th |
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Maja Hug | 13 | 19th | 137 | 141.522 |
16 |
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Jacqueline du Bief | 16 | 21st | 147.5 | 139.022 |
17th |
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Marika Saáry | 17th | 14th | 142 | 140.944 |
18th |
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Hildegard Appeltauer | 18th | 20th | 155 | 139,300 |
19th |
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Jill Hood-Linzee | 19th | 18th | 145 | 140,200 |
20th |
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Ingeborg Solar | 23 | 9 | 186 | 135.444 |
21st |
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Éva Lindner | 22nd | 17th | 192 | 134.188 |
22nd |
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Marit Henie | 21st | 23 | 194 | 133.111 |
23 |
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Lotti Höner | 23 | 20th | 186 | 134.211 |
24 |
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Grazia Barcellona | 25th | 24 | 218 | 122.211 |
25th |
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Doris Blanc | 24 | 25th | 221 | 122.622 |
Mandatory: February 3, 9:00 a.m. and February 5,
Freestyle: February 6, 7:30 a.m.
25 figure skaters from 10 countries took part in this competition. In duty, these had to show five figures, followed by a four-minute freestyle. The same mandatory elements were required as for the men.
The suddenly warmer temperatures brought problems not only in the 10,000 m speed skating competitions and in ice hockey, but also in the women's compulsory section, as the athletes got stuck in the soft ice after the first compulsory exercise. After a weather-related interruption of one and a half days, the duty could not be continued until the morning of February 5th. There were still three pieces to catch up. At the freestyle there was another record number of spectators. There were no more big surprises to be expected, the favorites had already moved into the top ranks after compulsory. Only Pawlik and Vrzáňová managed to advance to 2nd and 5th respectively.
The Canadian Barbara Ann Scott , who was considered the clear favorite, ran the best freestyle overall. There were runners who jumped higher, did even better pirouettes and had more to show in building their combinations. But all together, Scott was the best. In general, the increase in performance was unmistakable. This was shown not only in the large number of double jumps, novel pirouettes and difficult connecting steps, but also in the certainty of how these difficulties were mastered rhythmically. Some of the falls were only partially due to uncertainties, but rather to the ice conditions, which were not exactly ideal, but without having a decisive influence on the competition.
There were different presentations, whereby the sporting view was far superior. Occasionally there were lectures that went in the direction of ballet and variety, ice dancing or show acts. Rather modest runners such as B. Lerchová, Hug and Solar pressed. The performance of the three Swiss women was not entirely satisfactory because they had proven at the national championships that their standard was on a higher level.
Couples
space | country | Pair | Pz | Pt. |
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1 |
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Micheline Lannoy / Pierre Baugniet | 17.5 | 11.227 |
2 |
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Andrea Kékesy / Ede Király | 26.0 | 11.109 |
3 |
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Suzanne Morrow / Wallace Diestelmeyer | 31.0 | 11,000 |
4th |
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Yvonne Sherman / Robert Swenning | 53.0 | 10,581 |
5 |
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Winifred Silverthorne / Dennis Silverthorne | 53.0 | 10,572 |
6th |
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Karol Kennedy / Peter Kennedy | 59.5 | 10,536 |
7th |
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Marianna Nagy / László Nagy | 89.0 | 9,909 |
8th |
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Jennifer Nicks / John Nicks | 98.0 | 9,700 |
9 |
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Herta Ratzenhofer / Emil Ratzenhofer | 111.5 | 9.436 |
10 |
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Margot Walle / Allan Fjeldheim | 118.5 | 9.281 |
11 |
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Susanne Giebisch / Helmut Seibt | 117.5 | 9.117 |
12 |
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Luny Unold / Hans Kuster | 120.0 | 9.281 |
13 |
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Grazia Barcellona / Carlo Fassi | 121.5 | 9.263 |
14th |
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Denise Favart / Jacques Favart | 139.0 | 8,700 |
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Blažena Knittlová / Karel Vosátka | withdrawn |
Freestyle: February 7th, 1:00 p.m.
The pair skating competition, in which 15 couples from 11 countries took part, consisted of a five-minute freestyle. The performances were judged by eleven judges. The Belgians Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet won the first and so far only Olympic gold medal in figure skating for their country by relegating Hungarians Andrea Kékesy and Ede Király and Canadians Suzanne Morrow and Wallace Diestelmeyer to the places.
During the competition there was a blizzard which hindered the couples performing. But even taking these unfavorable weather conditions into account, it could be stated that pair skating was the branch of figure skating competition that had made the least progress. There was currently a lack of top talent of the former world class. Not a single pair ran like a piece, turned the various pirouettes at exactly the same speed or was equivalent in the execution of the jumps. Despite these limitations, the beauties inherent in pair skating came to the fore. This was especially true for the freestyle of the Belgian winning couple, which not only performed fluently and elegantly, but also precisely performed its program, which was riddled with great difficulties. Small bumps could not blur the overall impression that this demonstration was the best in terms of content and execution. The closest came Kékesy / Király. The Canadian couple Morrow / Diestelmeyer demonstrated a very modern pair skating style.
As with the individual competitions, the effort was unmistakable here too, at the expense of continuous performance, to concentrate on a few brilliant productions for the entire five minutes and to take breaks in between, which meant idling and had a negative effect on the overall impression. Some started at full speed with accumulation of difficulties and fell sharply towards the end, others went the other way around in their task, and the best held up a high level from start to finish. This often showed the differences in ability even more than the grades indicated, which were sometimes given according to strange criteria, but which could not have significantly influenced the outcome of the competition.
Web links
- Figure skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- Figure skating competitions in St. Moritz in 1948 on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ «The day of the art runners» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 6, 1948, p. 4 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «Revelations in men's figure skating»; Sport Zürich, No. 18 of February 6, 1948, page 6
- ↑ "In St. Moritz hot weather" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 4, 1948, p. 4 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ "Figure skating graces caused new attendance record"; Sport Zürich, No. 20 of February 9, 1948, pages 4 and 5
- ↑ «The new style for couples» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 8, 1948, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «A“ Golden ”for Belgium”; Sport Zürich, No. 20 of February 9, 1948, page 5