Gretchen Merrill was US figure skating champion six times in a row from 1943 to 1948 . She was unlucky to be the dominant American figure skater at a time when there were almost no international tournaments because of the break in the war. It was not until 1947 that she was able to face international competition at the first world championships and European championships after the Second World War . It was her only participation in these tournaments. She won a medal both times. At the European Championships in Davos in 1947 she was runner-up behind the Canadian Barbara Ann Scott and ahead of the British Daphne Walker . Until 1948, non-Europeans were still allowed to take part in European championships. Merrill was the last American to win a medal at the European Championships. At the World Championships in Stockholm in 1947 , she won the bronze medal behind Scott and Walker. She finished her only Olympic Games in St. Moritz in 1948 in what was , for her, eighth place. Then she ended her career.
Gretchen Merrill started for the Skating Club of Boston and was trained by her childhood role model, Maribel Vinson . She was considered one of the best dressed and most glamorous athletes of her time. Soldiers nicknamed her Queenie. In 1953 she married William Otis from Boston, the marriage ended in divorce. She died at 39 years old after struggling with mental health problems.
United States
