Uschi Keszler
Uschi Keszler (born August 13, 1947 in Mannheim ) is a former German figure skater who was internationally successful as a choreographer and trainer after her time as an active athlete.
Life
Keszler, who grew up in Frankenthal (Palatinate) , started for the Mannheim ERC . She took part in the Olympic Winter Games in 1964 and became German champion in women's figure skating in 1965. She had to give up her amateur career because she developed pulmonary tuberculosis and was undergoing clinical treatment for eight months.
After recovering from illness, she tried to continue figure skating, but could not find a doctor who wanted to guarantee in writing that her health would not be harmed by competitive sports. There were rumors about a possible continuation of the career in pair skating , especially since efforts were made in the German Ice Skating Union to build Uschi Keszler together with Ralph Borghard as the successor couple of Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler . Borghard managed to escape from the GDR during a competition stay in Davos . Although Uschi Keszler was positive about the couple skating project, the realization failed because of her parents' objection, as the health concerns outweighed them.
At the age of 18, Keszler emigrated to the USA to work as a trainer. She got several offers and decided on the ice revue "Ice Follies" in San Francisco . Keszler sang a record for the German market and made a brief appearance in the figure skating film Das große Glück with Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler.
A short time later she married Aram Boornazian and left Eisrevue at short notice. She had a son, Marc, although the doctors told her beforehand that she could not have children. With the support of her husband, she worked part-time as a figure skating coach for the next ten years. She also studied modern dance and drama at Rugers University for twelve years.
In 1981 she first took part in a world championship as a coach. In the following months she choreographed Elaine Zayak's programs . In 1981 she began working with Doug Leigh , the coach of Brian Orser ; Keszler stayed several times with Brian Orser at the LZE in Mannheim. From 1982 to 1987 she created the choreography for Claudia Leistner .
From 1988 to 1994 Keszler was the choreographer of Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler and from 1995 to 1996 of Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz . Since 1992 she has also worked on the choreographies of Elvis Stojko , who is also a student of Doug Leigh. Elvis Stojko separated from his trainer in 1999 and from then on only worked with Keszler.
Other students of Keszler were and are Tanja Szewczenko , Surya Bonaly , Rudy Galindo , Mandy Wötzel & Ingo Steuer , Oxana Grishchuk & Evgeni Platow , Debbie Koegel & Oleg Fediukov and Viktor Pfeifer .
Her husband and partners built an “Ice Works” ice rink in Aston ( Pennsylvania , USA). Keszler is the director for the figure skating program there. Here she continued to work with Elvis Stojko, among others.
In 1998 she became a grandma.
Athletic results
- 1964 - 24th place
- 1964 - 15th place
- 1966 - 11th place
- 1965 - 11th place
- 1966 - 8th place
German Championships (Seniors)
- 1963 - 6th place
- 1964 - 2nd place
- 1965 - 1st place
- 1966 - 2nd place
Web links
- Uschi Keszler in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- Uschi Keszler's website ( memento from September 2, 2000 in the Internet Archive )
- Website of the Aston Ice Rink
Individual evidence
- ↑ The history of the association. (PDF; 46 kB) Figure skating. MERC, accessed January 23, 2015 .
- ↑ dream or cake . In: Der Spiegel . No. 15 , 1966 ( online ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Keszler, Uschi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German figure skater and international figure skating choreographer and trainer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 13, 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mannheim |