Name Jeannette Altwegg | Retired 1952 Role Olympic athlete | |
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Full name Jeannette Eleanor Altwegg Born 8 September 1930 (age 94) ( 1930-09-08 ) Bombay, India Skating club Queens Ice Dance Club, London Similar People | ||
Country represented United Kingdom | ||
Jeannette altwegg wins european figure skating
Jeannette Altwegg, CBE (married name: Wirz; born 8 September 1930) is a British former figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She is the 1952 Olympic champion, the 1948 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1951 World champion, and a two-time (1951 & 1952) European champion.
Contents
- Jeannette altwegg wins european figure skating
- 1949 1952 jeannette altwegg 52 olympic champ great britain
- Early life
- Skating career
- Later life
- References
1949 1952 jeannette altwegg 52 olympic champ great britain
Early life
Altwegg was born on 8 September 1930 in Bombay, India. She was raised in Lancashire, the daughter of a British mother and Swiss father. She was a competitive tennis player, reaching the junior finals at Wimbledon in 1947 before giving up the sport to focus on skating.
Skating career
Altwegg was coached by Jacques Gerschwiler and was known for her strong compulsory figures. She won bronze at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, finishing third behind Barbara Ann Scott of Canada and Eva Pawlik of Austria. In 1951, she stood atop the podium at the European Championships in Zurich and at the World Championships in Milan.
Altwegg successfully defended her continental title at the 1952 European Championships in Vienna. She was awarded gold at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, ahead of Tenley Albright of the United States and Jacqueline du Bief of France. She became the first British woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Her achievement was not matched until the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver when Amy Williams won gold in skeleton. Altwegg remains the only British woman to have won two individual medals (gold and bronze) at the Winter Olympics.
After her Olympic victory, Altwegg bypassed a lucrative professional career due to a knee injury. In 1953, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1993.
Later life
After retiring from skating, Altwegg worked at Pestalozzi Children's Village in Switzerland. She married Marc Wirz, the brother of Swiss skater Susi Wirz. They had four children before divorcing in 1973. Their daughter Christina Wirz was a member of Switzerland's 1983 World champion curling team.