Gillis Grafström

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Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Gold	1920 Antwerp	Men's singles
Gold	1924 Chamonix	Men's singles
Gold	1928 St. Moritz	Men's singles
Silver	1932 Lake Placid	Men's singles

Gillis Grafström (born June 7, 1893 in Stockholm, Sweden; died April 14, 1938 in Potsdam, Germany) was a Swedish figure skater.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Results 2.1 Olympic Games 2.2 World Championships 2.3 European Championships 3 See also 4 Navigation

[edit] Biography

Gillis Grafström won the Olympic gold medal three times (1920, 1924, and 1928) and the silver medal at the 1932 Winter Olympics (behind Karl Schäfer).

At his first Olympics in Antwerp one of his skates broke and he had to go to town to buy a new pair. Unfortunately only curly-toed skates were available. Despite this, he was still able to win.

At his last Olympics in 1932 in Lake Placid, he collided with a photographer on the ice and still managed to place second.

Grafström was one of the best skaters ever in compulsory figures. He also invented the Grafström-pirouette (on the back outside edge of the blade) and the flying sit spin. He skated very elegantly and was famous for his interpretation of music. Grafström also coached Sonja Henie.

From 1925 to his death he lived in Potsdam, Germany. He trained on the Bornstedter See (Bornstedt Lake) when it was frozen or in Berlin on the artificial ice rink at the Volkspark Friedrichshain.

Grafström studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin (Technische Hochschule Berlin) and worked later as an architect.

Grafström collected graphics, paintings and sculptures about skating. This collection was continued by his wife Cecilie Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1898-1995). Today this collection belongs to the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs in the United States. Grafström was also a writer and an etcher.

Grafström died in 1938 in Potsdam at the age of 44 due to blood poisoning.

Today there is a street in Potsdam named after him. In 1976 he was admitted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Additionally, Grafström won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1929 (Shared with Sven Utterström).

[edit] Results

[edit] Olympic Games

• 1920 - 1st place
• 1924 - 1st place
• 1928 - 1st place
• 1932 – 2nd place

[edit] World Championships

• 1914 – 7th place
• 1922 - 1st place
• 1924 - 1st place
• 1929 - 1st place

[edit] European Championships

• did not participate

[edit] See also

• List of Olympic medalists in figure skating
• World Figure Skating Championships

[edit] Navigation

Preceded by Per Erik Hedlund

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal with Sven Utterström 1929

Succeeded by Johan Richthoff

Persondata
NAME	Grafström, Gillis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Swedish figure skater
DATE OF BIRTH	June 7, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stockholm, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH	April 14, 1938
PLACE OF DEATH	Potsdam, Germany