1961 European Figure Skating Championships

1961 European Figure Skating Championships
Type: ISU Championship
Date: January 26th – January 29th
Season: 1961
Location: Germany West Berlin
Host: Deutscher Eislauf-Verband (DEV)
Venue: Berlin Sportpalast
Champions
Men's singles:
France Alain Giletti
Ladies' singles:
Netherlands Sjoukje Dijkstra
Pair skating:
West Germany Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler
Ice dancing:
United Kingdom Doreen Denny and Courtney Jones
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The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion.

The 1961 competitions took place from January 26 to January 29, 1961 in West Berlin. Skaters competed in the disciplines of ladies' singles,[1] men's singles,[2] pair skating[3] and ice dancing.[4] The event took place without the participation of skaters from the Soviet Union not because of a political boycott, but rather because an exceptionally mild winter left the Russian skaters with insufficient ice for practice in their home country. The Soviet team was also withdrawn from the following World Championships for the same reason.[5]

The defending champions in all four divisions retained their titles. In the pairs competition, however, the champions Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler faced a close battle with Margret Göbl & Franz Ningel, who had defeated them at the West German championships earlier in the season. Göbl & Ningel may have been penalized for including an illegal lift in their program.[6]

In the ladies' event, Sjoukje Dijkstra built up a lead in the compulsory figures that assured her of victory. Her free skating program was described as "exhausting". The stars of the free skating were Helli Sengstschmidt and Jana Mrázková, who both reportedly did triple salchow jumps in their programs.[6]

Alain Giletti likewise assured himself of victory by winning the figures by a large margin. All three medalists in the men's division gave fine free skating performances.[6]

Results

Men

Rank Name Nation Places
1 Alain Giletti  France 9
2 Alain Calmat  France 11
3 Manfred Schnelldorfer  West Germany 23
4 Peter Jonas  Austria 37
5 Emmerich Danzer  Austria 51.5
6 Robin Jones  United Kingdom 55.5
7 Sepp Schönmetzler  West Germany 65
8 Bodo Bockenauer  East Germany 80
9 Heinrich Podhasjski  Austria 79
10 Per Kjølberg  Norway 87
11 Peter Krick  West Germany 91
12 Wouter Toledo  Netherlands 111
13 Michael Flebbe  East Germany 112
14 Giordano Abbondati  Italy 122
15 Ragnar Wikström  Finland 135

Judges were

Ladies

Rank Name Nation Places
1 Sjoukje Dijkstra  Netherlands 9
2 Regine Heitzer  Austria 21
3 Jana Mrázková  Czechoslovakia 26
4 Karin Frohner  Austria 49
5 Dany Rigoulot  France 57
6 Helli Sengstschmid  Austria 58
7 Eva Grožajová  Czechoslovakia 77
8 Nicole Hassler  France 73
9 Diana Clifton-Peach  United Kingdom 66
10 Jitka Hlaváčková  Czechoslovakia 83
11 Anne Reynolds  United Kingdom 85
12 Karin Gude  West Germany 90
13 Fränzi Schmidt   Switzerland 115
14 Christa Fassi-von Kuczkowski  Italy 136
15 Daniéle Giraud  France 141
16 Ursula Barkey  West Germany 147
17 Éva Csoma  Hungary 162
18 Helga Zöllner  Hungary 175
19 Dorette Bek   Switzerland 169
20 Silvana Saccozzi  Italy 179
21 Gabriele Seyfert  East Germany 178
22 Sandra Brugnera  Italy 190
23 Heidemarie Steiner  East Germany 188
24 Willie ten Hoopen  Netherlands 216

Judges were

Pairs

Rank Name Nation Places
1 Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler  West Germany 13
2 Margret Göbl / Franz Ningel  West Germany 14
3 Margit Senf / Peter Göbel  East Germany 38.5
4 Rita Blumenberg / Werner Mensching  West Germany 36
5 Diana Hinko / Heinz Döpfl  Austria 43.5
6 Hana Dvoraková / Karol Vosatka  Czechoslovakia 52.5
7 Valerie Hunt / Peter Burrows  United Kingdom 69.5
8 Gerda Johner / Rüdi Johner   Switzerland 74.5
9 Irene Müller / Hans-Georg Dallmer  East Germany 75.5
10 Renate Rößler / Klaus Wasserfuhr  East Germany 78

Judges were

Ice Dancing

Rank Name Nation Places
1 Doreen Denny / Courtney Jones  United Kingdom 7
2 Christiane Guhel / Jean Paul Guhel  France 14
3 Linda Shearman / Michael Philipps  United Kingdom 25
4 Mary Parry / Roy Mason  United Kingdom 26
5 Eva Romanová / Pavel Roman  Czechoslovakia 33
6 Rita Paucka / Peter Kwiet  West Germany 46
7 Olga Gilardi / Germano Ceccatini  Italy 47
8 Maria Grazia Boccacci / Gianfranco Canepa  Italy 63
9 Armelle Flichy / Pierre Brun  France 65
10 Jitka Babická / Jaromír Holan  Czechoslovakia 73
11 György Korda / Pál Vásárhelyi  Hungary 72
12 Christel Trebesiner / Gerald Felsinger  Austria 87
13 Margo Nissen / Klaus Ebel  West Germany 87
14 Marlyse Fornachon / Charly Pichard   Switzerland 95
15 Martha Schamberger / Hans-Jürgen Schamberger  West Germany 98

Judges were

References

  1. ↑ http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-147123-164339-54461-0-file,00.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-147122-164338-54457-0-file,00.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-147120-164336-54459-0-file,00.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-147119-164335-54460-0-file,00.pdf
  5. ↑ "News from Europe", Skating magazine, March 1961
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "The European Championships", Skating magazine, May 1961