Gabriele Seyfert

Gabriele Seyfert

Gabriele Seyfert in 1968
Personal information
Country represented East Germany
Born 23 November 1948
Chemnitz, East Germany
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Skating club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
Retired 1972

Gabriele ("Gaby") Seyfert (born 23 November 1948) is a German former figure skater. She is a two-time World champion (1969, 1970), and the 1968 Olympic silver medalist.

Skating career

Seyfert skated for the club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt and represented the GDR (East Germany). Her coach was her mother Jutta Müller, who also coached 1984 and 1988 Olympic champion Katarina Witt. She was a long-time rival of Peggy Fleming, but never defeated her.

In 1966, after two silver medals at the Europeans and the Worlds, she was voted as “The GDR female athlete of the year." She became the first woman to land a clean triple loop.

Seyfert ended her figure skating career in 1970. Unlike Peggy Fleming, she was not allowed to skate professionally. Offers by Holiday on Ice were refused by East German authorities.

Seyfert turned to coaching, and worked with the Anett Pötzsch in the early 1970s.[1] The East German coach hierarchy later transferred Pötzsch to Jutta Müller's group, and Seyfert ended her coaching career.

Personal life

Seyfert's daughter Sheila was born in 1974.

After ending her coaching career, Seyfert studied languages at university and worked as a professional translator. From 1985 to 1991, she led the ice ballet at the Friedrichstadtpalast in East Berlin, where she also skated occasionally. After the ice ballet was closed, she worked at a service industry business in Berlin. She lives in Berlin-Karow.

Results

Event 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
Winter Olympics 19th 2nd
World Championships 21st 5th 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st
European Championships 21st 12th 10th 5th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st
East German Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st

References

  1. Klaus-Reinhold Kany (2011-06-05). Anett Pötzsch: Germany’s First Golden Girl. Ifsmagazine.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-10.

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Awards
Preceded by
East Germany Hannelore Suppe
East German Sportswoman of the Year
1966
Succeeded by
East Germany Karin Janz