Helli Sengstschmid

Helene (Helli) Sengstschmid (born 21 February 1944 in Vienna/Austria) is a former Austrian figure skater, who competed in a great number of single events for the Viennese figure skating club Cottage Engelmann Vienna.

Her trainers included Mr. Steiner, Mrs. Appeltauer, Mr. Wenninger as well as skater Karl Schäfer (eight-time Austrian champion, eight-time European champion, seven-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion). ^[1]

Career

Helli Sengstschmid was active at the same time as her compatriot Regina Heitzer and the Dutch skater Sjoukje Dijkstra, just as with the Soviet figure skating couple Protopopov from St Petersburg. In Austrian Championships she always came second or third place behind Regina Heitzer, even if she almost always got the best marks for her free skating performance.

With the age of 15 her trainer Karl Schäfer invited her to practice in the United States for half a year (New York and Lake Placid), where she lived with his family.

At the European Championship 1959/60, after having reached the twelfth place in compulsory figures, her free skating performance lifted her into the sixth place overall. She was the first female skater who did a triple Salchow. At the European Championships 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965 (in Moscow) she always won fourth place, at all World Championships between 1962 and 1965,^[2] with ranks between sixths and eighth place she always reached the Top Ten. At both Universiades 1964/65 as well as 1968/69 she reached second place in spite of a break in training in between (birth of her daughter Sabine in the year 1966). At the Olympic Games 1964 in Innsbruck/Austria^[3] she ranked 18th after the compulsory figures, and reached the 9th place overall with the third-best free skating appearance.

In addition to her athletic career she took her school-leaving exam before she studied sports and English.

In the year 1965 she participated in the Semperit-Rallye with her future husband and married in the same year, which also meant the temporary end of her sporting career. She moved to Innsbruck/Austria, where she gave birth to her daughter Sabine in the year 1966.

For many years she was working as a trainer at Innsbruck’s figure skating club UEK and as a secondary school teacher for English and gymnastics. She retired in the year 2004 and her husband died in the year 2012. At present she devotes herself to her hobbies, such as skiing, painting, swimming and travelling.

References

1. ↑ history of the famous Viennese Figure-Skating Club
2. ↑ Showing the results of all World Championships:
3. ↑ Official History of the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck 1964