Oslo 1952 figure skating gold medallist Altwegg dies aged 90 – Insidethegames.biz

Britain’s Olympic figure skating gold medallist Jeannette Altwegg has died at the age of 90, it has been announced.

Altwegg died in Switzerland on June 18, with newspaper Berner Oberländer reporting that she is survived by her four children and 13 grandchildren.

Altwegg was born in Bombay in India to a British mother and Swiss father.

She competed competitively in tennis and figure skating at a young age, with her achievements including reaching the junior singles final at Wimbledon in 1947.

Altwegg opted to prioritise her figure skating career and won a bronze medal in the ladies figure skating event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St Moritz.

The same year saw the first of four consecutive victories at the British Figure Skating Championships.

Altwegg won bronze at the 1949 World Championships in Paris and European Championships in Milan, before winning silver medals at both events the following year in London and Oslo respectively.

She became the fourth British skater to win the ladies figure skating title at the World Championships when she triumphed in Milan in 1951.

Consecutive European gold medals were earned in Zurich and Vienna in 1951 and 1952, respectively.

Altwegg was crowned Olympic champion in 1952 in Oslo, winning in front of 30,000 spectators at The Bislett Stadium.

Britain’s Jeannette Altwegg won two Olympic medals during her career, a bronze at St Moritz in 1948 and gold at Oslo in 1952 ©Getty Images

Altwegg won the event with an overall score of 161.756 points, followed by the United States’ Tenley Albright and France’s Jacqueline du Bief on 159.133 and 158.000.

She was the first British woman to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics, with Madge Syers figure skating success coming at a Summer Olympics in London in 1908.

Amy Williams was the next British woman to achieve the feat, after winning women’s skeleton gold at Vancouver 2010.

Altwegg was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Coronation honours list in 1953.

Altwegg declined offers to begin a professional career and worked in Switzerland to support war orphans.

She married Swiss civil engineer Marc Wirz in 1953, the brother of Switzerland’s ladies figure skating champion Suzi Wirz.

One of her daughters, Cristina Wirz, represented Switzerland in curling when the sport was a demonstration event at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary and won the world title in 1983.

Altwegg was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1993, while the National Ice Skating Association in Britain awarded her honorary lifetime membership.

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