What's Old Is New Again: New Articles Re: Figure Skating History

The story about Larger is super interesting. They do kind of look similar.
 
The third of this week's trio of Skate Guard blogs reflects on the career of Olympic Silver Medallist & World Champion Hans Gerschwiler:

http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/09/all-hans-on-deck-hans-gerschwiler-story.html

Also, I've sadly received word from 1947 World Bronze Medallist Arthur Apfel's family that he passed away yesterday morning in Johannesburg at the age of 94. You can read more about his story in this (updated) Skate Guard blog from the archives:

https://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2015/12/an-apfel-day-keeps-russian-judges-away.html
 
The latest Skate Guard blog takes a brief look back at The 1900 European Figure Skating Championships in Berlin:

http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/09/the-1900-european-figure-skating_19.html

Also of interest to skating history buffs:

Donald Knight's induction into the Hamilton Sports Hall Of Fame: https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/7562514-five-more-heading-to-hamilton-s-hall/

The campaign for Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to receive the knighthood:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4896396/Campaign-ice-skating-greats-knighted.html
 
N_Halifax said:
Put Your Hands Together For Biddy Bonnycastle explores the story of Biddy Bonnycastle - a.k.a. Veronica Clarke - a 20X Canadian Medallist & North American Champion whose accomplishments have gone largely unheralded:
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This doesn't speak well for Skate Canada.
N_Halifax said:
The campaign for Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to receive the knighthood:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4896396/Campaign-ice-skating-greats-knighted.html
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Deserved; and long overdue, IMO.
 
N_Halifax said:
The latest Skate Guard blog, Min And Mo: The Much Maligned Muscovites (...)
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Once again, thank you for an interesting dive into skating history... and for great use of alliteration! Love it!
The "programs the authorities neither accepted or understood" included their one-themed "West Side Story" free dance, which flew in the face of the seventies ice dance convention of skating to a mishmash of rhythms, often badly edited.
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This is just hilarious, in a slightly depressing way. :lol:
 
Thanks for your kind words! I'd never say never to writing a book on skating history, but I'm quite content with sharing my research and writing online free of charge. I think skating history should be accessible to everyone and I'm not really interested in profiting off my passion.
 
N_Halifax said:
The first of this week's trio of Skate Guard blogs is a look back at The 1947 World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm, Sweden
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Temperatures for the outdoor competition dipped to minus twenty Fahrenheit.
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-20F is almost -30C, right? :eek: That is, well below the "feel your nose hairs freeze the second you step outside" limit. Poor skaters... and poor audience!

When I was in school and we had our PE skating lessons (always outdoors), I think the temperature limit was -15C (so 5F?). If the mercury dipped below that, we had some indoors activity instead.
 
nimi said:
-20F is almost -30C, right? :eek: That is, well below the "feel your nose hairs freeze the second you step outside" limit. Poor skaters... and poor audience!

When I was in school and we had our PE skating lessons (always outdoors), I think the temperature limit was -15C (so 5F?). If the mercury dipped below that, we had some indoors activity instead.
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I actually had to Google the Fahrenheit/Celsius difference because I have zero clue about Fahrenheit... it's around -28, which is just mind blowing to me. Working on a future piece on an event where it was about ten degrees warmer (a balmy -20) there were several mentions about how the ice became hard and brittle. It can't have been easy for the skaters and audiences back in the days of outdoor/open-air rinks, but who I think I pitied most were the judges. They really didn't have the luxury of getting up and moving around.
 
N_Halifax said:
Working on a future piece on an event where it was about ten degrees warmer (a balmy -20) there were several mentions about how the ice became hard and brittle.
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Also, the outdoor ice is never going to be as smooth and even as zambonied indoors ice, so not only does the hard, brittle ice offer a lot of friction, there are also the bumps and ridges. (The bloody BUMPS. They can really trip you up when you're trying to do a bloody 3-turn. Remembering those PE skating lessons again...)
 
nimi said:
Also, the outdoor ice is never going to be as smooth and even as zambonied indoors ice, so not only does the hard, brittle ice offer a lot of friction, there are also the bumps and ridges. (The bloody BUMPS. They can really trip you up when you're trying to do a bloody 3-turn. Remembering those PE skating lessons again...)
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I still skate every winter outdoors on the Emera Oval here in Halifax... trust me, I know all too well! It can be just brutal sometimes. It's a completely different beast. Speaking of 'beasts', the latest Skate Guard blog is up... Skating On The Wrong Side Of The Law: True Crimes From Skating History:

http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/09/skating-on-wrong-side-of-law-true.html
 
Long-time journalist Michael Cosgrove is reporting that Olympic Silver Medallist & World Champion Hans Gerschwiler has passed away at the age of 97. There will be a piece in this Saturday's Globe & Mail.

For those who may be interested in learning a little more about Hans' fascinating story, I covered him on Skate Guard blog earlier this month:

http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/09/all-hans-on-deck-hans-gerschwiler-story.html

Rest In Peace. :(
 
N_Halifax said:
Thanks for your kind words! I'd never say never to writing a book on skating history, but I'm quite content with sharing my research and writing online free of charge. I think skating history should be accessible to everyone and I'm not really interested in profiting off my passion.
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You have such a wonderful blog, but going in-depth on a topic in book format could be worthwhile. Or, at the least a compilation from your blog in book format would be a keeper reference and a collector's item. I understand how you feel about it though. :)
 
aftershocks said:
You have such a wonderful blog, but going in-depth on a topic in book format could be worthwhile. Or, at the least a compilation from your blog in book format would be a keeper reference and a collector's item. I understand how you feel about it though. :)
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Thanks for the vote of confidence aftershocks... but I think I'll be continuing in the same format. The good news is that I plan to continue doing what I'm doing for the 'long haul'.

The latest Skate Guard blog on Günter's Great Escape takes a look at the story of European & World Medallist Günter Zöller's defection from East Germany:

http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/10/gunters-great-escape.html
 
N_Halifax said:
Thanks for the vote of confidence aftershocks... but I think I'll be continuing in the same format. The good news is that I plan to continue doing what I'm doing for the 'long haul'.

The latest Skate Guard blog on Günter's Great Escape takes a look at the story of European & World Medallist Günter Zöller's defection from East Germany:

http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/10/gunters-great-escape.html
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Thanks for this, am totally fascinated by the GDR
 
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