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W OR LD FIGU RE SK AT I N G HALL O F F A M E Dutch champion Dijkstra was a dominating presence


Sjoukje Dijkstra holds a spe-


cial place in Dutch sports history. In 1964 at Innsbruck, Austria, the two-time Olympic medalist became the first Dutch athlete to earn an Olympic Winter Games gold med- al — and she did so with the Dutch royal family cheering her on. Today, at age 71, she looks back on an amazing career that featured three Olympic appearances, three consecutive World titles, five con- secutive European championships and six consecutive Dutch Champi- onships. Dijkstra was favored to win the 1961 World Championships, but the event was canceled after the U.S. World Team perished in a plane crash en route to the competition in Prague. Now, nearly a half-century since


that her victory at Innsbruck, Dijks- tra enters the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame as the lone member elected to the Class of 2013. In 1959, Dijkstra burst onto the international scene by placing sec-


ond at the European Championships and third at the World Champion- ships. At 5-feet-7, Dijkstra was tall for female skaters of that era, which gave her a more-athletic appearance on the ice. While outstanding at compulsory figures, she also was well known for her free skate program, which included double Axels and difficult flying spins. By 1960, Dijkstra was well es- tablished as one of the top skaters in the world, earning silver behind American Carol Heiss at both the World Championships and the 1960 Olympic Winter Games. After Heiss retired after the Olympics, the young Dijkstra was unstoppable. Like many amateur Olympic champions of her day, Dijkstra re- tired from competitive figure skating after earning her medal and was a star of the Holiday on Ice tour. She performed across Europe and North America for eight years. Beloved in Te Netherlands, Dijkstra was named Dutch Sports-


woman of the Year for six consecu- tive years (1959‒64), received the 1964 Knight of Royal Order and was an adviser to the Royal Netherlands Skating Federation. In 2005, she was awarded the Fanny Blankers-Koen Trophy for her contributions to Dutch sports. Her country honored her yet again by featuring her image on a 2008 postage stamp.


COMPETITIVE HISTORY Dutch Championships 1959: Gold 1960: Gold 1961: Gold 1962: Gold 1963: Gold 1964: Gold


European Championships 1956: 7th 1958: 6th 1959: Silver 1960: Gold 1961: Gold 1962: Gold 1963: Gold 1964: Gold


World Championships 1959: Bronze 1960: Silver


1961: (Canceled) 1962: Gold 1963: Gold 1964: Gold


Olympic Winter Games 1956: 12th 1960: Silver 1964: Gold


Balck, Jakobssons receive Hall honor THE GOLDENS | PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II (1939)


For the first time in the hall’s history, an international committee was formed to consider nominees whose contributions were made prior to World War II. Te following are selected members to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame:


Viktor Balck (1844-1928) Sweden’s Viktor Balck was one of the most


prominent leaders during the infancy of the inter- national sports movement, helping form the Inter- national Skating Union in 1892 and the Interna- tional Olympic Committee in 1894. In 1984, Balck was appointed the ISU’s sec-


ond president and ushered in binding competition rules for both figure skating and speed skating. Bal- ck did much to unify and expand the ISU beyond Europe, adding members from North America and Asia. Balck, who served as ISU president for 30 years, also established World Championship events in ladies and pairs. Balck was among the founding members of International Olympic Committee, and in


the


1912 brought the Summer Games to Stockholm. Te success of Sweden’s Nordic Games (1901-26) was instrumental in developing the rise of Winter sports in the Olympics. He was a Swedish Olym- pic Committee vice president from 1913 until his death in 1928. He founded the SASK (the all- around Skating Club of Stockholm), and sat on its board from 1884-1916. In 1904, he formed the Swedish Skating Association, which he chaired from 1907-08.


16 MAY 2013 Ludowika Eilers-Jakobsson (1884-1968)


and Walter Jakobsson (1882-1957) Germany’s Ludowika Eilers-Jakobsson and Finland’s Walter


Jakobsson are the only skating team in history to split their med- als between two countries. In 1910, skating for Germany and Finland, the pairs team earned the silver medal at the ISU Fig- ure Skating Championships (the precursor to ISU World Figure Skating Championships, which began in 1924). Te following year, they earned gold, again sharing the medal between Germa- ny and Finland. Later that year, they married and Ludowika be- came a Finn.


As a team, they won three ISU championships and com-


peted in three Olympics, including the first Olympics in which figure skating was competed (1920) and the first Olympic Winter Games (1924). In 1911, Ludowika won the ISU Champion-


ships bronze medal while representing Germany. Walter served on the ISU Council from 1927- 47 and was a member of the ISU Figure Skating Technical Committee until 1949. He also was a member of the Speed Skating Technical Commit- tee (1931‒35). Walter was an Olympic judge in 1920, 1924, 1932 and 1936. Likewise, Ludowika served as an ISU Championships and later ISU World judge from 1913‒47.


COMPETITIVE HISTORY ISU Figure Skating Championships 1910: Silver 1911: Gold 1912: Silver 1913: Silver 1914: Gold 1922: Silver 1923: Gold


Olympic Games 1920: Gold


Olympic Winter Games 1924: Silver 1928: 5th


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