Home Sweet Home: Skaters Who Have Won Medals In Their Home Country

Participating in the Winter Olympic Games and World, European and Four Continents Championships can be a nerve-wracking experience for any skater. Add to that the added pressure and expectations of competing in your home country and that stress level triples... making a win at home all the more satisfying for any skater. In today's blog, we'll take a look back at the skaters who have managed to pull off a medal win in the Olympics and World, European and Four Continents Championships in their home countries.

OLYMPIC GAMES

Year

Medallists

1908

Madge Syers (G), Arthur Cumming (S), Madge and Edgar Syers (B), Geoffrey Hall-Say (S)

1920

(none)

1924

Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet (B)

1928

(none)

1932

Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger (S), Maribel Vinson (B)

1936

Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier (G), Ernst Baier (S)

1948

Hans Gerschwiler (S)

1952

(none)

1956

(none)

1960

David Jenkins (G), Carol Heiss (G), Barbara Roles (B), Nancy and Ron Ludington (B)

1964

Regine Heitzer (S)

1968

Patrick Péra (B)

1972

(none)

1976

(none)

1980

Linda Fratianne (S), Charlie Tickner (B)

1984

(none)

1988

Brian Orser (S), Elizabeth Manley (S), Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall (B)

1992

Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay (S)

1994

(none)

1998

(none)

2002

Sarah Hughes (G), Timothy Goebel (B), Michelle Kwan (B)

2006

(none)

2010

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (G), Joannie Rochette (B)

2014

Adelina Sotnikova (G), Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (G), Team: Evgeni Plushenko, Julia Lipnitskaia, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (G), Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov (S), Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (B)

2018

(none)


Ernst Baier and Madge Syers hold the unusual distinction of being the only two skaters to win Olympic medals in more than one discipline in Olympic Games held in their home countries - a feat that will likely never be duplicated again. They both achieved this prior to World War II, long before the days of triple and quadruple jumps and specialization in one discipline. 

Left: Madge Syers. Right: Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier.

Madge was also the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in her home country. Ernst and his partner Maxi Herber were also the first pair to achieve gold at home. The first man was David Jenkins, at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. The first and only ice dance team to win an Olympic gold medal in ice dancing at a home country Olympics were Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The first and only team to win an Olympic gold medal at home were the Russian team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games

The first North Americans to win Olympic medals at Games hosted in their home countries were David Jenkins (men), Maribel Vinson (women), Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger (pairs) and Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall (dance).

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS


1896

Georg Sanders (B)

1897

Ulrich Salchow (S)

1898

(none)

1899

(none)

1900

(none)

1901

Ulrich Salchow (G)

1902

Madge Syers (S)

1903

Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin (S)

1904

Heinrich Burger (S), Martin Gordan (B)

1905

Ulrich Salchow (G), Per Thorén (B)

1906

Gilbert Fuchs (G), Heinrich Burger (S)

1907

Max Bohatsch (S), Jenny Herz (S), Lili Kronberger (B)

1908

Lili Kronberger (G), Lidia Popova and Aleksandr Fischer (B)

1909

Ulrich Salchow (G), Lili Kronberger (G), Per Thorén (S), Valborg Lindahl and Nils Rosenius (S), Gertrud Ström and Richard Johansson (B)

1910

Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger (G), Elsa Rendschmidt (S), Ludovika Eilers and Walter Jakobsson (S)

1911

Lili Kronberger (G), Werner Rittberger (S), Zsófia Méray-Horváth (S)

1912

Phyllis and James Henry Johnson (G)

1913

Fritz Kachler (G), Willy Böckl (S), Andor Szende (B), Svea Norén (B)

1914

(none)

1922

Gillis Grafström (G), Svea Norén (S)

1923

Fritz Kachler (G), Herma Szabo (G), Willy Böckl (S), Gisela Reichmann (S), Alexia and Yngvar Bryn (S)

1924

Ethel Muckelt and Jack Ferguson Page (S)

1925

Willy Böckl (G), Herma Szabo and Ludwig Wrede (G), Fritz Kachler (S), Otto Preißecker (B), Lilly Scholz and Otto Kaiser (B)

1926

(none)

1927

Sonja Henie (G), Herma Szabo and Ludwig Wrede (G), Lilly Scholz and Otto Kaiser (S), Karen Simensen (B)

1928

(none)

1929

Olga Orgonista and Sándor Szalay (B)

1930

Roger Turner (S), Maribel Vinson (B), Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger (B)

1931

Ernst Baier (B)

1932

Montgomery Wilson (S), Constance Wilson Samuel (B)

1933

Vivi-Anne Hultén (S)

1934

Sonja Henie (G)

1935

Emília Rotter and László Szollás (G), Dénes Pataky (B), Lucy Gallo and Rezső Dillinger (B)

1936

(none)

1937

Felix Kaspar (G), Cecilia Colledge (G), Megan Taylor (S), Violet and Leslie Cliff (B)

1938

Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier (G), Inge Koch and Gunther Noack (B)

1939

(none)

1947

(none)

1948

Hans Gerschwiler (S)

1949

(none)

1950

Jeannette Altwegg (S), Jennifer and John Nicks (S), Sybil Cooke and Robert Hudson (S)

1951

(none)

1952

Jacqueline du Bief (G)

1953

(none)

1954

(none)

1955

Sissy Schwarz and Kurt Oppelt (S), Hanna Eigel (B)

1956

Marika Kilius and Franz Ningel (B)

1957

David Jenkins (G), Carol Heiss (G), Tim Brown (S), Sharon McKenzie and Bert Wright (B)

1958

Alain Giletti (B)

1959

David Jenkins (G), Carol Heiss (G), Tim Brown (B), Nancy and Ron Ludington (B), Andree Anderson and Donald Jacoby (B)

1960

Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul (G), Donald Jackson (S), Maria and Otto Jelinek (S), Virginia Thompson and Bill McLachlan (S)

1962

Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman (G), Karol Divín (S)

1963

(none)

1964

Manfred Schnelldorfer (G), Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (G)

1965

Scott Ethan Allen (S), Vivian and Ronald Joseph (S), Peggy Fleming (B), Lorna Dyer and John Carrell (B)

1966

(none)

1967

Emmerich Danzer (G), Wolfgang Schwarz (S)

1968

(none)

1969

Tim Wood (G), Judy Schwomeyer and Jim Sladky (B)

1970

(none)

1971

Patrick Péra (S)

1972

Karen Magnussen (S)

1973

Ondrej Nepela (G)

1974

(none)

1975

Dorothy Hamill (S), Colleen O'Connor and Jim Millns (B)

1976

(none)

1977

Minoru Sanu (B)

1978

(none)

1979

(none)

1980

Dagmar Lurz (S)

1981

Scott Hamilton (G), David Santee (S), Elaine Zayak (S)

1982

(none)

1983

(none)

1984

Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini (G), Brian Orser (S)

1985

(none)

1986

(none)

1987

Brian Boitano (S), Debi Thomas (S), Caryn Kadavy (B), Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard (B)

1988

(none)

1989

Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay (B)

1990

Kurt Browning (G), Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler (S)

1991

(none)

1992

Kristi Yamaguchi (G), Nancy Kerrigan (S)

1993

(none)

1994

Yuka Sato (G)

1995

(none)

1996

Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz (B)

1997

(none)

1998

Michelle Kwan (G), Todd Eldredge (S), Jenni Meno and Todd Sand (S)

1999

(none)

2000

Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat (G), Sarah Abitbol and Stéphane Bernadis (B)

2001

Jamie Salé and David Pelletier (G)

2002

Takeshi Honda (B), Fumie Suguri (B)

2003

Michelle Kwan (G), Timothy Goebel (S)

2004

Stefan Lindemann (B), Kati Winkler and René Lohse (B)

2005

Irina Slutskaya (G), Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin (G), Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov (G), Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov (S)

2006

Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon (S)

2007

Miki Ando (G), Daisuke Takahashi (S), Mao Asada (S)

2008

(none)

2009

Evan Lysacek (G), Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto (S)

2010

Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali (B)

2011

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (S), Artur Gachinski (B)

2012

Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat (B)

2013

Patrick Chan (G), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (S), Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (B)

2014

Yuzuru Hanyu (G), Mao Asada (G), Tatsuki Machida (S)

2015

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han (S), Qing Pang and Jian Tong (B)

2016

Ashley Wagner (S), Maia and Alex Shibutani (S), Madison Chock and Evan Bates (B)

2017

(none)

2018

(none)

2019

Yuzuru Hanyu (S)

2021

(none)

Prior to World War II, it was the norm that World Championships for each discipline were held in different locations. Madge Syers, ever the history-maker, holds the distinction of being the first woman to win a medal at the World Championships in her home country. She achieved this at the 1902 Worlds in London in the men's event. The first women to win a World medal in the women's event at home were Jenny Herz and Lili Kronberger in 1907.


Fritz Kachler

The years 1913 and 1925 are of great historical significance. They mark the only two times in history that skaters have swept the podium in their home country. Fritz Kachler, Willy Böckl and Andor Szende all represented the Austro-Hungarian Empire when this was first achieved in 1913. Böckl, Kachler and Otto Preißecker represented Austria when they swept the podium at home in 1925. 


Constance and Montgomery Wilson. Photo courtesy City of Toronto Archives.

The first Canadians to win medals at World Championships held in Canada were Montgomery Wilson (1932), Constance Wilson Samuel (1932), Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul (1960), Maria and Otto Jelinek (1960) and Virginia Thompson and Bill McLachlan (1960).


Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov at the 2005 World Championships

The first man to win a World title in his home country was Ulrich Salchow in 1901. The first woman  was Lili Kronberger in 1908. The first pair were Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger in 1910. The first ice dancers were Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman in 1962. Interestingly, only two other ice dance teams have won gold at Worlds held in their home country since: Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat in 2000 and Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov in 2005.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year

Medallists

1891

Oskar Uhlig (G), A. Schmitson (S), Franz Zilly (B)

1892

Eduard Engelmann Jr. (G), Tibor von Földváry (S), Georg Zachariades (B)

1893

(none)

1894

Eduard Engelmann Jr. (G), Gustav Hügel (S), Tibor von Földváry (B)

1895

Tibor von Földváry (G), Gustav Hügel (S)

1898

Johan Peter Lefstad (S), Oscar Holthe (B)

1899

(none)

1900

(none)

1901

Gustav Hügel (G)

1904

(none)`

1905

Heinrich Burger (S), Karl Zenger (B)

1906

(none)

1907

Gilbert Fuchs (S)

1908

Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin (S)

1909

(none)

1910

Werner Rittberger (S)

1911

Karl Ollo (S)

1912

Gösta Sandahl (G)

1913

(none)

1914

Fritz Kachler (G), Willy Böckl (B)

1922

(none)

1923

Martin Stixrud (S)

1924

(none)

1925

Werner Rittberger (S)

1926

Georges Gautschi (B)

1927

Willy Böckl (G), Hugo Distler (S), Karl Schäfer (B)

1928

(none)

1929

Georges Gautschi (S)

1930

(none)

1931

Karl Schäfer (G), Fritzi Burger (S), Hugo Distler (B), Hilde Holovsky (B), Lilly (Scholz) Gaillard and Willy Petter (B)

1932

Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet (G)

1933

Cecilia Colledge (S), Mollie Phillips and Rodney Murdoch (B)

1934

Karl Schäfer (G)

1935

(none)

1936

Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier (G), Ernst Baier (B)

1937

(none)

1938

(none)

1939

Cecilia Colledge (G), Megan Taylor (S), Daphne Walker (B)

1947

Hans Gerschwiler (G)

1948

Ája Zanová (G), Blažena Knittlová and Karel Vosátka (S)

1949

(none)

1950

(none)

1951

Elyane Steinemann and André Calame (S)

1952

Hellmut Seibt (G)

1953

Gundi Busch (S), Freimut Stein (B)

1954

Carlo Fassi (G)

1955

Marianna and László Nagy (G)

1956

Alain Giletti (G)

1957

Hanna Eigel (G), Ingrid Wendl (S), Hanna Walter (B)

1958

Karol Divín (G), Věra Suchánková and Zdeněk Doležal (G)

1959

(none)

1960

Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (G), Manfred Schnelldorfer (B), Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel (B)

1961

Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (G), Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel (S), Manfred Schnelldorfer (B)

1962

(none)

1963

(none)

1964

Alain Calmat (G), Nicole Hassler (B)

1965

Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov (G), Tatiana Zhuk and Aleksandr Gorelik (B)

1966

Ondrej Nepela (B), Jitka Babická and Jaromír Holan (B)

1967

(none)

1968

(none)

1969

(none)

1970

Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov (G), Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov (G), Ludmila Smirnova and Andrei Suraikin (S), Tatiana Voitiuk and Viacheslav Zhigalin (B)

1971

(none)

1972

(none)

1973

Angelika and Erich Buck (S), Almut Lehmann and Herbert Wiesinger (B)

1974

(none)

1975

(none)

1976

(none)

1977

(none)

1978

(none)

1979

(none)

1980

(none)

1981

Claudia Kristofics-Binder (B)

1982

Jean-Christophe Simond (S)

1983

Norbert Schramm (G), Claudia Leistner (B)

1984

(none)

1985

(none)

1986

(none)

1987

(none)

1988

(none)

1989

(none)

1990

Viktor Petrenko (G), Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov (G), Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko (G), Natalia Lebedeva (S), Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov (S), Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin (S), Viacheslav Zagorodniuk (B), Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev (B)

1991

(none)

1992

(none)

1993

Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko (B)

1994

(none)

1995

Mandy Wötzel and Ingo Steuer (G)

1996

(none)

1997

Philippe Candeloro (S), Sophie Moniotte and Pascal Lavanchy (B)

1998

(none)

1999

(none)

2000

(none)

2001

(none)

2002

(none)

2003

(none)

2004

Júlia Sebestyén (G)

2005

(none)

2006

Brian Joubert (B)

2007

Dorota and Mariusz Siudek (B)

2008

(none)

2009

Laura Lepistö (G), Susanna Pöykiö (B)

2010

(none)

2011

Sarah Meier (G)

2012

(none)

2013

(none)

2014

(none)

2015

(none)

2016

(none)

2017

(none)

2018

Alina Zagitova (G), Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (G), Dmitri Aliev (S), Evgenia Medvedeva (S), Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov (S), Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev (S), Mikhail Kolyada (B), Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert (B), Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin (B)

2019

(none)

2020

(none)


Men have swept the podium at the European Championships in their home country four times. All of these sweeps took place prior to World War II (1891, 1892, 1894 and 1927) and were by skaters representing either Austria or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

Willy Böckl led an Austrian sweep of the men's podium at the 1927 European Championships, held as part of the sixtieth jubilee of the Wiener Eislaufverein

Women have swept the podium at the European Championships in their home country twice. There was a British sweep in London in 1939 and an Austrian one in Vienna in 1957. The first pairs sweep at home was 1990 at the European Championships in Leningrad. The 1990 Europeans also marked the first time skaters medalled in all four disciplines at home, a feat only repeated twenty-eight years later at the 2018 Europeans in Moscow. 

Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel and Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler at the 1961 West German Championships

Also of interest are the medallists at the 1960 and 1961 Europeans, which were both held in West Germany. Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel and Manfred Schnelldorfer are the only skaters in history to win back-to-back medals at Europeans held in their home country.

FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year

Medallists

1999

Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz (G), Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz (S), Chantal Lefebvre and Michel Brunet (S), Elvis Stojko (B)

2000

(none)

2001

Angela Nikodinov (G), Stacey Pensgen (S), Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev (S), Michael Weiss (B), Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman (B)

2002

(none)

2003

Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (G), Min Zhang (S), Qing Pang and Jian Tong (S), Chengjiang Li (B), Dan and Hao Zhang (B)

2004

Jeffrey Buttle (G), Emanuel Sandhu (S), Cynthia Phaneuf (S), Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon (S), Valérie Marcoux and Craig Buntin (B), Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe (B)

2005

(none)

2006

Katy Taylor (G), Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. (G), Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto (G), Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin (S), Matt Savoie (B), Beatrisa Liang (B)

2007

Evan Lysacek (G), Kimmie Meissner (G), Emily Hughes (S), Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto (S), Jeremy Abbott (B), Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. (B)

2008

(none)

2009

Patrick Chan (G), Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison (S), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (S)

2010

(none)

2011

(none)

2012

Ashley Wagner (G), Meryl Davis and Charlie White (S), Caydee Denney and John Coughlin (S), Ross Miner (B), Caroline Zhang (B), Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker (B)

2013

Mao Asada (G), Yuzuru Hanyu (S), Akiko Suzuki (S), Kanako Murakami (B)

2014

(none)

2015

(none)

2016

(none)

2017

(none)

2018

(none)

2019

Madison Chock and Evan Bates (G), Vincent Zhou (B)

2020

You Young (S)

Skaters from the host country of the Four Continents Championships have managed to medal in all four disciplines at the Four Continents Championships five disciplines. The first instance of this was in Salt Lake City in 2001, when the Championships were used as a test event for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Michael Weiss, the bronze medallist in the men's event at the 2001 Four Continents Championships. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Three out of the other four instances were by Americans (2006, 2007 and 2012) while the fourth was by Canadians (2004). There have only been two medal sweeps at home in the history of the Four Continents Championships: the Chinese pairs sweep in Beijing in 2003 and the Japanese women's sweep in Osaka in 2013.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on FacebookTwitterPinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.