Gillis Grafström
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure skating | |||
| Gold | 1920 Antwerp | Men's singles | |
| Gold | 1924 Chamonix | Men's singles | |
| Gold | 1928 St. Moritz | Men's singles | |
| Silver | 1932 Lake Placid | Men's singles | |
Gillis Grafström (born June 7, 1893 in Stockholm, Sweden; died April 14, 1938 in Potsdam, Germany) was a Swedish figure skater.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Gillis Grafström won the Olympic gold medal three times (1920, 1924, and 1928) and the silver medal at the 1932 Winter Olympics (behind Karl Schäfer).
At his first Olympics in Antwerp one of his skates broke and he had to go to town to buy a new pair. Unfortunately only curly-toed skates were available. Despite this, he was still able to win.
At his last Olympics in 1932 in Lake Placid, he collided with a photographer on the ice and still managed to place second.
Grafström was one of the best skaters ever in compulsory figures. He also invented the Grafström-pirouette (on the back outside edge of the blade) and the flying sit spin. He skated very elegantly and was famous for his interpretation of music. Grafström also coached Sonja Henie.
From 1925 to his death he lived in Potsdam, Germany. He trained on the Bornstedter See (Bornstedt Lake) when it was frozen or in Berlin on the artificial ice rink at the Volkspark Friedrichshain.
Grafström studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin (Technische Hochschule Berlin) and worked later as an architect.
Grafström collected graphics, paintings and sculptures about skating. This collection was continued by his wife Cecilie Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1898-1995). Today this collection belongs to the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs in the United States. Grafström was also a writer and an etcher.
Grafström died in 1938 in Potsdam at the age of 44 due to blood poisoning.
Today there is a street in Potsdam named after him. In 1976 he was admitted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
[edit] Results
[edit] Olympic Games
[edit] World Championships
[edit] European Championships
- did not participate
[edit] See also
[edit] Navigation
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1908: Ulrich Salchow | 1920: Gillis Grafström | 1924: Gillis Grafström | 1928: Gillis Grafström | 1932: Karl Schäfer | 1936: Karl Schäfer | 1948: Dick Button | 1952: Dick Button | 1956: Hayes Alan Jenkins | 1960: David Jenkins | 1964: Manfred Schnelldorfer | 1968: Wolfgang Schwarz | 1972: Ondrej Nepela | 1976: John Curry | 1980: Robin Cousins | 1984: Scott Hamilton | 1988: Brian Boitano | 1992: Viktor Petrenko | 1994: Alexei Urmanov | 1998: Ilia Kulik | 2002: Alexei Yagudin | 2006: Evgeni Plushenko |
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1896: Gilbert Fuchs | 1897: Gustav Hügel | 1898: Henning Grenander | 1899-1900: Gustav Hügel | 1901-1905: Ulrich Salchow | 1906: Gilbert Fuchs | 1907-1911: Ulrich Salchow | 1912-1913: Fritz Kachler | 1914: Gosta Sandahl | 1922: Gillis Grafström | 1923: Fritz Kachler | 1924: Gillis Grafström | 1925-1928: Willy Böckl | 1929: Gillis Grafström | 1930-1936: Karl Schäfer | 1937-1938: Felix Kaspar | 1939: Graham Sharp | 1947: Hans Gerschwiler | 1948-1952: Richard Button | 1953-1956: Hayes Alan Jenkins | 1957-1959: David Jenkins | 1960: Alain Giletti | 1962: Donald Jackson | 1963: Donald McPherson | 1964: Manfred Schnelldorfer | 1965: Alain Calmat | 1966-1968: Emmerich Danzer | 1969-1970: Tim Wood | 1971-1973: Ondrej Nepela | 1974: Jan Hoffmann | 1975: Sergey Volkov | 1976: John Curry | 1977: Vladimir Kovalev | 1978: Charles Tickner | 1979: Vladimir Kovalev | 1980: Jan Hoffmann | 1981-1984: Scott Hamilton | 1985: Alexander Fadeev | 1986: Brian Boitano | 1987: Brian Orser | 1988: Brian Boitano | 1989-1991: Kurt Browning | 1992: Viktor Petrenko | 1993: Kurt Browning | 1994-1995: Elvis Stojko | 1996: Todd Eldredge | 1997: Elvis Stojko | 1998-2000: Alexei Yagudin | 2001: Evgeni Plushenko | 2002: Alexei Yagudin | 2003-2004: Evgeni Plushenko | 2005-2006: Stéphane Lambiel |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Grafström, Gillis |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Swedish figure skater |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 7, 1893 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stockholm, Sweden |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 14, 1938 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Potsdam, Germany |
