If Pewter Medals Were A Thing

America has the unique distinction of being perhaps the only country to award the fourth-place finishers in major competitions a pewter medal. The quaint tradition started in the mid-eighties and to date hasn't caught on elsewhere in the world. In today's blog, we'll take a look at who the pewter medallists would have been had the tradition been taken up at the Canadian, European and World Championships and Olympics. You'll see some familiar names - and some not so familiar ones too!

FOURTH-PLACE FINISHERS AT THE CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year	Men	Women	Pairs	Ice Dance
1947	(none)	Gloria Lillico	(none)	Diane Jones and Trevor Owen
1948	(none)	Vevi Smith	(none)	(none)
1949	Norris Bowden	Marlene Smith	(none)	(none)
1950	(none)	Maureen Senior	(none)	Geraldine Fenton and Dick McLaughlin
1951	Donald Tobin	Barbara Gratton	(none)	Doreen Leech and Norman Walker
1952	(none)	Barbara Gratton	(none)	Mary Diane Trimble and David Ross
1953	Alan Anderson	Vevi Smith	(none)	(none)
1954	(none)	Dawn Steckley	(none)	(none)
1955	(none)	Sonja Currie	(none)	Heather West and Bill McLachlan
1956	Dick Rimmer	Karen Dixon	(none)	(none)
1957	Dick Rimmer	Pamela Willman	(none)	(none)
1958	(none)	Sandra Tewkesbury	(none)	(none)
1959	(none)	Margaret MacDougall	(none)	Vivian Tutton and Gilles Vanasse
1960	(none)	Dianne Frith-Smith	(none)	Marijane Lenny and Karl Benzing
1961	(none)	Frances Gold	(none)	Carole Holliday and Brian Baillie
1962	Bill Neale	Patricia Cook	Elinor Flack and Phillip McCordic	Marilyn Crawford and Blair Armitage
1963	Gregory Folk	Valerie Jones	Alexis and Chris Shields	Marilyn Crawford and Blair Armitage
1964	Bill Neale	Valerie Jones	Susan and Paul Huehnergard	Lynn Matthews and Byron Topping
1965	Toller Cranston	Roberta Laurent	(none)	Joni Graham and Don Phillips
1966	Toller Cranston	Karen Magnussen	(none)	Joni Graham and Don Phillips
1967	David McGillvray	Linda Carbonetto	(none)	Dale Newmarch and Bryce Swetnam
1968	Toller Cranston	Cathy Lee Irwin	Mary Jane Oke and Victor Irving	Sandi Kattler and Bryce Swetnam
1969	Patrick McKilligan	Alana Wilson	Nancy and Steven Dover	Patricia and Derry Allen
1970	Paul Bonenfant	Mary McCaffrey	(none)	Brenda Sandys and James Holden
1971	Ron Shaver	Mary McCaffrey	Linda Tasker and Allen Carson	Linda Roe and Kevin Cottam
1972	Patrick McKilligan	Daria Prychun	Linda Tasker and Allen Carson	Judy Currah and Keith Caughell
1973	Patrick McKilligan	Julie Black	Lindy Watts and Don Fraser	Shelley MacLeod and Bob Knapp
1974	Stan Bohonek	Heather Moore	Candy Jones and Don Fraser	Debbie and John Dowding
1975	Ted Barton	Susan MacDonald	(none)	Lorna Wighton and John Dowding
1976	Kenneth Polk	Barbara Terpenning	Janet and Mark Hominuke	Debbie and Randy Burke
1977	Jimmy Szabo	Susan MacDonald	(none)	Debbie and Randy Burke
1978	Kevin Hicks	Janet Morrissey	Sharon Hallett and Craig Pearce	Debbie and Randy Burke
1979	Gary Beacom	Peggy McLean	Andrea Derby and Jim Sorochan	Joanne French and John Thomas
1980	Brian Orser	Deborah Albright	Mary Jo Fedy and Tim Mills	Kelly Johnson and Kris Barber
1981	Gary Beacom	Charlene Wong	Katherina Matousek and Eric Thomsen	Gina Aucoin and Hans Peter Ponikau
1982	Gary Beacom	Tracey Wainman	Melinda Kunhegyi and Lyndon Johnston	Karyn and Rod Garossino
1983	Kevin Parker	Liz Manley	Melinda Kunhegyi and Lyndon Johnston	Karen Taylor and Robert Burk
1984	Dennis Coi	Charlene Wong	Lynda and John Ivanich	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay
1985	André Bourgeois	Tracey Wainman	Penny Schultz and Scott Grover	Kim Campbell and Michael Farrington
1986	Kevin Parker	Charlene Wong	Christine Hough and Doug Ladret	Michelle McDonald and Michael Farrington
1987	Neil Paterson	Diane Takeuchi	Laureen Collin and John Penticost	Penny Mann and Richard Perkins
1988	Michael Slipchuk	Patricia Schmidt	Laureen Collin and John Penticost	Jo-Anne Borlase and Martin Smith
1989	Norm Proft	Diane Takeuchi	Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler	Penny Mann and Richard Perkins
1990	Norm Proft	Karen Preston	Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler	Penny Mann and Richard Perkins
1991	Brent Frank	Karen Preston	Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler	Dara Bailey and Rock LeMay
1992	Patrick Brault	Lisa Sargeant	Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler	Martine Patenaude and Eric Massé
1993	Sébastien Britten	Tanya Bingert	Jamie Salé and Jason Turner	Martine Patenaude and Eric Massé
1994	Marcus Christensen	Tanya Bingert	Marie-Claude Savard-Gagnon and Luc Bradet	Marie-France Dubreuil and Tomas Morbacher
1995	David Pelletier	Angela Derochie	Marie-Claude Savard-Gagnon and Luc Bradet	Marie-France Dubreuil and Tomas Morbacher
1996	Jeffrey Langdon	Cathy Belanger	Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice	Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe
1997	Ravi Walia	Keyla Ohs	Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice	Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon
1998	Jean-François Hébert	Annie Bazinet	Michelle Menzies and Jean-Michel Bombardier	Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon
1999	Jayson Dénommée	Nadine Gosselin	Nadia Micallef and Bruno Marcotte	Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon
2000	Ravi Walia	Nicole Watt	Jacinthe Larivière and Lenny Faustino	Brenda Key and Ryan Smith
2001	Sean Wirtz	Marianne Dubuc	Valérie Marcoux and Bruno Marcotte	Josée Piché and Pascal Denis
2002	Jayson Dénommée	Nicole Watt	Valérie Marcoux and Bruno Marcotte	Josée Piché and Pascal Denis
2003	Ben Ferreira	Michelle Currie	Valérie Marcoux and Craig Buntin	Josée Piché and Pascal Denis
2004	Fedor Andreev	Annie Bellemare	Utako Wakamatsu and Jean-Sébastien Fecteau	Josée Piché and Pascal Denis
2005	Ben Ferreira	Amanda Billings	Elizabeth Putnam and Sean Wirtz	Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir
2006	Christopher Mabee	Meagan Duhamel	Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay	Chantal Lefebvre and Arseni Markov
2007	Shawn Sawyer	Cynthia Phaneuf	Utako Wakamatsu and Jean-Sébastien Fecteau	Lauren Senft and Leif Gislason
2008	Vaughn Chipeur	Lesley Hawker	Kyra and Dylan Moscovitch	Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier
2009	Kevin Reynolds	Diane Szmiett	Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers	Andrea Chong and Guillaume Gfeller
2010	Shawn Sawyer	Diane Szmiett	Mylène Brodeur and John Mattatall	Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill
2011	Kevin Reynolds	Alexandra Najarro	Mylène Brodeur and John Mattatall	Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill
2012	Elladj Baldé	Alexandra Najarro	Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch	Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill
2013	Elladj Baldé	Amélie Lacoste	Brittany Jones and Ian Beharry	Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam
2014	Elladj Baldé	Véronik Mallet	Natasha Purich and Mervin Tran	Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier
2015	Roman Sadovsky	Roxanne Rheault	Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro	Nicole Orford and Thomas Williams
2016	Nam Nguyen	Véronik Mallet	Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro	Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam
2017	Nicolas Nadeau	Larkyn Austman	Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan	Carolanne Soucisse and Shane Firus
2018	Elladj Baldé	Alaine Chartrand	Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch	Carolanne Soucisse and Shane Firus
2019	Joseph Phan	Larkyn Austman	Lori-Anne Matte and Thierry Ferland	Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker
2020	Joseph Phan	Alicia Pineault	Justine Brasseur and Mark Bardei	Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker

As you'll notice, I started this table in 1947 and not in the Edwardian era when the Canadian Championships were first held. I settled on this year as it was the first year an ice dancing competition was held. I excluded several senior events that are no longer held, such as fours and waltzing competitions.

Many of the fourth-place finishers listed were at one point or another Canadian Champions. For others, a fourth-place finish at Canadians might have been the highlight of their career. 

Several skaters finished fourth at Canadians multiple times. Elladj Baldé holds the record for the most fourth-place finishes in the men's event with four (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018). Toller Cranston, Patrick McKilligan and Gary Beacom finished fourth three times. Charlene Wong holds the record for the most fourth-place finishes in the women's event with three (1981, 1984 and 1986). 

Ice dancing teams Debbie and Randy Burke and Penny Mann and Richard Perkins each finished fourth at Canadians three times, but they don't hold the record for the most fourth-place finishes by a pairs skater or ice dancer at Canadians. Neither do Josée Piché and Pascal Denis, who narrowly missed out on a medal four times in a row from 2001-2004. 

Michelle Menzies finished fourth at Canadians for an entire Olympic cycle (1989-1992) with her partner Kevin Wheeler and then narrowly lost out on an Olympic spot in 1998, finishing fourth with Jean-Michel Bombardier. Marie-France Dubreuil also finished fourth at Canadians five times, twice with Tomas Morbacher and three times with Patrice Lauzon.

It's an interesting coincidence that Elladj Baldé, Charlene Wong, Michelle Menzies and Marie-France Dubreuil all hailed from Quebec!

FOURTH-PLACE FINISHERS AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year	Men	Women	Pairs	Ice Dance
1891	Josef Nowy	(none)	(none)	(none)
1892	Carl Kaiser	(none)	(none)	(none)
1893	Tibor von Földváry	(none)	(none)	(none)
1894	Georg Zachariades	(none)	(none)	(none)
1895	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1898	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1899	Martin Gordan	(none)	(none)	(none)
1900	Johan Peter Lefstad	(none)	(none)	(none)
1901	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1904	Martin Gordan	(none)	(none)	(none)
1905	Kurt Dannenberg	(none)	(none)	(none)
1906	Bror Meyer	(none)	(none)	(none)
1907	Per Thorén	(none)	(none)	(none)
1908	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1909	Karl Ollo	(none)	(none)	(none)
1910	John Keiller Greig	(none)	(none)	(none)
1911	Ivan Malinin	(none)	(none)	(none)
1912	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1913	Harald Rooth	(none)	(none)	(none)
1914	Ernst Oppacher	(none)	(none)	(none)
1922	Werner Rittberger	(none)	(none)	(none)
1923	Kaj af Ekström	(none)	(none)	(none)
1924	Otto Preißecker	(none)	(none)	(none)
1925	Georges Gautschi	(none)	(none)	(none)
1926	John Ferguson Page	(none)	(none)	(none)
1927	Ernst Oppacher	(none)	(none)	(none)
1928	Ludwig Wrede	(none)	(none)	(none)
1929	Herbert Haertel	(none)	(none)	(none)
1930	Herbert Haertel	Lilly Weiler	Olga Philipovits and Resző Dillinger	(none)
1931	Marcell Vadas	Vivi-Anne Hultén	(none)	(none)
1932	Hugo Distler	Hilde Holovsky	Margaret and Kenneth Ord Mackenzie	(none)
1933	Jean Henrion	Hilde Holovsky	Violet Supple and Leslie Cliff	(none)
1934	Leopold Linhart	Megan Taylor	Lucy Gallo and Resző Dillinger	(none)
1935	Jackie Dunn	Maxi Herber	Ilse and Erich Pausin	(none)
1936	Felix Kaspar	Liselotte Landbeck	Eva Prawitz and Otto Weiß	(none)
1937	Freddie Tomlins	Hedy Stenuf	Violet and Leslie Cliff	(none)
1938	Horst Faber	Maxi Herber	Piroska and Attila Szekrényessy	(none)
1939	Edi Rada	Hanne Niernberger	Erika Bass and Béla Barcza	(none)
1947	Arthur Apfel	Jeannette Altwegg	Denise Fayolle and Guy Pigier	(none)
1948	Ede Király	Jiřína Nekolová	Jennifer and John Nicks	(none)
1949	Carlo Fassi	Jiřína Nekolová	Bela Zachová and Jaroslav Zach	(none)
1950	Zdeněk Fikar	Jacqueline du Bief	Bela Zachová and Jaroslav Zach	(none)
1951	Michael Carrington	Valda Osborn	Silvia and Michel Grandjean	(none)
1952	Alain Giletti	Erika Kraft	Silvia and Michel Grandjean	(none)
1953	Michael Booker	Helga Dudzinski	Jean Higson and Robert S. Hudson	(none)
1954	Michael Booker	Annelies Schilhan	Vera and Horst Kuhrüber	Bona Giammona and Giancarlo Sioli
1955	Norbert Felsinger	Rosi Pettinger	Liesl Ellend and Konrad Lienert	Fanny Besson and Jean Paul Guhel
1956	Alain Calmat	Rosi Pettinger	Joyce Coates and Anthony Holles	Fanny Besson and Jean Paul Guhel
1957	Alain Calmat	Dianne C. Peach	Liesl Ellend and Konrad Lienert	Bona Giammona and Giancarlo Sioli
1958	Michael Booker	Dianne C. Peach	Marianna and László Nagy	Christiane and Jean Paul Guhel
1959	Alain Calmat	Ina Bauer	Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel	Rita Paucka and Peter Kwiet
1960	Alain Calmat	Karin Frohner	Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov	Rita Paucka and Peter Kwiet
1961	Peter Jonas	Karin Frohner	Rita Blumenberg and Werner Mensching	Mary Parry and Roy Mason
1962	Peter Jonas	Helli Sengstschmid	Gerda and Rüdi Johner	Mary Parry and Roy Mason
1963	Peter Jonas	Jana Mrázková	Margit Senf and Peter Göbel	Györgyi Korda and Pál Vásárhelyi
1964	Emmerich Danzer	Sally-Anne Stapleford	Sonja Pfersdorf and Günther Matzdorf	Györgyi Korda and Pál Vásárhelyi
1965	Sepp Schönmetzler	Helli Sengstschmid	Sonja Pfersdorf and Günther Matzdorf	Diane Towler and Bernard Ford
1966	Patrick Péra	Hana Mašková	Tatiana Tarasova and Georgi Proskurin	Brigitte Martin and Francis Gamichon
1967	Patrick Péra	Sally-Anne Stapleford	Gudrun Hauss and Walter Häfner	Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane
1968	Patrick Péra	Zsuzsa Almássy	Margot Glockshuber and Wolfgang Danne	Irina Grishkova and Viktor Ryzhkin
1969	Günter Zöller	Zsuzsa Almássy	Heidemarie Steiner and Heinz-Ulrich Walther	Angelika and Erich Buck
1970	Sergei Chetverukhin	Rita Trapanese	Galina Karelina and Georgi Proskurin	Annerose Baier and Eberhard Rüger
1971	Jan Hoffmann	Sonja Morgenstern	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Tatiana Voitiuk and Viacheslav Zhigalin
1972	Haig Oundjian	Zsuzsa Almássy	Almut Lehmann and Herbert Wiesinger	Hilary Green and Glyn Watts
1973	John Curry	Liana Drahová	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Janet Sawbridge and Peter Dalby
1974	Vladimir Kovalev	Gerti Schanderl	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Janet Sawbridge and Peter Dalby
1975	Sergei Volkov	Liana Drahová	Marina Leonidova and Vladimir Bogolyubov	Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov
1976	Yuri Ovchinnikov	Isabel de Navarre	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay
1977	Yuri Ovchinnikov	Marion Weber	Manuela Mager and Uwe Bewersdorf	Janet Thompson and Warren Maxwell
1978	Igor Bobrin	Denise Biellmann	Sabine Baeß and Tassilo Thierbach	Janet Thompson and Warren Maxwell
1979	Jean-Christophe Simond	Kristiina Wegelius	Marina Pestova and Stanislav Leonovich	Liliana Řeháková and Stanislav Drastich
1980	Igor Bobrin	Kristiina Wegelius	Sabine Baeß and Tassilo Thierbach	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
1981	Hermann Schulz	Kristiina Wegelius	Birgit Lorenz and Knut Schubert	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin
1982	Rudi Cerne	Debbie Cottrill	Veronika Pershina and Marat Akbarov	Olga Volozhinskaya and Alexander Svinin
1983	Heiko Fischer	Manuela Ruben	Veronika Pershina and Marat Akbarov	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko
1984	Jozef Sabovčík	Kira Ivanova	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	Karen Barber and Nicky Slater
1985	Heiko Fischer	Simone Koch	Birgit Lorenz and Knut Schubert	Karen Barber and Nicky Slater
1986	Viktor Petrenko	Natalia Lebedeva	Katrin Kanitz and Tobias Schröter	Kathrin and Christoff Beck
1987	Grzegorz Filipowski	Claudia Leistner	Lenka Knapová and René Novotný	Kathrin and Christoff Beck
1988	Grzegorz Filipowski	Claudia Leistner	Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin
1989	Dmitri Gromov	Simone Lang	Elena Kvitchenko and Rashid Kadyrkaev	Klára Engi and Attila Tóth
1990	Grzegorz Filipowski	Surya Bonaly	Peggy Schwarz and Alexander König	Klára Engi and Attila Tóth
1991	Éric Millot	Joanne Conway	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný	Klára Engi and Attila Tóth
1992	Viacheslav Zagorodniuk	Simone Lang	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný	Stefania Calegari and Pasquale Camerlengo
1993	Konstantin Kostin	Tanja Szewczenko	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný	Angelika Krylova and Vladimir Fedorov
1994	Éric Millot	Maria Butyrskaya	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný	Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko
1995	Philippe Candeloro	Tanja Szewczenko	Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov	Tatiana Navka and Samuel Gezalian
1996	Steven Cousins	Elena Liashenko	Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat
1997	Ilia Kulik	Maria Butyrskaya	Sarah Abitbol and Stéphane Bernadis	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat
1998	Andrejs Vlascenko	Elena Liashenko	Dorota Zagórska and Mariusz Siudek	Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh
1999	Andrejs Vlascenko	Diána Póth	Peggy Schwarz and Mirko Müller	Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio
2000	Alexandr Abt	Vanessa Gusmeroli	Peggy Schwarz and Mirko Müller	Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh
2001	Alexandr Abt	Elena Liashenko	Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov	Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas
2002	Stéphane Lambiel	Galina Maniachenko	Dorota Zagórska and Mariusz Siudek	Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas
2003	Ilia Klimkin	Carolina Kostner	Dorota Zagórska and Mariusz Siudek	Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov
2004	Frédéric Dambier	Viktória Pavuk	Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder
2005	Stéphane Lambiel	Júlia Sebestyén	Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy	Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski
2006	Frédéric Dambier	Sarah Meier	Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder
2007	Sergei Davydov	Susanna Pöykiö	Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov	Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski
2008	Sergei Voronov	Júlia Sebestyén	Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov	Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali
2009	Yannick Ponsero	Alena Leonova	Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov	Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat
2010	Michal Březina	Kiira Korpi	Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov	Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat
2011	Kevin van der Perren	Ksenia Makarova	Katarina Gerboldt and Alexander Enbert	Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov
2012	Michal Březina	Polina Korobeynikova	Stefania Berton and Ondřej Hotárek	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte
2013	Brian Joubert	Valentina Marchei	Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès	Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko
2014	Michal Březina	Alena Leonova	Stefania Berton and Ondřej Hotárek	Victoria Sinitsina and Ruslan Zhiganshin
2015	Alexei Bychenko	Joshi Helgesson	Valentina Marchei and Ondřej Hotárek	Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin
2016	Florent Amodio	Angelīna Kučvaļska	Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès	Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov
2017	Jorik Hendrickx	Maria Sotskova	Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov	Isabella Tobias and Ilia Tkachenko
2018	Deniss Vasiljevs	Maria Sotskova	Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte
2019	Kévin Aymoz	Stanislava Konstantinova	Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise	Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov
2020	Daniel Grassl	Alexia Paganini	Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise	Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri

A fourth-place finish at the European Championships was almost like a good luck charm for many skaters. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, John Curry, Aliona Savchenko, Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov and Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko are just a sampling of the skaters who finished fourth at the Europeans and went on to win an Olympic gold medal. Speaking of Olympic medals, all but one of the fourth-place finishers at the 1984 European Championships won medals at that year's Olympics in Sarajevo.

Zsuzsa Almássy. Photo courtesy "Ice Skate" magazine.

The most fourth-place finishes by an ice dancer at the European Championships is three. Jean-Paul Guhel, Janet Sawbridge and Victoria Sinitsina all earned a total of three fourth's with two partners, while Hungarians Klára Engi and Attila Tóth finished fourth three times in a row from 1989 to 1991. The record for the most fourth-place finishes in the women's event is also three. The three women who achieved it were Zsuzsa Almássy, Kristiina Wegelius and Elena Liashenko. Wegelius' fourth place finishes were consecutive, from 1979 to 1981.

Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný

The record for the most fourth-place finishes in the men's event at the Europeans belongs to France's Alain Calmat. He placed fourth four times - in 1956, 1957, 1959 and 1960. Two pairs teams finished fourth at the Europeans four times: Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann and Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný. As of 2021, Novotný holds the record for the most fourth-place finishes at the Europeans with five, having just missed a medal at the 1987 Europeans with his partner Lenka Knapová.

FOURTH-PLACE FINISHERS AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year	Men	Women	Pairs	Ice Dance
1896	Nikolai Poduskov	(none)	(none)	(none)
1897	Thidolf Borgh	(none)	(none)	(none)
1898	H.C. Holt	(none)	(none)	(none)
1899	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1900	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1901	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1902	Horatio Tertuliano Torromé	(none)	(none)	(none)
1903	Ernst Lassahn	(none)	(none)	(none)
1904	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1905	Richard Johansson	(none)	(none)	(none)
1906	Karl Zenger	Elsa Rendschmidt	(none)	(none)
1907	Per Thorén	Elsa Rendschmidt	(none)	(none)
1908	(none)	(none)	(none)	(none)
1909	Richard Johansson	(none)	Mimi Grømer and Karl Erikson	(none)
1910	Per Thorén	(none)	(none)	(none)
1911	Andor Szende	(none)	(none)	(none)
1912	Harald Rooth	Gwendolyn Lycett	Hedwig and Hugo Winzer	(none)
1913	Ivan Malinin	Grete Strasilla	Alexia and Yngvar Bryn	(none)
1914	Ernst Oppacher	Thea Frenssen	Thea Frenssen and Julius Vogel	(none)
1922	Martin Stixrud	(none)	Grete Weise and Georg Velisch	(none)
1923	Ernst Oppacher	Ethel Muckelt	Margit and Bjarne Engebretsen	(none)
1924	Jack Ferguson Page	Gisela Reichmann	(none)	(none)
1925	Ernst Oppacher	Kathleen Shaw	Gisela Hochhaltinger and Georg Pamperl	(none)
1926	Werner Rittberger	Elisabeth Böckel	Gisela Hochhaltinger and Georg Pamperl	(none)
1927	Georges Gautschi	Ellen Brockhöft	Hansi Eissert and Georg Pamperl	(none)
1928	Jack Ferguson Page	Constance Wilson	Ethel Muckelt and Jack Ferguson Page	(none)
1929	Jack Ferguson Page	Ilse Hornung	Gisela Hochhaltinger and Otto Preißecker	(none)
1930	Montgomery Wilson	Constance Wilson	Constance and Montgomery Wilson	(none)
1931	Hugo Distler	Maribel Vinson	Lilly (Scholz) Gaillard and Willy Petter	(none)
1932	Marcus Nikkanen	Maribel Vinson	Olga Orgonista and Sándor Szalay	(none)
1933	Erich Erdös	Megan Taylor	Anna-Lisa Rydqvist and Einar Törsleff	(none)
1934	Marcus Nikkanen	Vivi-Anne Hultén	Zofia Bilorówna and Tadeusz Kowalski	(none)
1935	Henry Graham Sharp	Hedy Stenuf	Piroska and Attila Szekrényessy	(none)
1936	Jackie Dunn	Emmy Putzinger	Louise Bertram and Stewart Reburn	(none)
1937	Herbert Alward	Hedy Stenuf	Piroska and Attila Szekrényessy	(none)
1938	Horst Faber	Gladys Jagger	Violet and Leslie Cliff	(none)
1939	Edi Rada	Lydia Veicht	Piroska and Attila Szekrényessy	(none)
1947	Ladislav Čáp	Eileen Seigh	Winnie and Dennis Silverthorne	(none)
1948	Johnny Lettengarver	Jeannette Altwegg	Karol and Peter Kennedy	(none)
1949	Jimmy Grogan	Jiřína Nekolová	Marianna and László Nagy	(none)
1950	Hellmut Seibt	Suzanne Morrow	Elyane Steineman and André Calamé	(none)
1951	Hayes Alan Jenkins	Suzanne Morrow	Elyane Steineman and André Calamé	(none)
1952	Hellmut Seibt	Suzanne Morrow	Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden	Carmel and Ed Bodel
1953	Ronnie Robertson	Carol Heiss	Silvia and Michel Grandjean	Nesta Davies and Paul Thomas
1954	David Jenkins	Barbara Gratton	Carole Ann Ormaca and Robin Greiner	Barbara Radford and Raymond Lockwood
1955	Alain Giletti	Ingrid Wendl	Carole Ann Ormaca and Robin Greiner	Carmel and Ed Bodel
1956	Charles Snelling	Yvonne Sugden	Carole Ann Ormaca and Robin Greiner	Joan Zamboni and Roland Junso
1957	Alain Giletti	Carole Ann Pachl	Nancy Rouillard and Ron Ludington	Joan Zamboni and Roland Junso
1958	Donald Jackson	Ina Bauer	Joyce Coates and Anthony Holles	Kay Morris and Michael Robinson
1959	Alain Giletti	Ina Bauer	Maria and Otto Jelinek	Margie Ackles and Chuck Phillips
1960	Norbert Felsinger	Regine Heitzer	Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel	Margie Ackles and Chuck Phillips
1962	Donald McPherson	Petra Burka	Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell	Linda Shearman and Michael Phillips
1963	Karol Divín	Wendy Griner	Gertrude Desjardins and Maurice Lafrance	Janet Sawbridge and David Hickinbottom
1964	Scott Ethan Allen	Nicole Hassler	Vivian and Ronald Joseph	Yvonne Suddick and Roger Kennerson
1965	Nobuo Sato	Christine Haigler	Gerda and Rüdi Johner	Diane Towler and Bernard Ford
1966	Scott Ethan Allen	Valerie Jones	Margot Glockshuber and Wolfgang Danne	Yvonne Suddick and Roger Kennerson
1967	Donald Knight	Valerie Jones	Gudrun Hauss and Walter Häfner	Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane
1968	Scott Ethan Allen	Trixi Schuba	Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin	Judy Schwomeyer and Jim Sladky
1969	Gary Visconti	Julie Lynn Holmes	Cynthia and Ron Kauffman	Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane
1970	Patrick Péra	Karen Magnussen	Galina Karelina and Georgi Proskurin	Tatiana Voituk and Viacheslav Zhigalin
1971	Jan Hoffmann	Janet Lynn	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Susan Getty and Roy Bradshaw
1972	John 'Misha' Petkevich	Zsuzsa Almássy	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Janet Sawbridge and Peter Dalby
1973	John Curry	Dorothy Hamill	Almut Lehmann and Herbert Wiesinger	Janet Sawbridge and Peter Dalby
1974	Vladimir Kovalev	Gerti Schanderl	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov
1975	Toller Cranston	Wendy Burge	Irina Vorobieva and Alexander Vlasov	Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov
1976	Toller Cranston	Anett Pötzsch	Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann	Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay
1977	David Santee	Barbie Smith	Marina Cherkasova and Sergei Shakrai	Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay
1978	Vladimir Kovalev	Dagmar Lurz	Marina Cheraksova and Sergei Shakrai	Janet Thompson and Warren Maxwell
1979	Charlie Tickner	Dagmar Lurz	Irina Vorobieva and Igor Livoski	Liliana Řeháková and Stanislav Drastich
1980	David Santee	Emi Watanabe	Sabine Baeß and Tassilo Thierbach	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
1981	Fumio Igarashi	Debbie Cottrill	Marina Cheraksova and Sergei Shakrai	Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert
1982	Brian Orser	Claudia Leistner	Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini	Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert
1983	Alexandr Fadeev	Katarina Witt	Kitty and Peter Carruthers	Olga Volozhinskaya and Alexandr Svinin
1984	Jozef Sabovčík	Kira Ivanova	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko
1985	Jozef Sabovčík	Anna Kondrashova	Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard	Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall
1986	Vladimir Kotin	Kira Ivanova	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	Natalia Annenko and Genrikh Sretenski
1987	Vladimir Kotin	Liz Manley	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	Natalia Annenko and Genrikh Sretenski
1988	Grzegorz Filipowski	Claudia Leistner	Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner	Natalia Annenko and Genrikh Sretenski
1989	Alexandr Fadeev	Patricia Neske	Peggy Schwarz and Alexander König	Klára Engi and Attila Tóth
1990	Grzegorz Filipowski	Kristi Yamaguchi	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	Susie Wynne and Joseph Druar
1991	Petr Barna	Midori Ito	Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov
1992	Christopher Bowman	Laetitia Hubert	Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov	Stefania Calegari and Pasquale Camerlengo
1993	Mark Mitchell	Yuka Sato	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný	Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko
1994	Alexei Urmanov	Marina Kielmann	Mandy Wötzel and Ingo Steuer	Irina Romanova and Igor Yaroshenko
1995	Alexei Urmanov	Michelle Kwan	Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov	Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz
1996	Elvis Stojko	Maria Butyrskaya	Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat
1997	Viacheslav Zagorodniuk	Irina Slutskaya	Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen	Sophie Moniotte and Pascal Lavanchy
1998	Viacheslav Zagorodniuk	Laetitia Hubert	Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao	Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh
1999	Elvis Stojko	Tatiana Malinina	Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov	Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh
2000	Evgeni Plushenko	Vanessa Gusmeroli	Jamie Salé and David Pelletier	Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh
2001	Timothy Goebel	Maria Butyrskaya	Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov	Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz
2002	Alexandr Abt	Sasha Cohen	Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov	Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas
2003	Chengjiang Li	Sasha Cohen	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov
2004	Stéphane Lambiel	Miki Ando	Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov	Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov
2005	Johnny Weir	Michelle Kwan	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder
2006	Nobunari Oda	Elena Sokolova	Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr.	Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas
2007	Tomáš Verner	Kimmie Meissner	Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder
2008	Daisuke Takahashi	Yukari Nakano	Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov	Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto
2009	Tomáš Verner	Mao Asada	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Meryl Davis and Charlie White
2010	Michal Březina	Miki Ando	Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov	Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat
2011	Michal Březina	Alena Leonova	Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov	Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat
2012	Brian Joubert	Ashley Wagner	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje
2013	Yuzuru Hanyu	Kanako Murakami	Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte
2014	Maxim Kovtun	Anna Pogorilaya	Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch	Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov
2015	Jason Brown	Gracie Gold	Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte
2016	Mikhail Kolyada	Gracie Gold	Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte
2017	Javier Fernández	Karen Chen	Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang	Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje
2018	Alexei Bychenko	Carolina Kostner	Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte
2019	Shoma Uno	Rika Kihira	Cheng Peng and Yang Jin	Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin
2021	Shoma Uno	Karen Chen	Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov	Madison Chock and Evan Bates

I have not included results from the 1882 Great International Skating Tournament in Vienna, nor the women's and pairs events held in conjunction with the early World Championships which haven't been recognized for whatever reason by the ISU. I have also excluded the fourth-place finishers from the first two ice dancing events held at the World Championships in 1950 and 1951. For more information on these, visit Skate Guard's Results page.

At the 1930 World Championships in New York City, Canadian siblings Constance and Montgomery 'Bud' Wilson finished fourth in both of the singles disciplines and teamed up to finish fourth in pairs. It is the only time in history that a pair of siblings placed fourth in every discipline at an ISU Championship, a feat unlikely to ever be matched.

Scott Ethan Allen

The most times a skater finished fourth in either of the singles disciplines at the World Championships was three. Suzanne Morrow was fourth at Worlds from 1950-1952. The four men that finished fourth at Worlds three times are Alain Giletti, Scott Ethan Allen, Ernst Oppacher and Jack Ferguson Page. Page was also fourth in pairs with his partner Ethel Muckelt.

Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann

Four pairs have finished fourth at the World Championships four time: Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann, Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov, Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov and Qing Pang and Jian Tong. Three out of the four pairs were also Olympic Medallists.

Italy's Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte hold the record for the most fourth place finishes at the World Championships by a duo with four (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018) but the ice dancer who finished fourth at the World Championships the most times was Janet Sawbridge. With three different partners, she finished fourth at the Worlds a record five times.

FOURTH-PLACE FINISHERS AT THE OLYMPICS

Year	Men	Women	Pairs	Ice Dance
1908	John Keiller Greig	Elna Montgomery	(none)	(none)
1920	Ulrich Salchow	Phyllis (Squire) Johnson	Theresa Weld and Nathaniel Niles	(none)
1924	Josef Slíva	Theresa Weld Blanchard	Ethel Muckelt and Jack Ferguson Page	(none)
1928	Karl Schäfer	Maribel Vinson	Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger	(none)
1932	Marcus Nikkanen	Constance Wilson Samuel	Olga Orgonista and Sándor Szalay	(none)
1936	Montgomery Wilson	Liselotte Landbeck	Piroska and Attila Szekrényessy	(none)
1948	Johnny Lettengarver	Jirína Nekolová	Yvonne Sherman and Robert Swenning	(none)
1952	Hayes Alan Jenkins	Sonya Klopfer	Jennifer and John Nicks	(none)
1956	Alain Giletti	Yvonne Sugden	Marika Kilius and Franz Ningel	(none)
1960	Alain Giletti	Jana Mrázková	Maria and Otto Jelinek	(none)
1964	Karol Divín	Nicole Hassler	Vivian and Ronald Joseph*	(none)
1968	Emmerich Danzer	Tina Noyes	Heidemarie Steiner and Heinz-Ulrich Walther	(none)
1972	Ken Shelley	Julie Lynn Holmes	JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley	(none)
1976	Jan Hoffmann	Anett Pötzsch	Irina Vorobieva and Alexander Vlasov	Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov
1980	David Santee	Denise Biellmann	Marina Pestova and Stanislav Leonovich	Liliana Řeháková and Stanislav Drastich
1984	Rudi Cerne	Tiffany Chin	Sabine Baeß and Tassilo Thierbach	Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert
1988	Alexandr Fadeev	Jill Trenary	Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov	Natalia Annenko and Genrikh Sretenski
1992	Christopher Bowman	Tonya Harding	Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov
1994	Viktor Petrenko	Surya Bonaly	Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov	Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko
1998	Todd Eldredge	Maria Butyrskaya	Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen	Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz
2002	Takeshi Honda	Sasha Cohen	Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin	Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz
2006	Evan Lysacek	Fumie Suguri	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder
2010	Stéphane Lambiel	Mirai Nagasu	Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov	Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto
2014	Javier Fernández	Gracie Gold	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat
2018	Boyang Jin	Satoko Miyahara	Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov	Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue

No revelation... but Vivian and Ronald Joseph finished fourth at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games and were later awarded a bronze medal when silver medallists Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler were stripped of their silver medals over concerns regarding their amateur status. Bronze medallists Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell were given a silver. Kilius and Bäumler's silver medals were later reinstated by the IOC. 

Qing Pang and Jian Tong

The only singles skater to finish fourth at the Olympics more than once was France's Alain Giletti. He narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in both 1956 and 1960. The only ice dancers to finish fourth at the Olympics twice were Canada's Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, in 1998 and 2002. The only pair to finish fourth at the Olympics twice were China's Qing Pang and Jian Tong, in 2006 and 2014.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.

From Nishinomiya To Nagano: The Junko Hiramatsu Story

Between Ashiya and Amagasaki in Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture is a small city called Nishinomiya. Today, the city is perhaps best known for its production of sake and bamboo crafts but on November 1, 1942 it was the birthplace of a woman who would grow up to break many barriers in what was at the time a very male dominated sport in Japan.

Junko Ueno is the eldest daughter of Kinuko Ueno (Nakamura), who won three medals at the Japanese Championships in the late thirties. Junko's mother won the silver medal at the 1939 Japanese Championships. Like many skaters around the world, her career was effectively ended by World War II and the cancellation of the 1940 Winter Olympics.

Kumiko Okawa and Junko Hiramatsu 

Junko's first exposure to skating was at the age of six or seven, when Mount Rokko froze over and her mother took her to play on the ice. She took up ballet around the same time, but didn't start taking skating lessons until she was ten, in her fourth year of elementary school, at the Hanshin Ice Palace. It was clear to Kinuko that Junko had real potential as a skater, so she enlisted the help of her former rival Etsuko Inada. As a coach, Etsuko was based in Tokyo, so four times a year she came to Kobe to work with Junko and in the summers Junko was sent there to practice. Junko was extremely shy as a young girl and skating helped bring her out of her shell.

While attending the Konan Girls' High School, Junko made progress as a skater but training conditions were always a concern. At her local rink, she often had to clear the ice with a broom and flood the rink with a hose herself. At the 1956 Japanese Championships at the Kyoto Arena, she won the gold medal in the senior women's class. It would prove to be the first of eight consecutive senior medals she'd win in years to come.

Inspired by videos of 1956 Olympic Gold Medallist Tenley Albright, Junko became determined to compete on the same level herself. Her first international competition (and trip to North America) was the 1957 World Championships at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs. She finished seventeenth of twenty entries. Hardly an overnight success, but she didn't give up.

Junko Hiramatsu at the 1960 Winter Olympic Games

Three years later, at the age of seventeen, Junko made history at the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley as the first female flag bearer for Japan in history. Unfortunately, the judges didn't know quite what to do with her that year. Her ordinals at the school figures at those Olympics ranged from eighth to nineteenth... and she again finished seventeenth. Four years later at the 1963 World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy? You guessed it! Seventeenth. It was really turning out to be Junko Ueno's unlucky number.

However, not every competition was a disappointment for Junko. She won the 1962 Winter Universiade competition in Villars, Switzerland, besting skaters from Czechoslovakia and Hungary. That said, by 1964 Miwa Fukuhara and Kumiko Okawa had firmly established themselves as Japan's top two female skaters. Out of favour as the country's third entry, she finished all the way down in twenty-second at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. It was a bitter pill to swallow, as Junko and Miwa Fukuhara shared a coach and Miwa had started skating a year or two after she did.

Virginia Powell, Junko Ueno, Linda Ewisak and Priscilla Rassin at Schumacher Summer School. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

The summer after the 1964 Winter Olympics, Junko had the opportunity to attend the Schumacher summer school in Ontario, Canada. She was fascinated by the fact Canadian skaters kept copies of the CFSA rulebook in their lockers and became good friends with Jeannie Sanders from the East York Skating Club, who later stayed with her in Osaka, where the two skaters worked as amateur coaches and trial judged together.

Her competitive career on a downward trajectory, Junko made an important life decision. Instead of joining a show or coaching, she would become a judge. After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University with a Faculty Of Letters degree from the department of history, she married businessman Hiroshi Hiramatsu and began studying the in's and out's of judging intensely.

In 1971, Junko passed ISU tests and became one of Japan's first female international referees. Two years later, she emigrated with her husband to New York to raise a family and had her first international judging assignment at the very first Skate Canada competition. Although she initially found adapting to life and parenting in America difficult, the opportunities to hone her judging skills in North America proved invaluable.

Junko's first assignment at an ISU Championship was the 1979 World Championships in Vienna, where she judged the pairs competition. Throughout the eighties, she was tremendously busy, travelling to Europe and Canada and dishing out 5.7's and 5.8's like nobody's business. Like all judges, she wasn't without her controversies. She didn't go unnoticed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, when she was the only judge to give a higher artistic mark to Brian Boitano, Brian Orser was critical. In the February 22, 1988 issue of The Telegraph, he remarked, "That's difficult for me because she lives in New York City. That's almost like having two American judges on the panel."

Photo courtesy Kobecco

Name an international figure skating competition since the eighties and chances are Junko was there in some capacity. In 1994, she supervised the Japanese women's figure skating team in Lillehammer. In 1998, she took the Officials Oath at at the Nagano Olympics during the Opening Ceremonies. At the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, she was the Assistant Referee in the men's event. The next year, following the whole 'shared gold' debacle in Salt Lake City, she was appointed to the ISU Technical Committee, where she of course became involved in the introduction of the IJS system. Four years later, she served as the Technical Controller in the pairs event at the Torino Olympics where there was certainly a far less controversial result. Since 2006, she's succeeded Nagahisa Ono as chair of the Japan Skating Association, served as director of the Japan Olympic Committee and vice-chair of the Hyōgo Prefecture Athletic Association, taught as a professor of physical education at the Kobe Pharmaceutical University and served on the Kobe City Board Of Education. In 2010, she was appointed to the ISU Council.

Whatever way you put a level four spin on it, Junko has made tremendous contributions to the sport - not only in her country but worldwide. A two-time Olympian, five-time Japanese Champion, pioneering female judge, referee and official, she more than serves the memory of her late mother Kinuko whose opportunity to skate in the Olympics was taken away from her by that disgusting thing called war.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the 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.

#Unearthed: Some Facts And A Few Fancies On Ice

When you dig through skating history, you never know what you will unearth. In the spirit of cataloguing fascinating tales from skating history, #Unearthed is a once a month 'special occasion' on Skate Guard where fascinating writings by others that are of interest to skating history buffs are excavated, dusted off and shared for your reading pleasure. From forgotten fiction to long lost interviews to tales that have never been shared publicly, each #Unearthed is a fascinating journey through time.

Today's 'buried treasure' - entitled "Some Facts And A Few Fancies On Ice" - comes to you from the February 1888 edition of the American illustrated magazine "Outing". Interestingly, the author, Calvert Bowyer Vaux, was better known as an expert on canoeing than figure skating. That said, his memories and thoughts on skating are an interesting read!

EXCERPTS FROM "SOME THOUGHTS AND A FEW FANCIES ON ICE" (C. BOWYER VAUX)

I can remember very distinctly when I learned to read, and the first book that I read through from title page to "The End." That job took a long time, and a great amount of close study; and the supreme satisfaction that I felt when the book was finally conquered was so complete, that I did not care to lessen it by another trial for a long time. I used to hate children that learned to read at an early age, unless I could catch them out of doors and show them some things that I could do and they could not - even if I was stupid at books. I must have been at least ten years old before I could read, or did read for my own amusement and instruction; but when I learned to skate I cannot remember. It was before or during my fifth year. I learned to swim about the same time I began to read a little, but I could row a boat years before that. My mother explains the fact of my not knowing how to read till quite late in
life, comparatively, by stating that when I was very young I was so clever, and accumulated ideas so rapidly, that she was worried for fear my brain would be affected, and, therefore, encouraged all
out-door occupations; but, then, I was her first child, which, perhaps, will explain the situation. Her ideas have not been justified by my career thus far.

A very active circulation, perfect breath, short and strong legs, sound ankles and a love of open-air exercise made the difficulties of skating very fascinating to me, and most of them were easily conquered. Although dressed lightly I rarely felt cold, and never got tired, not even after a whole
Saturday on the ice without sitting down once; it was my rule never to rest while off for a skate. I had no fear of falling, as there was such a short distance to go a serious hurt was out of the question.
Therefore, in trying a new figure I went at it heart, soul and legs, and never allowed tumbles to affect me in the least, and I got many of them - especially when working on the outside edge figures, in
which a slip or false step results surely in a roll over, as there is no way of saving one's self. When falling, the one thought always was, "Save your head, sonny." Hit any other part of the body and you
may get a sore spot - nearly all the bones have cushions of flesh over them - but give the skull a hard rap and you are done for, at least for a time.

I never yet broke anything skating (either bones or the record) except the ice. Every school-boy has "got in" at some time or other of his skating career. Early in the winter, perhaps, after the first hard
freeze, the ice on the ponds will be thin, but very tough. Then is the time when the daring ones skate over ice that heaves up and down in big waves, and finally becomes what all boys call "pompy." The ice gets cracked in every direction, and some one is sure to get a ducking if the sport is kept up. More than once have I trudged home of a cold day, after breaking through, with clothes frozen so stiff that they would stand up of themselves when taken off. Being a light weight, the boys would always send me ahead to try the new ice, after stones had been thrown on it and failed to go through. Sprawled out
on all fours I would crawl over the thin ice, and, if it did not crack too much, I would gradually get up on my feet and skim about, daring the heavier weights to "come on." We never played fast and loose on "pompy" ice over deep water, but always on shallow ponds, or the upper ends of mill dams, where the worst that could happen was a wetting.

In the country the snow comes and spoils the skating, except on ponds and rivers where the ice harvesters clear it off and cut openings which soon freeze over and make good skating for those who
seek it. The city boy looks to the park for his skating, and the city pays men to keep the ponds clear of snow. The park ponds are small and the number of people who want to skate is large, therefore
the public is not allowed on the ponds till the ice is very strong. The country boy begins his skating often three or four weeks before his city cousin has thought of it. So it has come about that the enthusiastic city skaters do not wait for the "ball to be up," but go in search of ice early to the various ice-house ponds within a few miles of town; and frequently get up evening parties, in which ladies are included.

The country boy generally has plenty of room for his skating, and, quite naturally, works for speed or figures that make a big show, like the "spread eagle," "locomotive," and one-foot dodges. The boy who can crouch down when going at top speed, put one leg out in front of him with the foot clear off the ice and slide on the other foot till momentum runs down is a great man, and his skill is envied by his companions. If the skater loses his balance while trying this trick, he quietly sits down on the ice and slides on his pants. Mothers have been known to object to their sons trying this, and have threatened to sew a sheet of tin into the trousers to save the constant patching which the acquiring of this skating feat makes necessary.

There are games the country boys play on skates, shinny (or hockey), now generally called in polite
society "ice polo," "Lil, Lil" or "head on," a species of fox and geese, tag, "snap the whip," and many others, all calling for fast skating, quick turning and strong lung power. The country boy who can
skate backwards, cut big circles forward and backward, do the "locomotive" and "spread eagle," is a talented individual in the eyes of his companions - except in Canada, where good skating is more common than here, both on account of the longer season and the many rinks even in quite small towns.

The city skater's field is limited and he naturally tries to do all he can in a small space and therefore figure skating interests him. Very little has been done for years in cities to make skating popular - always excepting Canada - and now very few ladies even know how to skate! Yet it is a splendid exercise, fascinating, healthful and the most graceful yet invented - dancing cannot compare with it. When will skating get such a lift as tobogganing has had? Soon, I hope. Last year's ice can be used as it is on the toboggan slides and the rink opened early in the season and kept in good condition all
through it with a little care and attention. The experiment is certainly worth trying. Why are billiards and chess such universally popular games? Perhaps this term can hardly be applied to the latter, but there is no doubt about the former. There is no end to the skill that can be acquired. The problems to be worked out are innumerable and various, and with billiards the mechanical skill has no limit. Mind and body are both brought into play. So it is with skating.

Exercise and enjoyment can be got out of simple straight ahead skating. One breathes fresh air, and, if in the country, has something pleasant to look upon - for the country has many attractive features in winter, though there are people alive in this nineteenth century who cannot see them. Has any one ever mastered everything that can be done on skates? Surely not. A large negro one winter appeared on the Central Park pond and performed a feat that it is safe to say no other man in New York could then do - spread the eagle with toes together and heels out to right and left, both feet in line. He could not do many of the fancy figures then pretty generally known to the clever skaters, but no one else could get legs into the positions that he could - it was a sort of contortion act that "stumped" them all.
[E.B.] Cook's toe spread eagle with legs straight was something that many Canadian champions who exhibited here could not master even if they could do twirls that Cook himself had to admit were beyond him. In trying an outside edge eight backward once the heel of my skate struck a twig and threw me out of balance. By a quick turn of body, done instinctively to save myself from a bad fall, and a double toe maneuver, I kept my feet, and got the idea for a new dance figure that I have since perfected. It is very easy to do - yet I had never seen any one else do it - and even after being shown how, to my surprise most skaters find it difficult to catch. The double grape-vine twist straight
backward is another figure I stumbled into when trying something else. The head and shoulders are kept in the same position always, facing the same way. The figure is described by the feet, propelled
by a turn of the hips and lower body trunk, the body turn being made a little ahead of the feet movement so that the feet are going one way when the hips have made the reverse turn.

I have seen wonderful things done on the ice by experts - but thus far no one has happened on my little pet figures to my knowledge. It is not the satisfaction of being able "to show off" that makes figure skating so attractive, but the fascination of thinking out new things and trying to do them, that is a never-ending source of delight to the skater. Let him work out a problem alone and successfully solve it by teaching himself to do the difficult figure gracefully and accurately, and the feeling of victory will be found to be very sweet even if he never performs it for the amusement or instruction of others. Every such success achieved is the result of long and patient work, and frequently - incidentally of course - many falls. The more one learns the more there seems to be to learn, for the field ever widens with each new conquest...

The man that can spin like a top, standing in one place, is sure to draw "crowded houses" wherever he goes, even if he cannot do anything else on ice. Therefore if you, gentle reader, crave notoriety,
devote yourself to this one figure, for it is the royal road to popular fame on skates...

The moral of it all is, "Go skating." Whether you skate ten miles on a stretch or ten yards matters not. The exercise is healthful anyway, and a great reviver of low spirits. Let the theatre go for one evening with its close and exhausted air, and go where fresh air is all that you can breathe. The sleep that will follow an hour's skate does not bless a man every night, and the new interest that he will find in the ordinary drudgeries of life the next day will surprise him. Nature makes the ice and man the skates. The ice costs nothing and the skates very little. Perhaps you have not skated since you were a boy. Then put on skates once more, and, my old bald headed friend, you will find yourself a boy once more.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the 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.

The Superskates Shows

In the days before the U.S. government provided funding for Olympic athletes, an annual benefit show for the U.S. Olympic Fund at Madison Square Garden in New York City was an important fundraiser for America's Olympic figure skating hopefuls. 

"Superskates" was first held on November 25, 1974. A who's who of figure skating participated, including Janet Lynn, Toller Cranston and John Curry. The event was sponsored by the Women's Division of the New York State Olympic Committee and narrated by Dick Button. Following the event an 'Après-Patinage" supper-dance was held in honour of the skaters at the Rainbow Grill in the R.C.A. Building at Rockefeller Center. With tickets for the supper-dance going at fifty dollars a pop in 1974, some serious change was made at the latter event as well.

One of the driving forces behind the event's early success was its founder Edwin H. Mosler, Jr., the President of the Mosler Safe Company which made the vaults that protected the Declaration Of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights in Washington. Mosler was a private benefactor to many elite skaters and also the National Finance Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee. He passed away in 1982 - while "Superskates" was still going on - but the event wouldn't have happened without his philanthropic contributions and fundraising efforts.

"Superskates" was unique for a couple of reasons. It was one of the first major standalone shows in America to focus almost entirely on solo performances rather than lavish ensemble pieces. It was also one of the first large scale ice shows in the United States that allowed amateur and professional skaters to perform alongside each other.

Linda Fratianne leading a group spiral in one of the "Superskates" shows

Toller Cranston observed how exposing amateur skaters to the more 'glamourous' world of professional skating could have its benefits. On November 14, 1978, he told a reporter from the "New York Times", "There is a whole theatricality, the show biz side of amateur sport [skaters need or] they can't become top notch. It's a step they have to take to be a seasoned entertainer. Part of the sport, which is very much in evidence but hasn't been a criteria for excellence, is the glamour. Even in practice sessions in the world competitions there is an underlying theme of glamour. Everyone almost has matching underwear. They come out in costumes in practice. The Russians, they look like Hollywood in the 1920's. I saw them last year in Ottawa. They were the most glamourous things you'll ever see in your life. The Bolshoi Ballet designed their costumes, their hair was done by so and so. It was the Russian crown jewels that popped on to the ice. But it makes the show richer and advances the popularity of skating. The audience sees people dressed like movie stars performing super routines. They all want their sons and daughters to skate."

The cast of "Superskates" mainly consisted of American skaters, but also drew in many top international skaters including John Curry and Robin Cousins of Great Britain, Toller Cranston, Brian Orser and Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini of Canada and Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov and Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov of the Soviet Union. 

Over the years, the show exposed audiences to legends from years past like Tenley Albright, Belita Jepson-Turner and Richard Dwyer, as well as fresh new faces like Katherine Healy. It also played host to many unique performances, such as Allen Schramm's "Black Widow" number and a four consisting of Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner and Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov.

Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine

At the 1976 show, John Curry premiered his iconic collaboration with Twyla Tharp, a seven-minute piece called "After All" set to a selection from Albinoni's "Concerto For Trumpet In B. Flat". Although dismissed by "New York Times" critic Anna Kisselgoff as "a solo in love with itself", Curry's minimalist interpretive piece mesmerized the audience at Madison Square Garden. The crowd's applause led Twyla Tharp to the ice for a bow.

At the 1980 show, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and Edwin Mosler presented Dick Button with the first annual Superskates Award for his contributions to amateur figure skating.

Advertisement for the final "Superskates" show

In 1984, an agreement was signed between CBS and China Central Television for sixty four hours of CBS television broadcasting to be played in China. These were the first regularly scheduled broadcasts of U.S. television ever in China... and among the content was coverage of "Superskates". Unfortunately, a year later the event was held for the last time.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.