1961 European Figure Skating Championships

The 1961 European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion in the disciplines of men's singles,^[1] ladies' singles,^[2] pair skating,^[3] and ice dancing.^[4]

1961 European Figure Skating Championships
Type:	ISU Championship
Date:	January 26 – 29
Season:	1961
Location:	West Berlin, American Sector
Host:	Deutscher Eislauf-Verband (DEV)
Venue:	Berlin Sportpalast
Champions
Men's singles: Alain Giletti
Ladies' singles: Sjoukje Dijkstra
Pairs: Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler
Ice dance: Doreen Denny / Courtney Jones
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The competitions took place from January 26 to 29, 1961 in West Berlin. West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, but the German Skating Association from East Germany organized the championships. The event took place without the participation of skaters from the Soviet Union not because of a political boycott, but rather because an exceptionally mild winter left the Russian skaters with insufficient ice for practice in their home country. The Soviet team was also withdrawn from the originally planned World Championships for the same reason, but that tournament was subsequently cancelled after Sabena Flight 548.^[5]

The defending champions in all four divisions retained their titles. In the pairs competition, however, the champions Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler faced a close battle with Margret Göbl & Franz Ningel, who had defeated them at the West German championships earlier in the season. Göbl & Ningel may have been penalized for including an illegal lift in their program.^[6]

In the ladies' event, Sjoukje Dijkstra built up a lead in the compulsory figures that assured her of victory. Her free skating program was described as "exhausting". The stars of the free skating were Helli Sengstschmidt and Jana Mrázková, who both reportedly did triple salchow jumps in their programs.^[6]

Alain Giletti likewise assured himself of victory by winning the figures by a large margin. All three medalists in the men's division gave fine free skating performances.^[6]

Results

Men

Rank	Name	Places
1	Alain Giletti	9
2	Alain Calmat	11
3	Manfred Schnelldorfer	23
4	Peter Jonas	37
5	Emmerich Danzer	51.5
6	Robin Jones	55.5
7	Sepp Schönmetzler	65
8	Bodo Bockenauer	79
9	Heinrich Podhajsky	80
10	Per Kjølberg	87
11	Peter Krick	91
12	Wouter Toledo	111
13	Michael Flebbe	112
14	Giordano Abbondati	122
15	Ragnar Wikström	135

Judges were

• P. Baron
• Charlotte Benedict-Stieber
• K. Beyer
• Pamela Davis
• A. Jaisli
• Ferenc Kertész
• Hans Meixner
• Giovanni de Mori
• E. A. Voigt

Ladies

Rank	Name	Places
1	Sjoukje Dijkstra	9
2	Regine Heitzer	21
3	Jana Mrázková	26
4	Karin Frohner	49
5	Dany Rigoulot	57
6	Helli Sengstschmid	58
7	Eva Grožajová	66
8	Nicole Hassler	73
9	Diana Clifton-Peach	77
10	Jitka Hlaváčková	83
11	Anne Reynolds	85
12	Karin Gude	90
13	Franziska Schmidt	115
14	Christa Fassi	136
15	Danièle Giraud	141
16	Ursula Barkey	147
17	Éva Csoma	162
18	Helga Zöllner	169
19	Dorette Bek	175
20	Silvana Saccozzi	178
21	Gabriele Seyfert	179
22	Sandra Brugnera	188
23	Heidemarie Steiner	190
24	Willie ten Hoopen	216

Judges were

• Grazia Barcellona
• Karl Enderlin
• Paul Engelfriet
• Martin Felsenreich
• Ferenc Kertész
• Emil Skákala
• Néri Valdes
• Adolf Walker
• Geoffrey Yates

Pairs

Rank	Name	Places
1	Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler	13
2	Margret Göbl / Franz Ningel	14
3	Margit Senf / Peter Göbel	38.5
4	Rita Blumenberg / Werner Mensching	36
5	Diana Hinko / Heinz Döpfl	43.5
6	Hana Dvořáková / Karel Vosátka	52.5
7	Valerie Hunt / Peter Burrows	69.5
8	Gerda Johner / Rüdi Johner	74.5
9	Irene Müller / Hans-Georg Dallmer	75.5
10	Renate Rößler / Klaus Wasserfuhr	78

Judges were

• Ernst K. Bauch
• Charlotte Benedict-Stieber
• Pamela Davis
• A. Jaisli
• Theo Klemm
• Hans Meixner
• Giovanni de Mori
• Emil Skákala
• Néri Valdes

Ice dance

Rank	Name	Places
1	Doreen Denny / Courtney Jones	7
2	Christiane Guhel / Jean Guhel	14
3	Linda Shearman / Michael Philipps	25
4	Mary Parry / Roy Mason	26
5	Eva Romanová / Pavel Roman	33
6	Rita Paucka / Peter Kwiet	46
7	Olga Gilardi / Germano Ceccattini	47
8	Ludovica Boccacci / Gianfranco Canepa	63
9	Armelle Flichy / Pierre Brun	65
10	Jitka Babická / Jaromír Holan	72
11	Györgyi Korda / Pál Vásárhelyi	73
12	Christel Trebesiner / Georg Felsinger	87
13	Margot Nissen / Klaus Ebel	87
14	Marlyse Fornachon / Charly Pichard	95
15	Martha Schamberger / Hans-Jürgen Schamberger	98

Judges were

• Cia Benacchi-Bordogna
• Ferenc Kertész
• L. Lauret
• H. Lawrence
• Walter Malek
• Hermann Schiechtl
• Emil Skákala

References

1. "European Figure Skating Championships Men" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-03.
2. "European Figure Skating Championships Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-03.
3. "European Figure Skating Championships Pairs" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-04-12.
4. "European Figure Skating Championships Ice Dance" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-05.
5. "News from Europe", Skating magazine, March 1961
6. "The European Championships", Skating magazine, May 1961

Sources

• Result List provided by the ISU
• printed program of the Europeans