Lausanne / Switzerland

 

This is the turning point in the sport's aspect of competitive Figure Skating. The era of double jumps has begun appearing only now and then at first. Shown here is the official film record of the Men's competition. 10 out of a total of 12 competitors are shown in this rare footage. Karl Schäfer of course won the gold medal. The Canadian figure skater Montgomery Wilson performed the first double jump in an official ISU competition, Double Salchow & Double Rittberger. Aided by this jumps Wilson placed 3rd. Placed in 6th was the American Skater Roger Turner. Walter Langer from Czechoslovakia earned the 10th place.

The Finnish Skater Marcus Nikkanen placed 4th. He gave an excellent performance namely in spins. He was also one of the first Figure Skaters in the entire world to master the jump sit spin. Ernst Baier earned 5th place. This is a young man who competed 7 times in the european Championships and 4 times in the World Championships, and from Davos 1929 to Berlin 1936 he was never able to win the gold medals. He placed second 5 times, always having to skate in the shadow of the unbeatable Karl Schäfer. However, he and Maxi Herber became the top Pairs team in the world. Between 1935 and 1939 they won 5 European Championships, 4 World Championships and the coveted gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

They shaped and influenced Pair Skating and Ice Dancing in a very important way. The Japanese Figure Skater Ryuichi Obitani placed 12th. Kazuyoshi Oimatsu placed 9th. the Swedish skater Gillis Grafström won the silver medal. He was an exceptionally graceful Skater. By this time, he had won 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals, in Antwerp 1920, in Chamonix 1924 and in St-Moritz 1928. He took part in the World Championships for the first time in 1914 in Helsinki where he placed 7th. He won the Championships in Stockholm in 1922, in Manchester 1924, and in London 5 years later. It is hard to believe that this excellent skater never took part in the European Championships. He was one of the first Skaters performing a double Salchow in practice. After he finished his sport career, he together with his wife, established the Figure Skating museum. The American Figure Skater William Nagle placed 11th at this Olympic Winter Games.