From the daily telegraph today, I wasn't aware of her till now, but sounds like she was a great skater. Rest in Peace.......

Cecilia Colledge


Cecilia Colledge, who died in Massachusetts on April 12 aged 87, was one of the finest exponents of British figure skating.

She was world champion in 1937, British champion on five occasions (1935, 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1946) and thrice European champion (1937 to 1939 inclusive).

She is credited with inventing the camel and layback spins, and the one-foot axel jump, to which she gave her name. She was also the first woman to execute a double salchow, when she performed it at the European championships in Berlin in 1936.


Magdalen Cecilia Colledge was born on November 28 1920, the daughter of Lionel Colledge, a prominent London ear, nose and throat specialist who practised in Upper Wimpole Street.

When Cecilia was seven her mother, Margaret, took her to the world championships for women and pairs, which were being held at the Ice Club at Westminster. Sonja Henie of Norway won for the second time, and Cecilia remarked: "I should like to skate like her."

Mrs Colledge rose to the occasion, removing her daughter from school and taking her to Norway for expert instruction. The following year they remained in London, where Cecilia's training was entrusted to a Swiss coach, Jacques Gerschwiler, who lived at the Colledges' home, supervised Cecilia's diet and taught her not only skating but also French and German.

For 11 months of the year for the next eight years Cecilia's daily routine followed the same pattern: six hours of skating instruction supplemented by dancing lessons, exercises and massage.

For recreation she took lessons in cooking and English literature. Her father at first discouraged the plan to turn his daughter into a skating celebrity, but later relented - although he drew the line at allowing Cecilia's younger brother, Maule, to follow in her footsteps.

Cecilia progressed rapidly, and in 1932 - at the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, in upstate New York - she was one of four competitors in the British team for the women's singles.

At 11 years 75 days old (33 days younger than her fellow Briton Megan Taylor) she was the youngest competitor in the Olympics' history, and she finished eighth, one place below Megan Taylor.

She finished second to Megan Taylor in the British championships in 1932, 1933 and 1934; second in the European championships in 1933 and 1936; second in the world championships in 1935 and 1938; and took the silver medal in the Winter Olympics of 1936.

Cecilia Colledge's rivalry with Megan Taylor was intense (when Cecilia beat Megan into second place for the British title in 1938, the runner-up congratulated her conqueror then promptly burst into tears), and Cecilia's mother arranged for the two girls to meet for a tea-party to talk away their differences.

During the Second World War the major figure skating competitions, including the Olympics, went into abeyance, and Cecilia Colledge served as an ambulance driver in the Mechanised Transport Corps in London during the Blitz.

After winning the first postwar British championship in 1946 she turned professional, and starred in a big ice revue in London. She won the "open" professional ladies' championship of Great Britain in 1947 and 1948.

She then retired from competitive skating and moved to the United States, where she became a coach. For a year she trained skaters at Lake Placid before moving to the Boston area.

She was on the coaching staff of the Skating Club of Boston from 1952 until her formal retirement in 1977, when she was elected an honorary member of the club.

Many of her pupils won titles and medals in regional, sectional and national competitions, and she was also actively involved in helping to direct the club's annual carnival, called "Ice Chips".

She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1980.

Cecilia Colledge was unmarried.

May she rest in peace after a long and challenging life.


Thanks for posting this - I never knew that a one-foot axel could be called a "Colledge." Cool that her last name included the word "edge."

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She was an amazing, inspiring woman.

one of the skating specials that aired on HBO interviewed her about the early days of competitive figure skating. She is the one who developed the layback spin, her coach tying a rope around her waist and training her to lean back as far as possible. She was also preoccupied with the "right" look on the ice and admonished her mother for making her skate for a gold medal in a silver dress. I also remember her going on about her "little green dress" but don't remember what that was about. Lady had a sense of humor about her place in the world of skating.

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Champagne in 2005, 2008, 2009 - who's next out of the pre-bronze club...?

Wang chung!

I was only reading about her on wikipedia last week

Does sound like a great athlete

She was up there with the best of them. Actually, I hadn't realised she was still alive....

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I didn't realize she was still alive either! Oops.
Looking at this video of her, it looks like she may have been the first skater to skate her freestyle moves without those ugly rounded shoulders. Cecilia, thank you for helping to transform this sport into a beautiful performing art (but no thanks for that blasted layback spin, LOL!!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k1er6NRYdY

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Echoing what Mel On Ice said . . . if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend buying or renting the VHS tape (unfortunately, I don't think it's available on DVD) of the HBO special "Reflections On Ice: A Diary Of Ladies' Figure Skating." It has wonderful footage of Colledge as well as Sonja Henie, Madge Syers, Fritzi Burger, Barbara Ann Scott, Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, Janet Lynn and Dorothy Hamill, among others I'm probably forgetting. Colledge is a hoot: funny, brusque, and outspoken in that way that only British ladies of a certain age can be . It's one of my favorite, favorite skating tapes of all time. You can find it on Amazon.com, I believe. I just wish they'd issue it on DVD as my poor tape is getting worn out

Great vid! The shadows during the outdoor skating are really interesting. Apparently the cameraman thought so too.

Love the way the ladies' lutz jumps just float. Celia had a pretty spiral sequence. Henie's charlotte looks so silly w her skirt blown up around her face. That must have been quite risque in those days.

Kay

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