Adventures in skating historiography
The International Skating Union (ISU) was founded in 1892 and held its first official competition in 1893—the European championship in Berlin. The speed skating events went well. The figure skating event began the tradition of judging controversies. The problem was figuring out whether Eduard Engelmann or Henning Grenander won. Engelmann had won the previous year,… Continue reading The 1893 European championship
Axel Paulsen made history in 1882, when he performed the jump that bears his name at a competition in Vienna. What's less well known is that his brother was also there. In fact, they skated together. Demeter Diamantidi wrote a nice article previewing the competitors for the Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung. It was published the day before… Continue reading The Paulsen brothers
Frank Gillett, The Graphic, March 7, 1908, 325. Image copyright the British Library Board, courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive. Dorothy Greenhough-Smith's Wikipedia page notes that "[s]he never competed at the European Figure Skating Championship because the ladies event was not added to the program until 1930." That's true as far as it goes—Hines's list… Continue reading Women in the European Championships
The Figure Skating Club held competitions in single and pair skating at Prince's Skating Club on March 17 and 21, 1906. The Field reported that The inclusion of pair-skating in the club programme proved a great attraction, and a good entry was secured in both the senior and junior sections."The Figure Skating Club," The Field,… Continue reading Junior and senior singles and pairs in 1906