Marika Kilius

Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Competitor for  Germany
Silver	1960 Squaw Valley	Pairs
Silver	1964 Innsbruck	Pairs

Marika Kilius

Personal information
Country represented	West Germany
Born	March 21, 1943 (1943-03-21) (age 68) Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, West Germany
Former partner	Hans-Jürgen Bäumler Franz Ningel
Medal record Competitor for  West Germany Pairs' Figure skating Olympic Games Silver 1964 Innsbruck Pairs Silver 1960 Squaw Valley Pairs World Championships Gold 1964 Dortmund Pairs Gold 1963 Cortina d'Ampezzo Pairs Bronze 1960 Vancouver Pairs Silver 1959 Colorado Springs Pairs Silver 1957 Colorado Springs Pairs Bronze 1956 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs European Championships Gold 1964 Grenoble Pairs Gold 1963 Budapest Pairs Gold 1962 Geneva Pairs Gold 1961 West Berlin Pairs Gold 1960 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Pairs Gold 1959 Davos Pairs Bronze 1957 Vienna Pairs Bronze 1956 Paris Pairs Bronze 1955 Budapest Pairs

Marika Kilius (born 24 March 1943 in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany) is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and two-time World champion in pair skating.

Kilius, the daughter of a hairdresser, began as a singles skater but picked up pairs very early. Her first partner was Franz Ningel. They placed fourth at the 1956 Olympics and won the silver medal at the 1957 World Championships. Kilius was still a child when she was paired with Ningel, who was more than six years her senior. By 1957 she had grown to be taller than he was, which caused problems on their lifts, so the team split.^[1]

For a time following her split with Ningel, Kilius competed in artistic roller skating as a singles skater. She was the World Roller Lady Champion in 1958.^[1]

Meanwhile, in 1957, Kilius began skating with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler under the tutelage of Erich Zeller. Between 1958 and 1964, they won the German Championships four times, European Championships six times and the World Championships two times. Their first World title, in 1963, followed cancellation of the 1961 event due to the crash of Sabena Flight 548 and a collision during their performance at the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships that forced them to withdraw.^[1]

Kilius and Baumler also captured the silver medal at the Olympics twice, in 1960 and 1964. In 1966, it was alleged that the team had signed a professional skating contract before the 1964 Winter Olympics - against the rules at the time - and they were stripped of the medal. The IOC dismissed the charges in 1987, reinstated the original results, and Kilius and Baumler were re-awarded their silver medals.

Kilius was voted the German female athlete of the year in 1959. In 1964, she married Werner Zahn, the son of a factory owner from Frankfurt/Main. The couple divorced, and Kilius also divorced her second husband. She has two children, Sascha and Melanie Schäfer, and as of May 2005, two grandchildren.

Results

(pairs with Franz Ningel)

Event	1954	1955	1956	1957
Winter Olympic Games			4th
World Championships		7th	3rd	2nd
European Championships		3rd	3rd	3rd
German Championships	2nd	1st	1st	1st

(pairs with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler)

Event	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964
Winter Olympic Games			2nd				2nd
World Championships	6th	2nd	3rd			1st	1st
European Championships	5th	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
German Championships	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Champions of the World", Skating magazine, June 1963

• sports-reference.com
• Who is who.de
• Munzinger.de
• Olympia Lexikon.de
• HR (German TV Station)

Awards
Preceded by Marianne Werner	German Sportswoman of the Year 1959	Succeeded by Ingrid Krämer

Persondata
Name	Kilius, Marika
Alternative names
Short description	German pair skater
Date of birth	24 March 1943
Place of birth	Frankfurt/Main, Hesse, Germany
Date of death
Place of death