Cecilia Colledge

Magdelena Cecilia Colledge (November 28 1920 – April 12 2008) was a British figure skater. She was the 1937 World Champion, 1936 Winter Olympics silver medalist, five-time British Champion (1935-1938, 1946) and three-time European Champion (1937-1939). Her rivals were Sonja Henie of Norway and her teammate Megan Taylor. She stopped competing during World War II, when major figure skating competitions, including the Olympics, did not take place. She turned professional after the war ended and skated in ice shows. Colledge won the first postwar championship in 1946 and then the "Open" Professional Championship in 1947 and 1948. After her career ended she became a coach and was inducted in the U.S. Figure Skating Association Hall of Fame in 1980.

Colledge also placed eighth in the 1932 Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid. Aged 11 years and 73 days when she competed in the women's single skating competition, she is one of the youngest people to ever compete in the worldwide Olympics Games. The title of the youngest Olympic athlete is still held by Dimitrios Loundras, who was 10 years and 218 days old when he competed.

She was the first woman to execute a double jump (a double salchow) at the European Championship in Berlin in 1936. She was the inventor of the camel and layback spins. [cite book |title=Figure Skating: Championship Techniques |last=Petkevich |first=John Misha |authorlink=John Misha Petkevich |coauthors= |year=1989 |publisher=Sports Illustrated |location= |isbn=1568000707 ] She also invented the "Colledge", also known as the one-foot axel jump.

Competitive highlights

*Two British Championships took place in 1937, one in March and another in December, after the competition schedule was changed so that British champions could go to international events as champions. Colledge finished ahead of Megan Taylor both times.

References

External links

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2008/04/17/db1703.xml Obituary: "Telegraph"]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3753069.ece Obituary: "Times"]
* [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/obituary/0,,2274626,00.html Obituary: "Guardian"]

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