- Karen Magnussen
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For the roller skater, see Karen L. Magnussen.
Karen Diane Magnussen Personal information Country represented Canada Born April 8, 1952 Height 5'3" (160 cm) Former coach Frank Carroll Skating club Ice Capades
North Shore Winter ClubRetired 1977 Medal recordCompetitor for 
CanadaLadies' Figure skating Olympic Games Silver 1972 Sapporo Ladies' singles World Championships Gold 1973 Bratislava Ladies' singles Silver 1972 Calgary Ladies' singles Bronze 1971 Lyon Ladies' singles North American Championships Gold 1971 Peterborough Ladies' singles Silver 1969 Oakland Ladies' singles Olympic medal record Figure skating Silver 1972 Sapporo Ladies' singles Karen Diane Magnussen, OC (born April 4, 1952 in Vancouver, British Columbia)[1] is a Canadian figure skater. She won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics,[1] and is 1973 World Champion.[1]
Magnussen was Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1971 and 1972, and in 1973 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[2]
Contents
Career
Magnussen's career at the elite level of skating began when she won the Canadian national junior title in 1965, at the age of 13. Moving up to the senior level the next year, she became known for her strong free skating ability, and was even compared to Petra Burka, then the reigning world champion.[3] Her march upwards in the rankings continued as she qualified to compete at the World Championships for the first time in 1967 and won her first Canadian title in 1968.
Magnussen had a tough season in 1969, first losing her Canadian title to Linda Carbonetto. Then, a few weeks later, she was diagnosed with stress fractures in both legs and was forced to withdraw from the World Championships. Using a wheelchair for weeks, Magnussen considered retiring from the sport. She eventually made the decision to continue.[3] She won the Canadian Championships four more times, from 1970 to 1973. At the World Championships, she won a bronze medal in 1971 and then silver in 1972.
Like her American contemporary Janet Lynn, Magnussen was stronger in free skating than compulsory figures. In the early 1970s, both were competing against the Austrian skater Beatrix Schuba, who was probably the best practitioner of the compulsory figures in the history of the sport. The scoring system at the time placed significant value on compulsory figure skills, allowing Schuba to build a huge lead before the free skating portion and making it difficult for skaters with weak figures to catch her. Schuba won the gold at the 1972 Winter Olympics in spite of being only 7th in the free skating segment, while Lynn and Magnussen (first and second in the free skating) took bronze and silver, respectively. With figures being less exciting to audiences and their dissatisfaction growing, the International Skating Union reduced the value of compulsory figures and introduced the short program, an additional free skating component, to the competition beginning with the 1972-1973 season. Combined with Schuba's retirement after the 1972 season, this development encouraged both Magnussen and Lynn to stay in competition another year.
At the first World Championships under this new system, in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1973, Magnussen produced a strong short program (which included a double axel)[citation needed], while Lynn fell twice in that portion of the competition. Although Lynn came back to win the free skating segment, her problems in the short cost her the title. Magnussen added a gold to complete her World medal collection.
Magnussen, who enjoyed a successful career as a professional skater after her 1973 World Championship win, is now a leading figure skating coach in her hometown of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[4] The Karen Magnussen Community Recreation Centre[5] in North Vancouver is named for her. And Magnussen has established the Karen Magnussen Foundation[6] to assist young skaters. Although Canada has gone on to produce many notable female skaters, such as Elizabeth Manley, Josée Chouinard and Joannie Rochette, no other Canadian has claimed the world title since Magnussen.[4]
Results
Event 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 Winter Olympics 7th 2nd World Championships 12th 7th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st North American Championships 4th 2nd 1st Canadian Championships 1st J. 4th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st References
- ^ a b c "Karen (Magnussen) Cella". BC Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927064435/http://www.bcsportshalloffame.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?person_id=27. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
- ^ "Order of Canada - Karen Magnussen-Cella, O.C.". Governor General of Canada. 2005-09-27. http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?TypeID=orc&id=1078. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
- ^ a b "Canada Today, Tomorrow -- The World", Skating magazine, Apr 1972
- ^ a b Ross, Echo. "Olympic ice at Games centre a ‘real opportunity’". Whitehorse Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928143441/http://www.whitehorsestar.com/auth.php?r=40895. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
- ^ Karen Magnussen Community Recreation Centre - North Vancouver
- ^ Karen Magnussen Foundation
North American champions in figure skating – Ladies' singles 1923: Theresa Weld · 1925–1927: Beatrix Loughran · 1929–1935: Constance Wilson-Samuel · 1937: Maribel Vinson · 1939–1941: Mary Rose Thacker · 1945–1947: Barbara Ann Scott · 1949: Yvonne Sherman · 1951: Sonya Klopfer · 1953–1955: Tenley Albright · 1957–1959: Carol Heiss · 1961: Laurence Owen · 1963: Wendy Griner · 1965: Petra Burka · 1967: Peggy Fleming · 1969: Janet Lynn · 1971: Karen Magnussen
Canadian champions in figure skating – Ladies' singles 1905: Anne Ewan • 1906: Aimee Haycock • 1908: Aimee Haycock • 1910: Iris Mudge • 1911: Lady Evelyn Grey • 1912–13: Eleanor Kingsford • 1914: Muriel Maunsell • 1920–21: Jeanne Chevalier • 1922–23: Dorothy Jenkins • 1924: Constance Wilson-Samuel • 1925–26: Cecil Smith • 1927: Constance Wilson-Samuel • 1928: Margot Barclay • 1929–35: Constance Wilson-Samuel • 1936: Eleanor O'Meara • 1937: Dorothy Caley • 1938: Eleanor O'Meara • 1939: Mary Rose Thacker • 1940: Norah McCarthy • 1941–42: Mary Rose Thacker • 1944–46: Barbara Ann Scott • 1947: Marilyn Ruth Take • 1948: Barbara Ann Scott • 1949–51: Suzanne Morrow • 1952: Marlene Smith • 1953–54: Barbara Gratton • 1955–57: Carole Jane Pachl • 1958–59: Margaret Crosland • 1960–63: Wendy Griner • 1964–66: Petra Burka • 1967: Valerie Jones • 1968: Karen Magnussen • 1969: Linda Carbonetto • 1970–73: Karen Magnussen • 1974–77: Lynn Nightingale • 1978: Heather Kemkaran • 1979: Janet Morrissey • 1980: Heather Kemkaran • 1981: Tracey Wainman • 1982–84: Kay Thomson • 1985: Elizabeth Manley • 1986: Tracey Wainman • 1987–88: Elizabeth Manley • 1989: Karen Preston • 1990: Lisa Sargeant • 1991: Josée Chouinard • 1992: Karen Preston • 1993–94: Josée Chouinard • 1995: Netty Kim • 1996: Jennifer Robinson • 1997: Susan Humphreys • 1998: Angela Derochie • 1999–2003: Jennifer Robinson • 2004: Cynthia Phaneuf • 2005–10: Joannie Rochette • 2011: Cynthia Phaneuf
Categories:- 1952 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from British Columbia
- Canadian female single skaters
- Canadian people of Norwegian descent
- Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductees
- Members of the United Church of Canada
- Olympic figure skaters of Canada
- Olympic silver medalists for Canada
- Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics
- Figure skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics
- Officers of the Order of Canada
- Sportspeople from Vancouver
- Canadian sportswomen
- Olympic medalists in figure skating
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