Manfred Schnelldorfer

Manfred Schnelldorfer

Manfred Schnelldorfer (2011)
Personal information
Country represented  Germany
Born (1943-05-02) 2 May 1943
Munich, Bavaria
Skating club Munich ERC
Retired 1964

Manfred Schnelldorfer (born 2 May 1943) is a German former figure skater. He is the 1964 Olympic champion, the 1964 World champion, and an eight-time German national champion.

Personal life

Manfred Schnelldorfer was born on 2 May 1943 in Munich, Bavaria, the son of two figure skating coaches.[1][2] His father had skated in an ice revue but saw its milieu as a harmful influence.[1]

Manfred Schnelldorfer studied architecture at TH-München[3] but put his studies on hold for financial reasons.[1] A resident of Munich, he is married and has two children.

Career

Competitive

Schnelldorfer won his first competition at age eight. He was coached by his parents and skated for the Munich ERC club. Internationally, he represented the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).

Schnelldorfer finished second behind Hans-Jürgen Bäumler at the German Junior Championships. The following year, he won the German senior title while Bäumler finished fourth.

The highlight of his career was becoming Olympic champion in 1964 in Innsbruck.[2] His victory was a surprise. The favorite was Alain Calmat of France, who won the Europeans between 1962 and 1964 and was silver medalist at the 1963 Worlds.

In all, Schnelldorfer was an eight-time German champion, one-time World champion (1964), three-time bronze and two-time silver medalist at the Europeans.

Post-competitive

After his Olympic win, the Ice Capades offered Schnelldorfer a $1.5 million three-year contract but he declined because of a promise to his parents.[1] For two years beginning in 1967, he served as the sports director, officially "national coach", of the Deutsche Eislauf Union. After his parents gave their approval, he performed with the Deutsche Eistheater from 1969 to 1973.[1]

Schnelldorfer was also a pop singer (German: Schlagersänger) and actor before becoming a coach and sport teacher. He was the first West German national coach for figure skating between 1974 and 1981.

Schnelldorfer owns some sport shops.[1]

Songs

Films

Competitive highlights

International
Event 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
Olympics 8th 1st
Worlds WD 11th 15th 7th 5th 3rd 1st
Europeans 10th 10th 7th 7th 5th 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 2nd
National
German 1st J 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
J: Junior level; WD: Withdrew

References

External links

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