Figure Skating.
World Championships.
Paris was the scene of the 1958 world championships held from February 13-15 at the Palais des Sports. All the 1957 Champions were successful in defending their titles. The U.S. skaters remained superior in the singles divisions; Carol Heiss became lady champion of the world for the third successive year, and David Jenkins, a Colorado College senior, was again winner of the men?s championship. The Canadian champions, Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul, by virtue of their outstanding program, easily retained the pair title. In the dance event, the British couple, June Markham and Courtney Jones, were once more tops in their class, and introduced very fast timing and footwork in their free dance. Carol Heiss, a New York University freshman, dominated the field of 29 ladies, with an impressive lead in both the compulsory figures and free skating. Two Austrians ? European Champion Ingrid Wendl and Hanna Walter ? placed second and third. Nancy Heiss, Carol?s sister, finished sixth, and the two other U.S. girls, Carol Wanek (in her first world competition) and Claralynn Lewis, were ninth and tenth.
The outcome was not so clear-cut in the men?s division. At the end of the compulsory figures, champion David Jenkins was second to his compatriot and last year?s runner-up, Tim Brown. However, the champion?s dynamic and inspired free skating dissolved Tim Brown?s figure lead and dropped Tim to runner-up position. In third place was France?s Alain Giletti; Canadian Donald Jackson?s spectacular free-style performance brought him from ninth position after figures, to a final standing of fourth. The other U.S. men, Robert Brewer and Tom Moore, finished tenth and twelfth.
In the pair championship, second place was closely contested between the Czechoslovakian entry, European champions Vera Suchankova and Zdenek Dolezal, and the other Canadian pair, Maria and Otto Jelinek (originally from Czechoslovakia). The Czechs finished ahead of the Canadian brother and sister. The U.S. pair champions, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Ludington, placed fifth, and the other U.S. pair ? Mary Jane Watson and John Jarmon ? ninth in a class of 15.
In the dance, last year?s runners-up, Canadian champions Geraldine Fenton and William McLachlan, again took second place. The new U.S. team of Andree Anderson and Donald Jacoby made a fine showing, placing third. In their first world try, U.S. dancers Claire O?Neill and John J. Bejshak, Jr., finished eighth in the class of 16 couples.
For the first time since World War II, Russian skaters (three men and two pairs) competed in the championships. On the average, the Russians were older than the other skaters. They have received no formal instruction but have learned mostly from texts and movies; their best man placed seventeenth and their best pair, eighth.
U.S. Championships.
The U.S. championships were sponsored by the Figure Skating Club of Minneapolis from March 26-29 at the Minneapolis Arena. Carol Heiss and David Jenkins emerged the victors in the senior singles championships. In the men?s division, Tim Brown led after the compulsory figures, and the world champion repeated his feat of overcoming his deficiency in figure marks by his free skating. Nancy and Ronald Ludington (Boston) retained their senior pair title, and Ronnie teamed with Judy Ann Lamar (Boston) to annex the silver dance championship. Andree Anderson and Donald Jacoby (Syracuse) won the gold dance event. The other winners were: Californians Barbara Ann Roles (Temple City) and James Short (Alhambra), junior singles; Rhode Lee Michelson (Long Beach) and Harvey Balch (Arcadia), novice singles; and Gayle and Karl Freed (Cincinnati), junior pair.
Overseas Tours.
U.S. skaters participated in two exhibition tours ? one traversing Europe and the other Japan. Following the world championships, U.S. competitors with members of the Canadian world team were invited to several European countries. After exhibiting in four German cities, some of the skaters traveled behind the Iron Curtain, putting on programs in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. They were greeted by enthusiastic crowds ? as many as 10,000 at each performance. The Japanese trip involved world champion Carol Heiss, Tim Brown, and the Ludingtons. As guests of the Japanese Skating Association, the Americans gave exhibitions in several cities.
Tests.
Standardized by the U.S. Figure Skating Association, tests provide check points against which skaters can measure their progress in the sport. The current test structure consists of figure tests ? preliminary through eighth ? and dance tests ? preliminary through gold. A new addition is the establishment this year of pair tests ? bronze, silver, and gold.
Sectionals.
Three Sectional Championships are held annually ? Eastern, Midwestern, and Pacific Coast ? in which skaters qualify for the U.S. championships. Several championships of a subsectional level also take place each year. Because of the growth of the sport, there will be qualifying subsectional competitions for the 1959 Eastern and Pacific Coast sectionals.
Speed Skating.
Outdoor Champions.
Gene Sandvig of Minneapolis became the senior men?s national outdoor champion at St. Paul, Minn., in January and Mrs. Jeanne Robinson Omelenchuk of Detroit won the equivalent title for women. Both won by large margins and both had identical scores ? 22 points. Ken Bartholomew, who had won or shared the men?s title for the previous eight years, tied for second with Gary Eikaas, also of Minneapolis. Each had 9 points. Runner-up to Mrs. Omelenchuk was Mary Novak of Chicago with 11 points.
In the North American championships at West Allis, Wis., Andy Korenak, a home-town skater, won the senior men?s crown and Mrs. Omelenchuk again was best among the women. The Soviet Union?s Oleg Goncharenko became the world champion in Helsinki, Finland. Russia also held the women?s title, with Inga Artamanova the winner at Christinehamn, Sweden.
Indoor Champions.
In American indoor competition, Jack Disney of Pasadena, Calif., and Miss Novak won the national championships at Champaign, Ill., and Jim Campbell and Jean Ashworth of Wilmington, Mass., took North American crowns.
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