Denise Biellmann (born 11 December 1962) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

professional

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. She was the

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and

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and won the Swiss Championships three times.

Career

Amateur career

Born in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Biellmann won her first international championship in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

at age 8; and, at age 11, she won the Swiss Junior Figure Skating Championships. At age 14, she competed at the 1977 European Championships and placed second in the Free Skate portion of the competition. At the age of 15, she was the second female skater to land the triple Lutz jump in competition,after Jill Sawyer, which she performed for the first time at the 1978 European Championships. At the same event, she became the first woman to receive a 6.0 in Technical Merit, receiving the score from British judge Pauline Borrajo. She came in 12th place in

compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

, first in the free skate, and finished in fourth place overall. She won the bronze medal at the 1979 European Championships. At the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

in Lake Placid, Biellmann again performed poorly in

and was in twelfth place. She was second in the short program and won the free skate to finish fourth overall. She won the gold medal at the 1981 European Championships and another gold medal at 1981 Worlds. The Biellmann spin was named after her; she popularized and perfected the spin, but did not invent it. It was present in skating at least since the 1965 European Championships when Tamara Moskvina performed it. It remains the only figure skating spin to be officially named after a person in ISU regulations. According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, Biellmann's forte was the more athletic aspects of the free skating program, including "outstanding jumps and fast spins". Biellmann retired from amateur competition at age 18, shortly after her win at the 1981 World Championships.

Professional career

Biellmann remains involved in the international figure skating community as a participant in both professional shows, including tours with Holiday on Ice, and competitions. She participated in Pro7 Season 1, partnered with television presenter Pierre Geisensetter, and in Season 2, partnered with actor Patrick Bach. She participated in the

Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 The Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 was the inaugural edition of the Eurovision Dance Contest, a dance competition co-production between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster BBC. The first ever pan-European dance competition w ...

representing Switzerland with partner Sven Ninnemann. She won the Challenge of Champions, regarded as the most important professional event, five times. In 2014, Biellmann was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Competitive highlights

Book

* ''Denise Biellmann – Die Biografie''. Cameo, Bern 2022, ISBN 978-3-03951-011-5.

References

External links

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YouTube video
- 1980 Winter Olympics {{DEFAULTSORT:Biellmann, Denise 1962 births Living people Figure skaters from Zurich Olympic figure skaters for Switzerland Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Swiss female single skaters World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists