Emmerich Danzer (born 15 March 1944) is an Austrian former

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 ...

. He is a three-time (1966–68)

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

champion, a four-time (1965–68) European champion, and a four-time (1965–68) Austrian national champion.

Personal life

Emmerich Danzer was born on 15 March 1944 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria (then part of Nazi Germany). He attended a Catholic school in Vienna.

Career

Competitive

Emmerich Danzer began to skate at the age of five. Herta Wächter became his coach in 1953. His skating club was WEV in Vienna. Danzer stood on his first ISU Championship podium at the 1963 Europeans in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He finished fourth the following year, in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, before winning gold ahead of France's

Alain Calmat Alain Calmat (born 31 August 1940) is a French former competitive figure skater, surgeon, and politician. He is the 1964 Olympic silver medalist, the 1965 World champion, the 1962–1964 European champion, and the 1958 & 1962–1965 French na ...

at the 1965 Europeans in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He placed fifth at the 1965 World Championships in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. Danzer was awarded gold ahead of countryman

Wolfgang Schwarz Wolfgang Schwarz (born 14 September 1947, in Vienna) is an Austrian former figure skater. He is the 1968 Olympic gold medalist (one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic champions), a two-time (1967–1968) World silver medalist, and three ...

at the 1966 Europeans in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and at the 1966 Worlds in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

. In January 1968, Danzer won his fourth consecutive continental title at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. He was the gold medal favorite at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...

, held in February in

, but placed fourth in the compulsory figures after almost coming to a stop. His first place in the free skate was not enough to lift him onto the podium as Schwarz took the gold. In March, Danzer was awarded his third straight

title, in

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

. Danzer was voted Austrian athlete of the year in 1966 and 1967.

Post-competitive

Danzer turned professional in 1968 and performed with the Wiener Eisrevue ( Vienna Ice Revue) and Holiday on Ice until 1975. He also recorded a song, ''Sag es mir'', which became a hit in Austria. From 1975 to 1989, he worked as a coach in the United States. Danzer began working for an insurance company in Vienna in 1989; he is in charge of sport insurance activities and sport sponsoring. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the president of the Austrian figure skating organization (Österreichischer Eiskunstlaufverband). In 2000, he became the president of the figure skating club "Wiener Eislaufverein". Danzer is also a commentator for the Austrian television station ORF, often collaborating with Ingrid Wendl on figure skating events.

Competitive highlights

References

* H. Prüller, Traumnote 6,0 für E. Danzer, 1968 (a book)

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danzer, Emmerich 1944 births Living people Austrian male single skaters Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Figure skaters from Vienna Olympic figure skaters for Austria World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists 20th-century Austrian sportsmen