Manfred Schnelldorfer (born 2 May 1943) is a German 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 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 Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, the son of two figure skating coaches. His father had skated in an ice

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

but saw its milieu as a harmful influence. Manfred Schnelldorfer studied architecture at TH-München but put his studies on hold for financial reasons. 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 West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

). Schnelldorfer finished second behind

Hans-Jürgen Bäumler Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (born 28 January 1942) is a German former pair skater, actor, and Schlager singer. Career Bäumler became famous in pair skating with his skating partner Marika Kilius. They won their first national title after skatin ...

at the German Junior Championships. The following year, he won the German senior title while Bäumler finished fourth. At age 20, he won the gold medal at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic champions. His victory was a surprise. The favorite was

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 ...

of France, who won the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

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 The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

offered Schnelldorfer a $1.5 million three-year contract but he declined because of a promise to his parents. 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. 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.

Songs

* ''Wenn du mal allein bist'' (When you are once alone) * ''Deine schönen blauen Augen'' (Your beautiful blue eyes) * ''Mizzie''

Films

* ''

Holiday in St. Tropez ''Holiday in St. Tropez'' is a 1964 West German comedy film directed by Ernst Hofbauer and starring Vivi Bach, Ann Smyrner, and Rudolf Prack.Hobsch p. 27 Plot Carlos Fonti and his wife Marisa are in the midst of constructing their hotel, St. Tro ...

'' (1964) * ''Ich kauf' mir lieber einen Tirolerhut'' (1965) (I prefer to buy a Tiroler hat) * ''Tausend Takte Übermut'' (1965) (Thousand takts high spirits) * ''Spukschloß im Salzkammergut'' (1966) * '' Komm mit zur blauen Adria'' (1966) (Come to the Blue Adriatic)

Competitive highlights

References

*
several issues of the German magazin Pirouette
* program of the World Championships in Figure Skating 1991 in Munich * program of the World Championships in Figure Skating 2004 in Dortmund

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schnelldorfer, Manfred 1943 births Living people German male single skaters German male singers German-language singers German male film actors Olympic figure skaters for the United Team of Germany Olympic gold medalists for the United Team of Germany Olympic medalists in figure skating Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Technical University of Munich alumni Figure skaters from Munich 20th-century German sportsmen