Bodo Bockenauer (born 22 December 1940) 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 a two-time

Blue Swords Blue Swords () is an international figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union. It is usually held in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of Single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair ...

champion, a three-time East German national champion, and represented the

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany () was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes from a third ...

at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

, finishing 16th. His best ISU Championship result, sixth, came at the 1962 European Championships.

Career

Coached by Inge Wischnewski, Bockenauer trained at SC Dynamo Berlin and represented

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

internationally for most of his competitive career. At the

in Squaw Valley, California, he competed as part of the

and finished 16th. Bockenauer's best season was 1961–62. After winning the 1961

and his third national title, he placed sixth at the 1962 European Championships in

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 ...

and 11th at the 1962 World Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. He repeated as Blue Swords champion the following season. Bockenauer defected to

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 ...

on 20 December 1963 in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, soon after arriving at a qualifying competition for the German unified team to the 1964 Olympics. Though he originally intended to join an ice show, he eventually began competing for West Germany. After winning the national silver medal, he was sent to the 1966 World Championships and finished 20th. In 1968, he began coaching at SC Küsnacht in Switzerland.

Competitive highlights

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bockenauer, Bodo 1940 births German male single skaters Living people Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for the United Team of Germany Figure skaters from Berlin Defecting sportspeople from East Germany East German emigrants to West Germany German figure skating coaches East German male figure skaters West German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate sports coaches Sportspeople from East Berlin SC Dynamo Berlin sportspeople