Dorothy “Dot” Franey Langkop (October 25, 1913 in Saint. Paul, Minnesota – January 10, 2011 in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

) was an American

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

who competed in the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 ...

Biography

As she was from Saint Paul, like other skaters from downriver, she wore the colors of the Hippodrome Skating Club. While there was an ice rink on Lake Como in St. Paul, rode her best performances at the ice on Powderhorn Lake in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. She was at her best by the 1930s. In 1932, she competed in the women's speed skating events which were held as

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

. She finished third in the 1000 metres event and fifth in the 1500 metres competition. She also participated in the 500 metres event but was eliminated in the heats. According to her

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

obituary, Franey won national speed skating championships four years running from 1933 to 1936. Franey won a major speed skating competition at Powderhorn Lake in 1936. A Minneapolis Star columnist wrote facetiously that she was “mad at herself” because she broke only one national record that weekend. Franey turned professional in 1938, so she could earn money from exhibitions, endorsements and appearing in figure skating shows (there was no professional speed skating circuit). She had endorsement of Camel cigarettes, which appeared in newspaper “funnies” around the country. She headlined her own ice revue for 14 years at the famed

Adolphus Hotel The Adolphus Hotel is a historic upscale hotel established in 1912 in the Main Street District of Downtown Dallas, Texas. A Dallas Landmark, it was for several years the tallest building in the state. Today, the hotel is part of Marriott's Au ...

in Dallas. In 2002, she carried the Olympic torch to City Hall in Dallas at age 89. She died of natural causes at

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient ...

in 2011.

References

External links

Official Olympic Report 1932Dorothy Franey's obituary
1913 births 2011 deaths Olympic speed skaters for the United States Speed skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics American female speed skaters 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-speed-skating-bio-stub