Eduard "Edi" Scholdan (1911 or 1912 — February 15, 1961) was an Austrian

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 ...

and figure skating coach.

Personal life

Scholdan was born 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. ...

. He moved to the United States in 1938. In 1946, he married a figure skater, Roberta Jenks, with whom he had two children, Ruth and Jimmy, and a stepdaughter, Dixie Lee.

Career

Scholdan represented

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

as a competitor at the 1933 World Championships. However, he became better known as a coach; he worked at the

Broadmoor Skating Club The Broadmoor Skating Club is a figure skating club based in Colorado Springs, Colorado that has long been a major training center for the sport of figure skating. Founded in 1939, it was originally known as the Pikes Peak Skating Club, and was b ...

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 ...

beginning in 1945. His students included: *

Eva Pawlik Eva Pawlik (4 October 1927 – 31 July 1983) was an Austrian figure skater, show star, actress and commentator. She was the 1948 Olympic silver medalist, the 1948 World silver medalist, and the 1949 European champion. Early life Born in 1927, ...

, the 1948 Olympic silver medalist *

Hayes Alan Jenkins Hayes Alan Jenkins (born March 23, 1933) is an American former figure skater. He is the Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics, 1956 Olympic champion, a four-time World Figure Skating Championships, World champion (1953–1956), and a four-ti ...

, the 1956 Olympic champion * David Jenkins, the 1960 Olympic champion *

James Grogan James David "Jim" Grogan (December 7, 1931 – July 3, 2000) was an American figure skater who won a bronze medal at the 1952 Oslo Olympics. He also won four silver medals at the United States Figure Skating Championships and at the World Figur ...

, 1952 Olympic bronze medalist * Ina Bauer *

Karol Kennedy Karol Estelle Kennedy Kucher (February 14, 1932 in Shelton, Washington – June 25, 2004 in Seattle, Washington) was an American pair skater. With her brother, Peter, she won five U.S. Championship titles from 1948 to 1952. Known as "The Kenne ...

/ Peter Kennedy, the 1950 World pairs champions * Ronnie Robertson, the 1955 World silver medalist In 1961, Scholdan and his 13-year-old son were among those killed in the crash of

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Idlewild Airport in New York City to Brussels Airport in Belgium. On 15 February 1961, the Boeing 707-329 operating the flight crashed on approach to Brussels Airport, kill ...

, which was carrying the entire

U.S. Figure Skating U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act a ...

team to the 1961

World Championships 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 ...

. Aged 50 at the time of his death, he was travelling as the coach of

Gregory Kelley Gregory Eric "Greg" Kelley (May 19, 1944 – February 15, 1961) was an American figure skater who competed in men's singles. He won the junior title at the 1959 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and finished ninth at the 1960 World Figure Ska ...

Stephanie Westerfeld Stephanie "Steffi" Westerfeld (October 8, 1943 – February 15, 1961) was an American figure skater. Stephanie was the younger daughter of Otto and Myra Westerfeld. Her older sister, Sharon, was also a competitive ice skater but had retired. He ...

, and Bill Hickox and Laurie Hickox. Scholdan had planned to take his son to

and other places in Europe following the competition. The

Professional Skaters Association The American Skaters Guild, later the Professional Skaters Guild of America and then the Professional Skaters Association, was the first skating teachers organization in North America. On August 10, 1938, a meeting took place of thirteen prominen ...

's annual awards are called "EDI awards" in Scholdan's honor. Scholdan was president of that organization from 1950 to 1954 and was inducted into the inaugural class of their Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholdan, Edi 1910s births 1961 deaths Austrian emigrants to the United States Austrian male single skaters Austrian figure skating coaches Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1961 20th-century Austrian sportsmen