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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

. He is a three-time (1966–68)

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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 en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. 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 and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. He finished fourth the following year, in

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, 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 ...

at the 1965 Europeans in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. He placed fifth at the 1965 World Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Danzer was awarded gold ahead of countryman

Wolfgang Schwarz Wolfgang Schwarz (born 14 September 1947, in Vienna) 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 O ...

at the 1966 Europeans in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

and at the 1966 Worlds in Davos. In January 1968, Danzer won his fourth consecutive continental title at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

. He was the gold medal favorite at the 1968 Winter Olympics, 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

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. 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 Holiday on Ice is an ice show currently owned by Medusa Music Group GmbH, a subsidiary of CTS EVENTIM, Europe's largest ticket distributor, with its headquarters in Bremen, Germany. History Holiday on Ice originated in the United States in Dece ...

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

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, 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 of Austria World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists