Gundula "Gundi" Busch (29 April 1935 – 31 January 2014) was a German

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 ...

. She was the 1954 World champion, the 1954 European champion, and a two-time West German national champion.

Life and career

Early life

Gundula Busch was born on 29 April 1935 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. She was a daughter of a German businessman. The family moved to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1944, and later to

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Career

Busch began skating at age four and a half years. She also took ballet classes in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and visited

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1950 to learn from elite skaters. Busch was coached by Thea Frenssen. Her skating club was SC Rießersee. She began representing West Germany at major international events after becoming the national bronze medalist in January 1951. Later in 1951, she came in sixth place at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

and 10th place at the

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 ...

. In 1952, she was selected to compete at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway; she placed 10th in compulsory figures, sixth in free skating, and eighth overall.Hines, p. 48 Busch took silver at the 1953 European Championships in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, finishing second to Valda Osborn of the United Kingdom. At the 1953 World Championships in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

, she won silver behind

Tenley Albright Tenley Emma Albright (born July 18, 1935) is an American former figure skater and surgeon. She is the 1956 Olympic champion, the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, the 1953 and 1955 World Champion, the 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and ...

of the United States.Hines, pp. 47-48 Busch won gold at the 1954 European Championships in

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

, ahead of British skaters Erica Batchelor and Yvonne Sugden. She then outscored Albright and Batchelor for the gold medal at the 1954 World Championships in Oslo. She was the first ladies' single skater representing Germany to become a world champion. Deciding to end her amateur skating career, Busch accepted an offer from the Hollywood Ice Revue. She performed as a professional skater at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1955.

Later years

Busch married a Swedish professional ice hockey player, Lill-Lulle Johansson, in 1955. They moved with their son, Peter Lulle Johansson, to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Busch worked as a figure skating coach in Sweden for many years before retiring in 1997. Busch died after a prolonged illness at Stockholm's

Saint Göran Hospital Saint Göran Hospital ( Swedish: ''Sankt Görans sjukhus'') is a private hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located on Kungsholmen, a small island in the lake Mälaren in the city center. St. Göran is one of Sweden's oldest hospitals. It was m ...

on 31 January 2014.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Gundi 1935 births 2014 deaths Figure skaters from Milan German female single skaters Figure skaters at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Germany World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Italian people of German descent 20th-century German sportswomen