Marit Henie Moe (13 February 1925 – 4 November 2012) was a Norwegian

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 ...

who competed in

single skating Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport conteste ...

and

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating ...

; she was a six-time national champion in single skating and two-time champion in pair skating. She was a cousin of figure skater

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

, and her skating partner was Erling Bjerkhoel.

Biography

Henie began skating in the early 1930s as a member of

Oslo SK Oslo Skøiteklub (OSK) is a sports club in Oslo. Its home arena is Frogner Stadion. The club has departments for speed skating and figure skating. Establishment Christiania Skøiteklub - later Kristiania Skøiteklub (KSK) - was founded 18 Februar ...

. In 1935, she went to London to train, and in 1936 she began training with

Hans Gerschwiler Hans Gerschwiler (21 June 1920 – 27 September 2017) was a Swiss figure skater. He was the 1948 Olympic silver medalist Career Gerschwiler made his international debut at the 1939 European Championships, where he placed 5th. Between 1939 an ...

Maribel Vinson Maribel Yerxa Vinson Owen (née Vinson; October 12, 1911 – February 15, 1961) was an American figure skater and coach. She competed in the disciplines of ladies' singles and pair skating. As a singles skater, she was the 1932 Olympic bronz ...

reported that she was good with

compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

and "very stiff" in her

free skating The free skating segment of figure skating, also called the free skate and the long program, is the second of two segments of competitions, skated after the short program. Its duration, across all disciplines, is four minutes for senior skaters ...

. She was the 1936 Norwegian junior champion. Henie later switched to the club

Oslo IL Oslo Idrettslag is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Oslo, with sections for swimming, speed skating, figure skating and athletics. History It was founded on 3 September 1893 as Kristiania Idrætsforening, partly on the ruins of the clubs ''Dovr ...

, and she began to compete pairs in 1940, when she won the senior national championships with Bjerkhoel. Her career was interrupted by the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Henie won six consecutive national titles from 1946 to 1951 in single skating, and she and Bjerkhoeld also won a second national title in 1950. She won two King's Cups. Internationally, she competed at the

1947 World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. The 1947 competitions for men, ladies, and pair skatin ...

, where she placed 11th in pairs with Bjerkhoel.

Ulrich Salchow Karl Emil Julius Ulrich Salchow (7 August 1877 – 19 April 1949) was a Danish-born Swedish figure skater, who dominated the sport in the first decade of the 20th century. Salchow won the World Figure Skating Championships ten times, fr ...

described them as having a "clean style" but criticized them for not having modern movements in their program. Henie also participated in the women's event at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

, where she placed 22nd. In 1950, she competed in the women's event at the

Nordic Figure Skating Championships The Nordic Championships () are an annual elite figure skating competition, originally open only to skaters from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. However, representatives of any ISU member nation may enter the senior-level events s ...

and placed third behind Gun Ericsson and

Leena Pietilä Irja Ester Helena "Leena" Pietilä, married surname: Vainio (born 29 March 1925 – 20 May 2014) was a Finnish figure skater. She was a two-time Nordic champion and a seven-time Finnish national champion. Early life On 29 March 1925, Pietil� ...

. Henie remained involved in skating after she finished her competitive career. She coached until 1972 and also helped the

Norwegian Skating Association The Norwegian Skating Association (, NSF) is the main skating authoritative body in Norway. It oversees speed skating, figure skating, short track speed skating on ice, and more recently inline and roller skating. The Norwegian Skating Associatio ...

with work on a book commemorating the organization's 100th anniversary in 1993.

Results

Ladies singles

Pairs

(with Bjerkhoel)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henie, Marit 1925 births 2012 deaths Figure skaters from Oslo Norwegian female single skaters Norwegian female pair skaters Figure skaters at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Norway 20th-century Norwegian sportswomen